Computer Help... Again!

[Greetings]

OK so... this problem appeared out of nowhere, I didn't change any configs, programs - nothing. The system was running slowly so I decided to do a format which as I thought would also resolve the problem I've been having recently with games (not that I'm into them, just bored sometimes). Before doing so, I moved all the important files to other drives so as not to loose them. It's then I experienced problems with playing videos. After opening them, the computer would start running very slowly and require a hard reset regardless the video (divx, mpeg, wmv) and regardless the program the vid was opened in. The same programs work fine for audio files and the visualisations are fine (these are Winamp, Media Player, Nero Show Time, Premiere). After the format, nothing has changed and I still can't play them.

And this is what I experience with some games, to the extent that these lines already appear on the logo or intro:

Half Life 2 is now ok (I had these problems with it as well), so are the older games, but some I checked are still a mess and full of these funny lines and other shit. The performance is also very low as I get very low fps on the same settings.

I have only tried changing the drivers (Gigabyte 6600GT on AGP) and a format. Some utilities that came with my graphics card won't install either due to an "unknown" error - these are for overclocking and other stuff to do with the card. They worked fine before though. I hardly ever play any games or do anything that would make the card overheat. What could be the cause of this problem?

[Extreme_biker0]

I have only tried changing the drivers (Gigabyte 6600GT on AGP) and a format. Some utilities that came with my graphics card won't install either due to an "unknown" error - these are for overclocking and other stuff to do with the card. They worked fine before though. I hardly ever play any games or do anything that would make the card overheat. What could be the cause of this problem?

Have you ever over-clocked the card? Artifacts like the ones you're seeing appeared about 2 days before my graphics card died completely - the reason being that i'd let it get too hot while messing about overclocking it.

Check that the fan is spinning on the card and has not packed in.

Visualisations like avs and wmp are processor intensive, but not so much graphics processor intensive, which would explain why the problems don't appear there.

[Greetings]

The card wasn't overclocked. As it says on the box, the card's speed is 500/1000, but actually it's 300/1000. This program supplied by Gigabyte is supposed to change the memory speed from 300 to 500. So you can't really say it was overclocked as it was run at the speed it was made to be used at.

The fan is spinning, I've also cleaned all the connectors on the AGP slot as my computer is always open and I've also given it a good blow with the compressor to get rid of all the dust and stuff.

Currently using a GeForce 256, drivers are still downloading. Will see if this resolves the problem. If so, I'm going to check the 6600 in another computer and see if the same happens.

Edit:

Did some more troubleshooting and these are the results:

6600GT, the card which caused problems in my computer works fine in another computer. The same games run with no problems, videos play normally etc.

GF 256 which is the card from the other computer, works fine in mine - the videos play normally (they didn't play at all before) and games are also ok.

Now going to swap them again and see what happens.

Edited September 13, 2006 by Inur

[Tomm]

It could be that the graphics ram is overheating - because you overclocked it. First thing to do is definitely to roll it back to the lower speed and see if it still happens. It could be that your friend's PC is just a bit cooler and these things don't show up. Those lines aren't going to be the graphics processor overheating though, so don't worry about that.

Or it could be something completely unrelated such as hard drive failure causing the computer to load funny images and go slow as you described.

[Greetings]

It could be that the graphics ram is overheating - because you overclocked it.

It was overclocked for only a few hours about 4 months ago to run 3Dmark and check how big a difference it makes.

Overheating? Well yes, it does get pretty warm. The stuff in the red circle gets really hot whereas the thing under the radiator is hottish (I guess that's the core?).

Got the guarantee card, going to do some further troubleshooting tomorrow and if that doesn't work I'm taking it back to the shop. It won't be the hard drive as I have two and videos won't play from neither of them. Still, thanks for the help.

Just did a further test and my card does cause problems in the other computer but only when running games. There are no white lines as in the first picture but the colours are just all wrong.

[Tomm]

Sounds like really dodgy ram. I think the ram in card is probably in that green circle but I'm not sure. Either way it will only be a big problem if it's too hot to touch. I reckon taking it back is definitely the right thing to do if your other graphics card works fine

[Danny]

The thing under the green circle is the HSI Bridge (Bridges PCI-E to AGP) they do get awfully hot. I also suggest you try other drivers for the card (get the latest if you dont have already).