GPU Crashes / Artifacts On High Load

[skylight1]

So my graphics card has recently begun to show signs of failing life. I've gotten extremely choppy / delayed performance. After some digging I discovered that you need to re-paste your card (mines about 4 years old, never did it before because I didn't even know you could) every so often to keep it running nicely. After watching a few how-to's, I did it, and noticed a good drop in idle temperatures. However, now, when I run my card on a stress test, about 4-5 seconds in my screens instantly crash and show full-screen artifact lines. Really horrible picture attached:

My GPU now idles between 60-68C (high, i know). I've re-pasted twice now and had help from a friend who knows how the second time, just to make sure nothing was broken on the card or pasted wrong.

Some people mentioned this may be a PSU issue but given the fact that I get artifacts instead of a reboot / black screen I sense that the GPU may have just gone bad. Below I have included my build:

Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1866
SAPPHIRE 100311-2SR Radeon HD 6970 2GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16
AMD Phenom II X6 1100T Black Edition Thuban 6-Core 3.3GHz
GIGABYTE GA-970A-D3 AM3+ AMD 970 + SB950 6 x SATA 6Gb/s
CORSAIR Professional Series Gold AX850 (CMPSU-850AX) 850W ATX12V v2.31 / EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS GOLD Certified

Does anyone have thoughts or input on other troubleshooting steps to try? Or do we think it's safe to assume at this point that the GPU has run its course?

I appreciate all time and constructive input, thank you.

Jonathan

 

[chadbry]

If it IDLES at 68C then you did not re paste it right, no way. Unless your pc happens to reside in an oven. remember that too much thermal past is bad too.

 

[photonboy]

It's not a power supply problem.

Artifacts are a sign of either overheating, overclocking, or simply a card that's failing.

It sounds like a failing card for sure. Maybe you could get some more life out of it by dropping the frequencies but hard to say.

Temperature: I don't know what the typical temperatures are for that card, but if the paste is fan and it's still too hot there could be an issue with the fan not blowing hard enough. You could temporarily take a CASE FAN and get it as close as possible to aid in the cooling (just for testing purposes).

(Artifacts are usually an issue with the VIDEO MEMORY not the GPU. If you underclock just do both by at least 10% each such as 1000MHz down to 900MHz.)

 

[skylight1]

It's not a power supply problem.

Artifacts are a sign of either overheating, overclocking, or simply a card that's failing.

It sounds like a failing card for sure. Maybe you could get some more life out of it by dropping the frequencies but hard to say.

Temperature: I don't know what the typical temperatures are for that card, but if the paste is fan and it's still too hot there could be an issue with the fan not blowing hard enough. You could temporarily take a CASE FAN and get it as close as possible to aid in the cooling (just for testing purposes).

(Artifacts are usually an issue with the VIDEO MEMORY not the GPU. If you underclock just do both by at least 10% each such as 1000MHz down to 900MHz.)

Do you have any recommended software for AMD Radeon cards? I haven't messed with over/underclocking before since this card pretty much dished it out at the factory settings for whatever I needed it for. Would be curious to see if it made a difference when I did a stress test or for the temperatures.

 

[chadbry]

man im tellin you. if it idles at near 70 and the fans are spinning you messed up the thermal paste. any gpu will screw up if its reaching its tdp weather its on its way out or brand new

 

[skylight1]

man im tellin you. if it idles at near 70 and the fans are spinning you messed up the thermal paste. any gpu will screw up if its reaching its tdp weather its on its way out or brand new

It's idling at 63 right now and the highest it's been since I booted a few hours ago is 69. I've repasted it twice and it hasn't made a lick of difference. I was idling at these temperatures before I ever took off the manufacturer's original paste.

Do you still think it could be an issue?

I've attached a picture of the paste before I put the card back together:

I actually spread the paste to be much more smooth and flat before I put it back, so ignore those bumps.

Let me know what you think. I appreciate the input.