GPU dieing?

[jhaquo]

Greetings,

This morning i was playing some wow on the testserver (i didnt played in months ok?!) when my computer sudenly crashed with weird grafic artefacts. I did play some other games yesterday and the days before without any trouble.

I rebooted, and got in windows fine. But since, as soon as i start any game using the GPU, after couple of secs/minutes i get strange artefacts and computer freezes and reboots. BUT during the reboot i still have grafic artifacts. I have to shutdown completely the computer for them to be gone.
I tried checking the grafic card to see if it was inserted corectly but it didnt change anything...

The freezes are also bound with a BSOD after couple of secs and a message about trouble with the "nvlddmkm.sys" file.

Any clues whats wrong? WIll i have to change my GPU?



edit: i now cant boot at all... i have ugly lines through the bios and boot screen. i can get in safe mode tough... but normal mode goes straight too BSOD with the NVLDDMJM.sys error... Please help



Regards,
Jhaquo


my specs:
intel core 6600
geforce 8800 gts with latest drivers
win 7 64bit
6gig ddr2
forgot about the rest

 

[jerreece]

First thing I would look at would be temperatures of the GPU. And check to be sure the cooling fan on the GPU is spinning when you start things up. Just in case that fan has possibly died.

If you're seeing artifacts during the boot process (when no drivers are being used) you could either be having overheat issues, or the GPU itself could likely just be failing. But I'd try to rule out the heat issue first.

Also: If you have a second video card (even an older one) you might try installing it and seeing if you have the same issues, or if the problem goes away. That can help rule out your current GPU.

 

[jhaquo]

what program do u suggest for doing that?

 

[jhaquo]

using speed fan: http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/6174/heati.jpg

ps: i cant edit my posts...

 

[jerreece]

For a quick easy way to check your video card, is using GPUZ (GPU-Z).

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

This program will allow you to see GPU temp, as well as other important data on the video card itself.

 

[jerreece]

using speed fan: http://img117.imageshack.us/img117/6174/heati.jpg

ps: i cant edit my posts...

Wow, for having 0% CPU usage, your Core temps are very high. 68C & 70C for an idle CPU is very bad. This is probably part of your problem. You might want to make sure your CPU cooling fan, and other fans in your system are clean and working.

Is your CPU overclocked, or at the stock 2.4Ghz? If you're OverClocked, you'll need to either get much better cooling, or go back to lower speed settings.

If you're at stock settings, you just plain and simply need much better cooling. Anything above 70C is not good for your CPU, and can cause the CPU to either become damaged, or will turn in the built on throttling system which will mean the processor will intentionally slow itself down in order to help itself from overheating.

EDIT: Also, if your CPU is running that hot, the air temp inside your case is probably pretty warm. Since most video cards pull in their "cool air" from inside the case, it's trying to cool itself with warm air to begin with. So that's probably not helping the video card either.

What kind of Case are you using? And how many/what kind of case fans are in it?

 

[jhaquo]

well, the thing is... im using this config since 2007 and never had a problem... i added a harddrive like a month or two ago, and cleaned the fans at the same time. so. its weird that, TODAY, its starting to overheat..

 

[jerreece]

Something apparently has changed. Open up your case and take a peek inside. You may have a fan that isn't running, or some issue like that. Because SpeedFan was showing obvious heat problems with an idle CPU.

My guess would be your graphics issues are heat related too, just based on what your CPU temps are looking like. Make sure that when you added that hard drive you didn't mistakenly disconnect a power connector for a case fan or something like that.

 

[jhaquo]

i just checked everything is OK inside... gonna wait a little while for everything to cool down. altough, if you want, you can check this out: http://www.driverheaven.net/vista-nvidia-display-drivers/152790-how-solve-nvlddmkm-sys.html
it seems its not a heat issue...

 

[jhaquo]

i unpluged the computer for a big 30 mins , removed the GC and cleaned it neatly, repluged everything and booted backup.
i have good temps (all below the 35) but now i have vertical lines in all my boot screens (bios, mem check, windows booting) except in the windows itself (800 600 resolution).
Im getting desperate

 

[Rustyy117]

If I were you i'd take everything back to stock(if it isnt already) clean your entire computer e.g fans, heatsinks etc...... Reinstall your OS reinstall drivers and cross your fingers and maybe your toes!

 

[JeanLuc]

Are you aware that the whole Geforce 8000 line are inherently faulty? The fan on my 8800GT for example will never spin above 60% in PWM mode and if your experiencing artifacts you should send your card back under warranty for a replacement.

 

[jerreece]

It's starting to sound like the graphics card has gone bad. If it's under warranty, you'll want to see if you can RMA the video card to the manufacturer for repair/replacement.

Otherwise, if you have an older video card around, try using that just to see if the problem goes away. If that fixes things, it just confirms it's the video card.

In all likelihood, it sounds like it is indeed a failed video card though.

 

[jhaquo]

its more than 2 years old so for the warranty.... id like to test with an older GPU but i dont have any .. damn

 

[Attila_the_pun]

Try testing it with another monitor, I had the same problem and it ended up being the monitor.

 

[jhaquo]

well, the problem aint the same. i can imagine your problem WAS NOT LINKED to a specific driver. and that the artefacts were not only showing at some points...

anyway i tested with another monitor, same problem of course

 

[nforce4max]

Take the card out and blow out any dust you can then reinstall the card.

 

[jhaquo]

i did that too, one of the first thing i did

 

[jhaquo]

Are you aware that the whole Geforce 8000 line are inherently faulty? The fan on my 8800GT for example will never spin above 60% in PWM mode and if your experiencing artifacts you should send your card back under warranty for a replacement.

the thing is, the card is more than 2 years old, so no more warranty

 

[nforce4max]

Is it a G80 or G92? Take the card out again and take a good look into it under the cooler with a flash light to see if there is any gaps between the thermal pads and the vram chips. Next take the cooler off to inspect for burn marks or missing elements.