Graphics card kind of shuts down?

[killer1231]

Hey everyone,
I'm having a problem. Whenever I try playing a game or watching videos with MPC with a renderer that uses the GPU (madVR), my computer kind of freezes.
The screen goes black and it says there's no input detected, the fan of my graphics card turns up to 100% and I can't press any buttons on the keyboard or use my mouse. It simply won't respond. I can, however, still hear sound.
I was skyping with my friends earlier today and it happened again, but I could still hear them talk, but they didn't hear me. So far, I've tried reinstalling the drivers and re-inserting the graphics card, but to no avail. I also tried using my onboard GPU and it worked, but everything was laggy obviously, so that's not really an option.
Has anyone experienced that kind of thing before? Should I get a new graphics card?

Thank you in advance.

Edit: Oh, I completely forgot, I have a Palit GeForce 9800 GT Green edition.

 

[Xiceman007x]

It kind of sounds like your card is unstable at whatever frequencies you're running it at. Is it overclocked? If so back it down to the factory clocking speed. If it isn't overclocked, try backing it down to under the factory speed to see if that stops. Also, if it goes back to desktop and says "the graphics driver has recovered" chances are the card is simply unstable and unable to run at whatever frequencies it is currently running at. It may have been stable at whatever clocks it is at now for a long time before, but age can make them become unstable *sometimes.* That's the absolute first thing I'd try.

 

[killer1231]

Thanks for your reply!

No, it's not overclocked, and it doesn't go back to desktop either. My computer simply freezes and I can't do anything besides rebooting it.

I'm gonna try and clock it down. How do I do that?

 

[Xiceman007x]

There are multiple ways an unstable card can manifest itself.., and one is hard lock ups. It may be too old a card, but try MSI Afterburner. It might work. It makes it easy if it does, because all you have to do is move a slider.

 

[Xiceman007x]

Also, use a software of your choice and check the temps of your graphics card. If its over 90-95 celcius it could be just overheating. If that's the case, power down your pc and unplug the power cord. Then hold the power button for 5 seconds. Then open it up and using a can of compressed air to blow out the gpu cooler. Maybe it's just got a bunch of crap stuck in there.

 

[TenPc]

Best to give all your hardware specs ad OS details however it does sound like a video card issue.

What is the total power output of the PSU?

 

[killer1231]

There are multiple ways an unstable card can manifest itself.., and one is hard lock ups. It may be too old a card, but try MSI Afterburner. It might work. It makes it easy if it does, because all you have to do is move a slider.

Thanks, I'll check it out!

Also, use a software of your choice and check the temps of your graphics card. If its over 90-95 celcius it could be just overheating. If that's the case, power down your pc and unplug the power cord. Then hold the power button for 5 seconds. Then open it up and using a can of compressed air to blow out the gpu cooler. Maybe it's just got a bunch of crap stuck in there.

It's not overheating, I checked. It's at a stable 40-50 C. I'm sorry, I forgot to add that to the OP.

Best to give all your hardware specs ad OS details however it does sound like a video card issue.

What is the total power output of the PSU?

Here, and it's 400W.

Also, thanks for the reply!

 

[TenPc]

You are using a 512mb video card, they don't have much staying power, they get a bit "full" after a while, not much good with fast action games or heavy graphics.

It could be the madVR that is causing the issue.

400 wats is good enough for Xp but I'd rather use a 600 watt psu (or more) with windows 7 x64 despite the video card being a low powered card. Most of the Forum users would not agree with me, though.

 

[killer1231]

Yes, I know 512 MB VRAM and a 400 Watts PSU isn't really much, but I've never had any major problems before whatsoever. I bought the card in 2009, is it possible that it's just getting old?

 

[TenPc]

It's not getting old it's just not able tokeep up with whatever youare doing.
I think it might be the MadVr. You might need a better video card with more vram.

My best video card is a GTx 8600 with 512mb, I got it in this PC. It's good enough for most Vista games but the MadVr is a render of sorts and might be overworking the 512mb. Not real sure but you are using Windws 7 x64, that also uses a lot of video ram for its themes.

You might want to consider a better video card and better PSU to suit it if you want better performance.

There is no 64 bit version of this software, that might impact on its use -
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/madVR.htm

 

[killer1231]

I don't really mind performance. Like I said, it's been working like a charm before, but my graphics card just doesn't feel like working (if it really is my graphics card). Also, you mentioned madVR; all I did in the last few days was playing games, and I even switched back to the default renderer in MPC so it doesn't freeze again.
I didn't play any new games either. I still play the games I played when I got that card. I don't think I need a better card, unless my current one is beyond saving.

 

[TenPc]

I wasn't inferring that the video card was beyond its use, I was inferring that if you want to continue using that renderer, a better video card might be a good idea however, a better video card might not actually need a renderer, it would have one built in.

Considering that you switched back to the default renderer so it doesn't freeze again, is consistent with my replies.

So, basically don't use the MadVr render, I suppose, otherwise, uninstall it and download a newer version and install.
http://www.free-codecs.com/download/madVR.htm

 

[haider95]

This guy is blowing it out of his behind^^ The cards dying. Im facing the same issue and my games freeze. Then the screen goes completely black and the dreaded no signal sign Also im using a CX430 From CORSAIR with a 9600GSO. My card is dying -.- and its definitely not the ram. I've been running memtest for 2 hours now (my desktops right next to me running memtest as i write this) and i've had no errors. Stupid 9 series by nvidia. Every Nvidia GPU i've had has died on me. Saving up for an AMD HD7770 now -.-

 

[TenPc]

Perhaps the use of the cx430 is your problem and not the video card?

 

[haider95]

And whats wrong with the CX430 may i ask?

 

[haider95]

Like i said you're blowing it out of your behind

 

[TenPc]

The Corsair CX430 v2 has only a total of 28.8 amps on the 12 volt rail (combined).
336 watts (28 amps) for +12v and 9.6 watts (0.8 amps) for the -12 volt rail

The average requirement for a current PC rig would be about 48 to 52 amps, on the combined 12 volt rail.

Everyone spouts good cheers for the CX430, it seems that their other hardware is at fault.

 

[haider95]

Wrong wrong and wrong again. The CX430 i own (The box is right next to me at the moment) has 34A on a SINGLE 12v rail and carries the 80+ certification label. My rig is not even 5% of todays rigs the only **somewhat** good thing about it is the 2GB of ram :/
E2160 at 1.8GHz
2 Sticks of 667MHz DDR2 Ram
80GB HDD
Dvd writer
9600GSO 96 Shaders edition unbranded.

Oh and by the way. I re-installed windows ran the test again and it froze on me. Memtest shows no errors with a 5 hour test *10 passes* so the ram checks out To OP: Try ramping up the voltage on your card that should fix it. My card doesn't support voltage control so wont work for me. However i downclocked the memory to 700 something and the core clock to 450Mhz and now it seems to be working okay (10 Mins stress test didn't show any errors) Try ramping up the voltage if that doesn't work. Downclock the card and dont listen to this guy up there^^ according to him the 8600gtx is the best card -.- no offence dude but come on

 

[TenPc]

@haider95 -
I got those details from the Corsair site PDF manual, for the CX430 V2, your version might be different.
If every video card you have ever used has died on you then you should consider a better PSU, at least try the Corsair 600.

The GT 8600 is good enough for what I use it, Vista games, and my other GTX 8600 is for the XP PC and XP games. Not actually inferring it is the best video card.

As for the Asker, don't use the MadVr program for watching movies, it can't be that bad without it.

 

[haider95]

Sorry dude. Just a bit mad with this piece of crap nvidia dying out on me and by the way an effecient 34A should be more than enough for most medium end systems

 

[TenPc]

@haider95 - no worries, I get a lot of flak about the CX430, it is good enough for low end systems, better with onboard rather than using a video card, too.

@OP - You are using Media Player Center, might be better to install a DVD player like VLC or PowerDVD, it has all the mpeg codecs and renderers built in, either will also play movies on your hard disk.

 

[killer1231]

@haider95 -
I got those details from the Corsair site PDF manual, for the CX430 V2, your version might be different.
If every video card you have ever used has died on you then you should consider a better PSU, at least try the Corsair 600.

The GT 8600 is good enough for what I use it, Vista games, and my other GTX 8600 is for the XP PC and XP games. Not actually inferring it is the best video card.

As for the Asker, don't use the MadVr program for watching movies, it can't be that bad without it.

@haider95 - no worries, I get a lot of flak about the CX430, it is good enough for low end systems, better with onboard rather than using a video card, too.

@OP - You are using Media Player Center, might be better to install a DVD player like VLC or PowerDVD, it has all the mpeg codecs and renderers built in, either will also play movies on your hard disk.

Like I said, I switched back to the default renderer and I've been using it for a while now. I can live without it, but the real issue here is that I can't play any games.

 

[TenPc]

Palit GeForce® 9800GT Super+1GB 256bit ddr3 green edition
*This graphics card requires a power supply unit: A minimum 450W power supply unit (with a minimum 26A current rate for 12V) , one 6-pin PCI-E supplementary power connector.
http://gts.rullscorporation.ph/index.php/palit-geforcer-9800gt-super-1gb-256bit-ddr3-green-edition.html

Sooo, you do need a better PSU after all.

Also, you will need drivers for this video card pertaining to your OS version.

32 bit OS Windows Vista, Windows 7 - http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/win7-winvista-32bit-275.33-whql-driver-uk.html

64 bit OS Windows 7 64-bit, Windows Vista 64-bit, Windows 8 64-bit
Language: English (UK)
- http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/win7-winvista-64bit-295.73-whql-driver-uk.html

 

[haider95]

It is not the PSU, The card's dying

 

[TenPc]

It is not the PSU, The card's dying

lol ) you could be right, the OP is using a 400 watt PSU, the video card requires 450 watt PSU, the video chips could be almost fried from straining for power resources.