I think my Graphics Card is Failing?

[Mike2013]

This evening my computer crashed and it appears to be the graphics card. It showed checkboard throughout a lot of the screen prior, and now when starting, it's still has a lot of checkboard (as I move the mouse, some of the checkboards move around too). Then it eventually crashes again.

My system is a dell studio xps 435 MT. Although it is a 4.5 year system, it still works great and meets my needs so I don't want to replace the system. I've never replaced a graphics card so will need a little guidance.

According to my specs, my system has a ATI Radeon HD4670 512MB. I believe,and I could be totally wrong, that I need a PCI 2 x16 card.

Is there anything I need to be aware of when purchasing a new card? I am not sure what's the best brand, or if I need to be aware of anything, such as if I have a compatable power supply? If anyone could point me in the right direction, or recommend a card for my specific pc unit, it would be very helpful. This particular model is no longer manufactored. Thanks for any assistance.

 

[hapkido]

Really any of AMD's low-end cards would be a good replacement. HD 5570 or HD 6570 will be relatively the same performance-wise and probably a little less on power. HD 7750 will be quite a bit better performance-wise and about the same on power.

Before you buy a new GPU, you may want to clean out the dust from the CPU, GPU, PSU, and fans. Then some stress testing software to verify parts are working / not working. I like Intel Burn Test for CPU, Memtest for RAM, and Furmark should work for GPU. If it is indeed your GPU, it will fail Furmark. However, it's entirely possible cleaning your system will fix any problems if it's really dirty (dust conducts electricity and can cause short-circuits).

Is this just a general-use PC? No games or anything graphically demanding?

 

[Mike2013]

Thanks for the quick response. I will try cleaning out the tower and see if that helps at all. In the meantime I am looking for a new card so I can order it right away if it turns out it's not dust. I came across this one based on your suggestion. It is a ASUS 7550(Newegg Link http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121633 ), I figure I might as well go for the better one. I noticed it has it's own fan. I am assuming that this will be able to fit in the tower without issues? Also, it says PCI3. Is this compatable for PCI2? I didn't see any listed as PCI2.

Thanks again.

 

[Mike2013]

I also meant to answer that do not do heavy gaming. I use the PC mostly for photo editing with Photoshop,, spreadsheets, web browsing, and some You Tube videos at times.

and edited to also add, I don't think a stess test will be possible since it is so hard to see the monitor, I wouldn't be able to get to the process before it will crash.

 

[hapkido]

PCI express 3 is backwards compatible with 2 and the bandwidth differences only come into play with the highest-end cards.

If you don't play games at all, something really basic like this Sapphire 6450 should be fine. If you play games occasionally, you may want to spend a little extra for the 7750. This HIS 7750 is only $82 shipped.

Space and power requirements shouldn't be a concern for these types of cards.