Is my GPU on it's way out?

[Paladash]

Hi Folks,

I've got an 8800GTX which has served me well over the last 2.5yrs and, to be fair, it's still going strong .... until the last few days..

I'm either just sitting in Windows or have a game running (nothing too taxing; just EVE Online) when suddenly the screen fades and goes black. 2-3 seconds later the screen comes back. It happens more frequently when I'm playing games. It started happening a few days ago but is happening more frequently now. In fact, when I play a game now it happens every minute or so.

I've checked the connections and everything's secure. If it was a faulty connection then I guess the screen would immediately go pitch black, rather than this 'fading' (very fast fading; over the course of 1 second), so I'm wondering if the GPU is packing-up? It has had a LOT of use over the last couple of years..

I've checked temps and the GPU itself is running at up to 65C (when gaming) but seems to be 55C when idle.
The CPU (if that's relevant) is a Q6600 which, again, is running around 50C (when gaming).

I've updated all the NVIDIA drivers but to no avail.

Any ideas guys?

Thanks v much for your help!

 

[hundredislandsboy]

Sounds almost like a prank screen saver or virus. Do you share your computer with anyone who can change settings or install a virus? Or it may not be your GPU at all, it could be your monitor. How old is the monitor?

 

[Paladash]

Thanks for the reply

This is my gaming PC, so separate from the house's network (i can't even print from it). The monitor is circa 1yr old (Samsung 226BW). Have done a virus check and no joy there.
Even though i didn't think it was a heat issue it could be related to heat as I've since noticed the problem got worse the more i played a game (EVE) and, even when i came out of the game (shut it down), the problem persisted in Windows. I have since opened up the case and cleaned as much of the dust out as possible (wasn't that much in there, to be fair) + double-checked all internal connections and seatings are solid and, after playing EVE non-stop for 2hrs, haven't had an issue since.... I guess it's something i may have to keep an eye on.
Funnily enough, my CPU temps seem a little lower than usual today - currently 45 C while playing EVE - yesterday I'm sure they were more like 50-52 C (but this is still way within safe operating params for a Q6600) - so guess the dust clean out may've helped a little)

 

[belial2k]

could be a monitor also...if you can hook it to one of your other monitors you can rule it out or know its the cause. Most video cards begin to artifact, have color errors, or cause crashes when they go bad....but anything is possible.

 

[Paladash]

Thanks Belia. I've had my laptop hooked-up to the Samsung monitor over the last few days (when i'm not using the gaming PC) and haven't seen a problem like this (that's not to say it's not the monitor but..).
Have only seen 1 artifact-like issue and this was about a month ago. Logged on the PC to see the screen was a mass of random colours and patterns (looked fantastic, but screwed-up!). i restarted the machine, fearing the worse, and it was fine; seen nothing like it since.
Unfortunately, I don't have another monitor to connect the gaming machine to, but could see how that could be a good idea. Thank you.

 

[belial2k]

alright, then one last idea before you get a new card...I don't know how you have the PC and monitor connected, but if you have a different cable/and or adapter you might try that. Sometimes when cables burn up they will give you random errors like that..but the artifacting incident might be the missing clue. Ride it for as long as you can, but if you see a great bargain it wouldn't hurt to pick up a new video card. There are some crazy $130 deals on XFX 4870s right now

 

[Paladash]

Thanks again, Belial2k. I'll have a root-around; may have another cable somewhere i can try.