Is my graphics card about to die?

[dreadlox7676]

Hello all, I'll start off with my system specs:

Operating System: Windows 7 64 Bit
CPU: Intel Core i5 4670k @340GHz
RAM: 8gb
Motherboard: Asus Z87-A
Graphics: Raedon R9 270 2gb


This morning I noticed a strange distortion of my screen when playing Team Fortress 2. The entire screen distorts randomly and ends up like this video benchmark using Heaven Benchmark software. The computer will then freeze with the vertical lines of two colors as seen (very briefly) in the video.

Sometimes, it freezes with these 'dead pixels' as seen in This screenshot of TF2 and login page of Outlook on Google Chrome.

This seems to occur with 3d games, and is confirmed to happen with TF2 and Dragon's Dogma so far. I suspect the same will occur with other games.

When it does this I have to hard reset the computer as it does not respond to any keystrokes. I took a look inside my tower and it doesn't seem terribly dusty and all the cables are securely connected, so I highly suspect that it could be my 5-ish year old graphics card giving out.

Does anyone agree with this or suspect anything else? Is there anything that can be done, besides buying a new graphics card? If buying a new card is my only option, what would you suggest I get? I'm not terribly knowledgeable about what video cards would be compatible with my system and would appreciate any advice on that matter.

Thank you, and I'll gladly provide any additional information if I missed any.

 

[PuperHacker]

The card is artifacting, indicating a partial malfunction. Before you throw it outta the window, you can try to clear it of dust (even if there is little by glancing you never know what is inside the GPU). Reinstall your drivers and try to underclock it to see if it helps.

 

[smorizio]

also downlaod hardware info set it to logging and sensor make sure your 12v rail is holding. that the only other thing thta can cause gpu to not diplay stuff right in games. on your gpu check with the gpu vendor see if it out of warranty. gpu cands can come with one year or up to lifetime warranty if it the older xfx gpus. also google the model and make of the gpu see if there any defects or recalls or class action lawsuits thta might get you a new gpu for free.

 

[dreadlox7676]

Update:

I tried to underclock and it made the artifacting much worse. It was out of its 3 year warranty. I also cleaned it and the inside of my computer with an air canister. Issues still persisted. I spoke with a friend who agreed that my graphics card was probably on its way out. I picked up a replacement today and am keeping the old one for now.

Thanks for the replies.