Is my video card going bad or could it be something else?

[BoaConstrictor]

Hello,

I was wondering if someone can give me some advice. I built my computer about 4 years ago, and recently, it started crashing only while playing video games, especially Overwatch and sometimes when watching YouTube videos.

What happens before a crash in a game, is that the graphics gradually start going black with "waves" of black going over the screen until most of the screen is black, the sound then loops and the computer crashes, or freezes (requiring hitting the reset switch).

This is what it looks like right before it crashes,

I suspect it might be the video card. I opened my case and dusted and cleaned the card's fans in case it was overheating, and it's still doing the same thing. When I am not doing anything "intense" and am just web browsing it works fine withour crashes or defects.

So, my question is, do you think it's my video card or can it be something else? Anything I can try to fix or diagnose before spending money on a new one? I hate to buy new components for an old PC, but I can't afford a brand new build at the moment.

My specs are as follows,

Intel Core i5-4570
EVGA GeForce GTX770
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB
MSI Motherboard Z87-G43
Samsung (SSD) 250 GB Sata 2.5-Inch
Seasonic M12II-650 BRONZE ATX 650 Power Supply


Any advice you can give me is very much appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Serinox]

You can remove your gpu and try overwatch with integrated graphics. If this solves it your gpu is likely to be the culprit.

 

[BoaConstrictor]

Thank you for the suggestion! I just tried that, but Overwatch or even COD would not launch as "no compatible graphic hardware is found". Any other ideas how I can stress the computer to see if it's the card or not?

Thanks.

 

[araujo.tiago]

Did you try to upgrade (or even downgrade) the drivers?