[SOLVED] Old NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT lags with the latest 340 driver, but with Windows default VGA driver it works OK-ish ?

[Eugene787]

I am using an old PC with NVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT. A few days ago my monitor began to turn on/off, display red pixels that change their positions, and show some artefacts looking like horizontal stretches. The GPU works OK-ish in Windows' safe mode (or without the latest driver) and with Slux from a USB-stick with the only difference that the latter supports 1920x1080. I understand the GPU is dying.

Temporarily, I cannot replace the GPU with another one and won't be able to do so in the near future.

The question is: is there any way to work on the standard VGA driver with the desired screen resolution like Slux somehow makes it possible?

I am wondering if the GPU could work "at minimum", but with Full HD or 16:9.

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

You can try to under clock it with MSI Afterburner so that less power is being used. You may get some more mileage out of it that way. Afterburner (msi.com)

 

[geofelt]

What is the make/model of your motherboard?
Can you connect directly to integrated graphics via the motherboard?

 

[Eugene787]

You can try to under clock it with MSI Afterburner so that less power is being used. You may get some more mileage out of it that way. Afterburner (msi.com)

I am not familiar with Afterburner. Let's assume I manage to run it and underlock the GPU, must it run automatically when Windows starts?

 

[Eugene787]

What is the make/model of your motherboard?
Can you connect directly to integrated graphics via the motherboard?

Gigabyte GA-P31-DS3L
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-P31-DS3L-rev-1x#ov

 

[Eximo]

No video out and no integrated graphics.

Yes, MSI Afterburner can be configured to launch at start. Underclocking the memory and GPU clock might make it stable enough, but it is doubtful.

Have you taken the card apart to see if it is just a case of the thermal compound completely drying out and cracking off?

Best solution would be something like a GT730, GT640, etc as a replacement.

 

[Eugene787]

No video out and no integrated graphics.

Yes, MSI Afterburner can be configured to launch at start. Underclocking the memory and GPU clock might make it stable enough, but it is doubtful.

Have you taken the card apart to see if it is just a case of the thermal compound completely drying out and cracking off?

Best solution would be something like a GT730, GT640, etc as a replacement.

Re-applying thermal grease was the first thing I did after noticing strange behaviour of the GPU. Generally, the GPU's temperature fluctuates between 37-41 °C.

For some reasons, now I am not having any artefacts and it is the first time it's happened for the last 3 days. I have installed MSI Afterburner v4.6.5 and allowed it to start with Windows. Next time I see GPU malfunction, I'll decrease Core Clock and Memory Clock to the minimum to see if it has any effect.

 

[Eugene787]

What I have forgotten to mention is that I got the Video TDR failure error two times while starting my PC. I already emailed a Nvidia staff account on this and received some assumptions on what can trigger this error.

Before plunging into troubleshooting using the list, I installed Windows 8.1 with an older driver on another partition. First short session on the "naked" OS was without bugs when I didn't do anything special. After rebooting some strange artefacts appeared and in tray there was a message something like "the GPU doesn't respond and was reinitialized". I think the assumptions falling into categories "corrupt system/register files" and "specific app casusin the error" can be ruled out from now on.

I was back on Windows 10 on generic drivers to read your replies, when the OS somehow installed Nvidia drivers and notified me. I decided to give Afterburner a try, installed it, and reboot. As I wrote in the previous post, I am having a privilege of having a normal session right now.

Since the error seems "floaty", I intend to hold my view about defective GPU. Nevertheless, I'll see if Afterburner can help.

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

TDR failure is usually caused by bad gpu drivers. Since you are using Win10 you should use a win 10 gpu driver, as windows did for you. Older drivers sometimes work better on older gpu's. If it stays stable with the windows installed drivers, I would let it be.