Regarding an extremely old GPU that just stopped working

[Chris David]

This problem got to me on start of 2017. I was playing CS:GO until my PC restarted itself suddenly and didn't even turn off after a restart. The computer had power supply and i was able to turn it on, But only the lights come up with no computer boot. So a computer technician took my Board and fixed it, he told me that my PSU fan had a loose contact and he fixed it.

And at the same day i played CS:GO again and my computer shut itself down, I called him again and he took my board, told me its because of a faulty screw that caused a shortage and also because my PSU was dead. I bought a Zebronics 230 V Economic Series as i really don't need to waste on a PSU that i will change after 2 months when buying a new gaming PC.

My computer booted normally and everything was fine until windows took me to the login screen, as soon as I entered the password. I saw those glitch lines we usually get when using a faulty Cable, the colors were Red,Blue,Green,Cyan,Magneta,White and Black. I restarted again and to my despair didn't fix it.

I Managed to go into my desktop only to see a black screen while my Taskbar was completely visible but not clickable. Then after waiting 5 minutes my computer showed the icons on my desktop and i was able to click and use it. When i clicked Chrome my screen went black and came back up again. Usually the "Entering Power Save" "Auto Detect" stuff. Then my desktop showed a preview " NVIDIA GeForce Driver 340.22 has just stopped working and successfully recovered " Then my screen went into black screen for a couple of times until Windows says " Your PC ran into a problem and the problem is nvidialinksys or something "

I thought it was with my Hard disk and even used my laptop one to see and i was getting those same lines again. And now i removed it out and deleted the drivers after i used the Built in G41 Express Chipset in my board.

I need this graphics card fixed at least i need to know what i did wrong so that i don't mess up with my future stuff.


My Specs :

Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 @2.93 GHz
NVIDIA 9500 GT 1GB DDR3
3 GB RAM

 

[LucaFire]

You've got a system that's pretty old (at least in relative performance). Let's see...
First question, what version of Windows are you using?
Secondly, you sure that you've connected the connectors (both power and VGA/DVI cables)?
Have you been using DDU to uninstall and reinstall the drivers?

 

[Chris David]

You've got a system that's pretty old (at least in relative performance). Let's see...
First question, what version of Windows are you using?
Secondly, you sure that you've connected the connectors (both power and VGA/DVI cables)?
Have you been using DDU to uninstall and reinstall the drivers?

Windows 8 64Bit

Yes. Both cables are connected and it automatically detects the graphics card one when i boot. if i remove the DVI setup and the card, My VGA gets detected. and it works 100% normally except the lags which i experience without a Graphics Card.

Yes the power cable is connected to the monitor and my Graphics Card is getting the power supply and it works cause i get this when i boot my PC.

"NVIDIA 9500 GT (version no.)
Release Date : July 2008 or something
BIOS (version)"

I don't know whats a DDU supposed to be. I used my VGA cable to go into my desktop and did a clean uninstall from my Control Panel and restarted my computer.

---

I do realize my computer is pretty much old. I got it back on 2011, its been 6 years and i've never made a change to it except the periodical Thermal Paste changes and replaced my PSU 2-3 times.

Any possibilities of a fried card ? But no burns on physical appearance tho.

 

[LucaFire]

Okay, DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) (http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html) is a software that ensures that no remains of previous drivers are left on a card - if there are, it can create problems.

I want you to download DDU and uninstall all previous drivers before installing the most recent driver for your card.

 

[Chris David]

Okay, DDU (Display Driver Uninstaller) (http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html) is a software that ensures that no remains of previous drivers are left on a card - if there are, it can create problems.

I want you to download DDU and uninstall all previous drivers before installing the most recent driver for your card.

I will do this tomorrow when i am not a bit sleepy so that i don't mess anything up

No need to reply to this, will edit post or reply once again in a new one

 

[LucaFire]

Sounds good. You should close the thread, though

 

[Chris David]

Sounds good. You should close the thread, though

Okay i went into Safe Mode with Networking as it asked me. Then i used the DDU tool. It's great since i didn't even have my graphics card put into my PC, but it still detect a 9500 GT and asked me to clear the drivers.

Thanks for your help already, you've been a great help. I need more guidance tho.

I cleared the drivers using the tool. What should i do after this ?

 

[Witzenman93]

After you have cleared, type NVIDIA 9500 GT 1GB DDR3
3 GB RAM drivers into Google and look for the NVIDIA drivers for your card. If you get the NVIDIA Control Panel, its a software program thats kind of an all in one thing to keep everything up to date.

 

[Chris David]

After you have cleared, type NVIDIA 9500 GT 1GB DDR3
3 GB RAM drivers into Google and look for the NVIDIA drivers for your card. If you get the NVIDIA Control Panel, its a software program thats kind of an all in one thing to keep everything up to date.

I put in my graphics card after i've cleared drivers using DDU. But still the problem exists.

VIDEO_TDR_Failure (nvlddmkm.sys) is what i get after my screen blinks multiple times into blackscreens.

Graphics Card also heats a lot when i use it.

 

[Witzenman93]

First of all, after reading your post more thoroughly, dude, don't pay that PC technician anymore money. You're about to buy a new gaming setup, and it sounds like he's giving you the run around. First its a short on the PSU fan? Then a screw on the board, then a whole new PSU? Idk maybe, but especially since you're getting a new gaming computer, don't spend more than 100$ fixing this thing.

 

[Witzenman93]

If it boots fine without the card, and runs fine too? That leads me to believe its your card. How old is it? Did you adequetly cool it? Did you monitor temperatures? Did you overclock it? I mean aside from learning advanced circuitry, which you actually can via Stanford Online, I would just say its the card man. S*** happens. Do you have a family or friend computer running you can test it out to see if it will work on their computer?

 

[LucaFire]

Sounds good. You should close the thread, though

Okay i went into Safe Mode with Networking as it asked me. Then i used the DDU tool. It's great since i didn't even have my graphics card put into my PC, but it still detect a 9500 GT and asked me to clear the drivers.

Thanks for your help already, you've been a great help. I need more guidance tho.

I cleared the drivers using the tool. What should i do after this ?

I haven't yet read through what Witzenman93 has said yet (I will get to that), but once you clear the previous drivers, boot into safe mode and go to the NVIDIA website (http://www.geforce.com/drivers) and search for the appropriate drivers for your system.
Still in safe mode, install them into the graphics card and reboot.

Tell me what happens.

 

[LucaFire]

As for what Witzenman93 said about the PC technician, I agree with him.

 

[Chris David]

First of all, after reading your post more thoroughly, dude, don't pay that PC technician anymore money. You're about to buy a new gaming setup, and it sounds like he's giving you the run around. First its a short on the PSU fan? Then a screw on the board, then a whole new PSU? Idk maybe, but especially since you're getting a new gaming computer, don't spend more than 100$ fixing this thing.

Sure, it just that i need an extra hand since i had trouble finding the problem.


I didn't overclock the card as i don't have the proper Cooling methods. My card is about 6 years old (Bought 2011), I used to change the thermal paste every 3 months. Having two extra fans (Cheap Stuff, but does the job). I didn't check my temperatures mostly the case gets heated a bit.

I am gonna try what Luca told me. Will reply when i am done.

 

[Chris David]

I Did what LucaFire asked me to do. But it didn't work as i still have these color lines appearing in my screen. [strike]But i didn't get the BSOD and those blackouts. I am about to apply some pressure on it by playing a game on low settings. [/strike]

But yeah colors lines still appear so i think i still need help.

Opened CS:GO with low graphics and my PC stuck, then i used TaskMGR and killed the program. After that my PC started getting blackouts with " NVIDIA KERNEL MODE DRIVER HAS STOPPED WORKING AND HAS RECOVERED "

 

[hang-the-9]

Replace the video card and get a good quality power supply. The money you spent on 2-3 cheap power supplies you could have just bought a good one and not risk damage to your computer. Buying something low quality usually means you need to pay double for it in the long run and also deal with the hassle of replacing it, that goes double for a power supply that can kill your whole system when it fails.

There are plenty of $30-40 power supplies that are decent quality that can power a lower wattage system. Even the cheaper Corsair CX models are much better than the really bad units. This Seasonic 520 watt unit is $40 with rebate https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817151094 and $45 without. Not modular but very good quality for the price.

 

[Chris David]

Replace the video card and get a good quality power supply. The money you spent on 2-3 cheap power supplies you could have just bought a good one and not risk damage to your computer. Buying something low quality usually means you need to pay double for it in the long run and also deal with the hassle of replacing it, that goes double for a power supply that can kill your whole system when it fails.

There are plenty of $30-40 power supplies that are decent quality that can power a lower wattage system. Even the cheaper Corsair CX models are much better than the really bad units. This Seasonic 520 watt unit is $40 with rebate https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817151094 and $45 without. Not modular but very good quality for the price.

So my videocard is toast ? Well shame then, had a lot of good old gaming memories. The reason why i didn't buy a good one was that i was going to get something good, a lot good when i complete March as its my 10th Boards. I have enough money to buy a dozen of Modular PSU's but didn't waste it cause this PC wouldn't need much Watt's.

I'll just wait for two more days to get more help on this problem. I'll inform you when i want this locked, Thanks hang-the-9,LucaWolf,Witzenman

 

[hang-the-9]

Replace the video card and get a good quality power supply. The money you spent on 2-3 cheap power supplies you could have just bought a good one and not risk damage to your computer. Buying something low quality usually means you need to pay double for it in the long run and also deal with the hassle of replacing it, that goes double for a power supply that can kill your whole system when it fails.

There are plenty of $30-40 power supplies that are decent quality that can power a lower wattage system. Even the cheaper Corsair CX models are much better than the really bad units. This Seasonic 520 watt unit is $40 with rebate https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817151094 and $45 without. Not modular but very good quality for the price.

So my videocard is toast ? Well shame then, had a lot of good old gaming memories. The reason why i didn't buy a good one was that i was going to get something good, a lot good when i complete March as its my 10th Boards. I have enough money to buy a dozen of Modular PSU's but didn't waste it cause this PC wouldn't need much Watt's.

I'll just wait for two more days to get more help on this problem. I'll inform you when i want this locked, Thanks hang-the-9,LucaWolf,Witzenman

Then you should have bought a good PSU and moved into the new build. Why buy power supplies that you will just end up not using anyway? Nothing states you can't buy a good PSU now and re-use it, you are just paying twice for the parts.

 

[Witzenman93]

Your videocard could or not could not be toast. It sounds like toast. haha. if you did what luca said, which was a really good idea before ruling out the card, then I would say card. the last thing I think you could do, and tell if I'm wrong here guys, is possibly put the card into another system and see what happens. If the card doesnt work on a perfectly functioning system, you have ruled out all other variables but the card. ***I dont think the old card will damage another system though right guys?

 

[Chris David]

Replace the video card and get a good quality power supply. The money you spent on 2-3 cheap power supplies you could have just bought a good one and not risk damage to your computer. Buying something low quality usually means you need to pay double for it in the long run and also deal with the hassle of replacing it, that goes double for a power supply that can kill your whole system when it fails.

There are plenty of $30-40 power supplies that are decent quality that can power a lower wattage system. Even the cheaper Corsair CX models are much better than the really bad units. This Seasonic 520 watt unit is $40 with rebate https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817151094 and $45 without. Not modular but very good quality for the price.

So my videocard is toast ? Well shame then, had a lot of good old gaming memories. The reason why i didn't buy a good one was that i was going to get something good, a lot good when i complete March as its my 10th Boards. I have enough money to buy a dozen of Modular PSU's but didn't waste it cause this PC wouldn't need much Watt's.

I'll just wait for two more days to get more help on this problem. I'll inform you when i want this locked, Thanks hang-the-9,LucaWolf,Witzenman

Then you should have bought a good PSU and moved into the new build. Why buy power supplies that you will just end up not using anyway? Nothing states you can't buy a good PSU now and re-use it, you are just paying twice for the parts.

Lock this please.