Video artifacts and lots of crashes

[KublaiKhan]

• Windows 7 64-bit
• Intel i7-950
• 12 Gb RAM
• EVGA GTX 580 Superclock with 1.5 Gb VRAM
• Drivers 340.52 and 352.86

Two nights ago, I found the video from my gaming computer corrupted by scintillating artifacts which were followed by a hard crash.

I noticed that the fan didn't seem to speed up, anymore. I used to hear it kick into high gear when I started games and such.

The artifacts and crashes returned whenever the machine ran for more than a few minutes, or when playing video. I had horizontal lines, dots that sparkled like snow, blocks, and corrupted portions of various windows. The machine might lock up and require a restart, lock up for a few seconds, or crash hard. Even restarting was a roll of the dice.

I read that this signaled the inevitable death of the video card, which I purchased in 2011. Still, I did try cleaning it out with a Shop Vac, in case dust was causing a heat issue.

Along with one CTD, I saw a message reporting the failure of the video driver, which prompted me to think this was software problem, not hardware. I was able to run a clean installation of the newest available drivers. The problem went away for several hours.

And then returned, crashing a game and locking up the computer. It actually got worse. Now, the machine won't really boot but in Safe mode; even then, the screen is covered in artifacts, although everything else seems to work.

I'm hoping it's the video card and not the motherboard, which could entail purchasing all sorts of other stuff. I've temporarily replaced the card with a GT 730 I just bought locally. No more artifacts. It's booting fine.

I think I'll try my luck with a refurbished GTX 780, which would be a nice improvement and even cost less than what I paid for the GTX 580 Superclock.

Is three and one half years the expected lifespan of a video card?

 

[davidarad02]

did you overclock your GPU?

 

[mp5mafia]

It might be just fan faulty causing gpu or vrm`s overheating.
You can check GPU temps easiely using any 3rd part software such as afterburner, HW monitor etc
So if your GPU temps are fine I would say it`s a vrm overheating due to faulty fan which might just need to be replaced and card itself is probably fine though

 

[KublaiKhan]

No. I'm done with overclocking. I figure I'm better off buying a new card, instead of scratching for a couple more frames per second. But the GTX 580 was a Superclock card, which meant EVGA turned things up from reference. I wonder if that shortens its life span.

I've read a few stories about the fans going bad and causing the card to overheat. I could look into changing the fan out, now that I no longer rely on the card for a working PC. Perhaps it can be yet another spare after the GTX 780 arrives. Amazing how expensive those are, given the age.

 

[mp5mafia]

No. I'm done with overclocking. I figure I'm better off buying a new card, instead of scratching for a couple more frames per second. But the GTX 580 was a Superclock card, which meant EVGA turned things up from reference. I wonder if that shortens its life span.

I've read a few stories about the fans going bad and causing the card to overheat. I could look into changing the fan out, now that I no longer rely on the card for a working PC. Perhaps it can be yet another spare after the GTX 780 arrives. Amazing how expensive those are, given the age.

Yeah, in my opinion you should go for 970 instead. Similar price tag but much, much better card

 

[KublaiKhan]

Ugh. I was going to order the 970, but the refurbished 780 was well under $300. If it ends up DOA, I'll go with the 970. If both were brand new, the 970 would be the much better buy. Those 780 cards are stupid expensive.

Definitely won't be doing any gaming with the GT 730. So sad....

 

[mp5mafia]

Ugh. I was going to order the 970, but the refurbished 780 was well under $300. If it ends up DOA, I'll go with the 970. If both were brand new, the 970 would be the much better buy. Those 780 cards are stupid expensive.

Definitely won't be doing any gaming with the GT 730. So sad....

Yeah, would be good if you could strech budget a bit and get 970 instead. Would definitelly get you more future proof though especially with dx12 support not mentioning much better performance. I seen few MSI 4G second hand on ebay going for £220 that's probably a bit more than $300 US .
Anyway, good luck with the purchase man and sorry to hear you can't game at the mo

 

[KublaiKhan]

The GTX 780 has been in for a week, working fine. I thought that it was a Ferrari to a VW Beetle, compared to the GTX 580, based on a few benchmarks, but it's not. I have better frame rates, for certain. God rid of a few laggy spots in some games. It's good enough for now, and the price was much lower than a new card or a GTX 970. Plus, I finally have a backup video card for emergencies with the GT 730.

The refurbished and recertified cards are worth looking at.