New graphics card....

[Udder Juice]

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So, as some of you may have read my graphics card (I'm 99% sure its the ram on the card) crapped out last night when I tried to start up Diablo III.  The game froze at the title screen with a grey background and a few random 3D objects frozen in place.  Upon restarting the computer, the windows loading screen looks like this.


Screenshot taken with my phone.

Then the computer just stops putting out a video signal and the monitor goes into power saver mode.  I can start the PC in safe mode but I still have graphical artifacts. 



The funny thing is that if I press the print screen button and past the image into my image viewer the artifacts don't show up which leads me to believe that the errors are occurring in the frame buffers.

All of this leads me to believe that I have a partial RAM failure on the card.  Not uncommon with overclocked cards especially since I push it pretty hard with my graphics settings set to high in most games.

My CPU is an AMD 64 Dual Core 5800 3.01 Ghz with 4 GB RAM.  I was running a GeForce 9800 video card.  http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-9800gt/specifications

I'm thinking of getting the GeForce GTX 550 Ti http://www.nvidia.com/object/product-geforce-gtx-560ti-gtx-550ti-us.html

According to this site its should be a significant upgrade.  http://www.hwcompare.com/9786/geforce-9800-gt-512mb-vs-geforce-gtx-550-ti/

And Best Buy has it on sale right now for $170.  Unless anyone has a better suggestion sometime soon I'm probably heading out in a little while to pick this up and give it a go.

[Udder Juice]

So... Unless I'm crazy amazon has the same card for fifty bucks less.

http://www.amazon.com/Gigabyte-GeForce-Express-Graphics-GV-N550D5-1GI/dp/B006TTQEEW/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1342273671&sr=1-1&keywords=NVIDIA+-+GeForce+GTX+550+Ti+1GB+GDDR5+PCI+Express+2.0+Graphics+Card

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/NVIDIA+-+GeForce+GTX+550+Ti+1GB+GDDR5+PCI+Express+2.0+Graphics+Card/2375089.p?skuId=2375089&id=1218323853938

[Soldierof1]

Well im screwed. like I said my video card is not supported on my laptop, so I have to get a new laptop or desk top. I dont have money  for
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 7/13/2012, 17:39:14
       Machine name: MINWINPC
   Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.vistasp2_gdr.120402-0336)
           Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard
       System Model: HP Pavilion dv4 Notebook PC
               BIOS: Default System BIOS
          Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU     T5800  @ 2.00GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.0GHz
             Memory: 4058MB RAM
          Page File: 2439MB used, 5881MB available
        Windows Dir: C:\Windows
    DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
     DxDiag Version: 7.00.6002.18107 32bit Unicode
  DxDiag Previously: Crashed in system information (stage 4) & Direct3D (stage 2) & DirectInput (stage 1) & DirectShow (stage

[Udder Juice]

I ended up going with the Radeon HD 6850. It was a little more than I wanted to spend but is almost double the power of my old card. Guild Wars 2 releases later this year and now I'll be able to play it on high settings without getting a slide show in crowded areas. I have a 750 Watt power supply so I don't think that's the problem. The 9800 was overclocked and covered with dust. I pretty sure heat damaged the RAM. Anyways, paid for one day shipping so I should get it Monday and find out.

http://www.amazon.com/Sapphire-Radeon-PCI-E-Video-100315L/dp/B0047ZGIUK/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1342294981&sr=1-1&keywords=HD6850

[Neptune49]

You won't be sorry with that card.  It's the one I put in my computer when I built it and it does a very good job.  It's no longer top of the line, but still very powerful and worth the price you paid for sure.

[Udder Juice]

Well its a good thing I ordered the card with next day delivery because the old one is completely dead now. The computer powers on but I get no video output at all.

I hope I can get it going tomorrow night because it makes me really anxious not having a working PC.

Sent from my Android phone using Taptalk 2.

[Neptune49]

Installation is a breeze as long as you have enough available power connectors for it.  You need two of the six pin connectors available to power it. 

[Udder Juice]

You had me worried so I checked. The current card is only using one but there are two at the end of the cable.

Now my only concern is that since I can't access the computer to uninstall the old drivers, will the computer boot up and let me install the new drivers after I swap out the cards or will it be confused due to the change in hardware. All this stuff is supposed to be pretty much plug and play these days.

[HelloStrega]

you'll be fine, it'll boot as a generic graphics card. you'll probably run in low res 640 X 480 in 16bit colour or something like that until you install the new drivers.

[Neptune49]

you'll be fine, it'll boot as a generic graphics card. you'll probably run in low res 640 X 480 in 16bit colour or something like that until you install the new drivers.

What he said.  Just be sure to remove the old drivers and then install the new drivers and you'll be golden.  Super EZ mode these days.

[UberFeld]

I love ATI cards. Drivers are easily updated through Steam, so it's easy as pie!

Udder,

I would suggest that you blow the dust out of your system completely before installing and running a new GPU. It's amazing how much dust collects in a pc. I clean mine out with compressed air about every three months. Keeps temps nice and cool, and the system super clean.

[Udder Juice]

There was a ton of dust all over the inside of my computer. I firmly believe that is a huge part of why the card failed in the first place. I took it outside and used an entire can of air on it on Saturday.

New card was delivered a few hours ago. Heading home soon to install it.

Sent from my Android phone using Taptalk 2.

[Udder Juice]

Well, after some initial frustration/confusion my PC is back up and running even better than before.

I got the new card in but the computer wouldn’t reboot.  It would power on but there was no HD activity and still no signal to the monitor.  I was starting to get concerned/angry when I decided to mash the little test/reset button on the back of the power supply and reseated the power connecter.   I guess that did the trick and the computer booted up.  Uninstalled all the old Nvidea stuff, installed the new drivers and then updated them, lol!

Messed around with the ATI control panel a little bit.  Just in general I think Windows looks crisper with the new card.  Played some Deus Human Revolution which ran with a poor framerate previously and was pretty fast and smooth now.  So I am happy/relieved.

As a side effect, my PC runs whisper quiet now.  Just before the break down it had been sounding like a jet plane taking off (I guess that should have clued my in) and temps are way down.  I guess I’ll be paying more attention to that stuff and cleaning it our more often now.

[Neptune49]

Glad to hear it's all up and running now!  I was interested to read about your initial frustration as I frequently have that problem with my computer and now I'm worried that maybe it's the graphics card.  Frequently when I leave my PC unattended for a period of time (different intervals each time) my screen goes black and I get no signal to the monitor.  The only way for me to fix it is to turn the power off at the power supply, wait a couple of seconds, and then turn it back on.

ATI Control Panel is great, very convenient way to manage the performance of the card and I love that it automatically checks for and installs driver updates.

[D Seeker34]

Glad it worked out. I'd rather get a tooth pulled than mess with that stuff.