Is My Graphics Card Broken?

J

Jayce

New Member
A while ago I purchased 512MB RAM for my computer so that it would run World of Warcraft more smoothly. However a while after I bought the RAM, the computer would randomly restart in the middle of playing. I gave it to a friend who said they knew people who could fix the problem, yet when I got the computer back, it was much worse than before. Now when I try to play any game whatsoever (World of Warcraft, Halo 2, Medal of Honor, etc.) when I turn it on and get to the actual game, it displays everything without texture with the colors not matching what should be. Everything on the screen looks like a pixely mess with random pixels in the background and nothing with texture. You can hardly even make out the game, as the textures and pixels obscure what is truely there. :confused:

However, anything other than games that require downloads seem to work perfect such as youtube or any internet games that stream onto the computer. I have no idea what is going on with my computer yet I would like to know so I can get it fixed and ready to play as soon as possible.

Please Help!!
Jayce
 
Sounds like the memory is causing the restart issue, ie wrong type of memory. One thing you can try is update the driver and software for your video card. If you have the old memory, reinstall it and see if the restart issue returns.
 
Alright thanks, I was going to try that but currently having a hard time finding the old RAM. (I took it out after it broke).

How would I update the video card? Is it a websight that does it?

And would the memory be causing the texture issue as well?
 
How long after buying the memory did the issue start? Have you downloaded and ran memtest to test the memory? I would try different ram anyway just to test.

Look in device manager and let us know what is listed under display adapters so we can tell what you have as far as video goes. You may or may not be able to upgrade it.
 
I'm back now.

johnb35 said:
How long after buying the memory did the issue start? Have you downloaded and ran memtest to test the memory? I would try different ram anyway just to test.

Look in device manager and let us know what is listed under display adapters so we can tell what you have as far as video goes. You may or may not be able to upgrade it.
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It started about 2 weeks after I put in the RAM. No I have not even heard of anything called memtest can you explain to me what that is? I am putting back the original RAM tommorrow to see if that makes a diference.
Device Manager says: buncha stuff hopefully I am getting the right stuff;
Nvidia Geforce4 MX Intergrated GPU under display adapter, AMD Sephron Processer under Processer, and Nvidia Network Bus Enumerater under Nvidia Network Bus Enumerater ha. Lemme know what else I should post.

wildbill said:
What brand of card is it?? AMD, Nvidia, other??
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Nvidia Geforce4 MX Integrated GPU
 
Integrated stuff usually isn't that good. If the puter will let you long enough, install the latest software and drivers for the graphics card.
 
wildbill said:
Integrated stuff usually isn't that good. If the puter will let you long enough, install the latest software and drivers for the graphics card.
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Ok so is that the reason why everything is coming through as just pixels without texture?? Also how do I install the latest drivers and software?

Thanks
 
Ok..

Alright I downloaded the latest driver or whatever it is, yet when I load up WoW it comes up still the same, a bunch of weird pixely stuff. Is there anyway I can take a screenshot of it to show you guys? I could use a camera too, but this would be easier.

I'm thinking it has to do with the RAM, so I'm going to take out the new RAM and put in the old RAM tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I'll let you guys know.
 
Jayce said:
Alright I downloaded the latest driver or whatever it is, yet when I load up WoW it comes up still the same, a bunch of weird pixely stuff. Is there anyway I can take a screenshot of it to show you guys? I could use a camera too, but this would be easier.

I'm thinking it has to do with the RAM, so I'm going to take out the new RAM and put in the old RAM tomorrow. If that doesn't work, I'll let you guys know.
Click to expand...

Let me make sure I got this right. So you where able to play all your games on this computer before with no problems correct. Then you got new RAM and 2 weeks later your games start messing up. So you gave your computer to a friend who was going to have it fixed and it came back in worse condition then it was before.

I wouldn't think that your computer would even be able to play games to start with. So that surprises me that your have been able to run your games smoothly. My guess is that you put so much strain on you graphics card that it has pretty much gone bad. Not allowing you to do any kind of heavy gaming.

Do a mem test and if everything comes up ok then I would say it is your GPU if you get errors then it is probably our RAM.
 
kimsland said:
So when you say graphics card may be bad, you are actually saying motherboard?
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No not at all

Yes he has an integrated graphics card. That does not mean if the GPU is bad that the motherboard is bad. I have see plenty of computer with integrated graphics go bad. All you have to do is get a new graphics card and it will work fine.

Like I said seems to me he has put so much strain on his GPU trying to play these games that he has damaged it. So now when he tries to play his games and put a load on the card he gets these pixelated graphics and lines running through the screen. I have seen this happen plenty of times.
 
Jayce said:
I took some screenshots so you guys could see just what was going on.

Also I'm having some trouble running the Memtest, so I might be unable to get results from that.

If you want to see the three pictuers go to the following photobucket link and just scroll right through the album.

http://s562.photobucket.com/albums/ss63/Jayce_photos/?action=view&current=MyCharacter.jpg

Thanks again for the help.
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Have you tried running the mem test that is on you linux CD.

Man I had no idea it was that bad. After seeing that I say it has to be your graphics card. I have never seen faulty memory cause that. I have see plenty of graphics card problems and most of the look like that. Although I don't think I have ever see it that bad.

I say you need a new graphics card. Lets get some more opinions first we don't want to jump to any conclusions just yet.
 
If the problem only occurs during 3D applications then ya its most certainly gotta be the integrated graphics card. Buy a cheap graphics card on newegg.com (either AGP, PCI, or PCI-Express depending on what your motherboard can handle) and disable your onboard graphics.
 
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