VideoCard might be Dieing.

C

CloakingHalk

New Member
Just today I woke up and my computer wasn't on. When I turned it on I heard a screeching sound so I shut the computer down. I saw the CPU fan not moving so I replaced it. When I turned it on though there was still a screeching sound. It turns out it was the video card but after spraying the fan with dust off, it stopped the sound. So I turned the computer on and it booted up. The only problem is not that the computer freezes a little and when using dragging screens around the desktop, it lags. Another thing is when watching a movie the sound and video freezes and slows down. I think this may be a video card problem but I'm not sure. It may also be a cpu problem since sound is lagging too. A month or two ago my computer sometimes froze several times after being on for a few hours. My computer is a AMD Opteron 165, ATI Radeon 9800pro 256mb,and 2gigs of OCZ. Thanks for the help.
 
How are the temps? Is anything overclocked? Maybe you should try to reinstall drivers, updated ones of course.

The card could just be dying, like you said.
 
The first thing I did was update the drivers and the card has always run hot. That just seems to be a common thing with the 9800 series. I don't know how to get the exact temp but it is so hot that you cant keep your finger on the heat sink. I forgot to say that the fan died about 8 months ago but ATI replaced it. Also I cant play games anymore because the computer sometimes goes to black screen and then to the game several times before turn black and I have to restart. I guess I'm more concerned with whether it could be the CPU and not the video card since sound also lags. The 9800 is pretty old and as new directx 10 games come out ill need to upgrade anyway.
 
Well a dying video card will adversely your system, it's possible that it's lagging your entire system, sound included.

How about you DX files, they good?

It's a hot card, fan is spinning, I assume.

Sounds like it is dying man. if you want to remove the CPU from the equation then download Orthos and do a stress test, for say an hour. If it can pass then it's not the problem.
 
Yes, then fans spinning, but what about the DX files? How would I check if they're good? I ran dxdiag and all i can find is the file d3d9d.dll which says "The file d3d9d.dll is a debug version, which will run slower than the retail version" Don't really know what that means though. Ill run Orthos and see what turns up.
 
Well you can run the direct3d tests from DXdiag.. If they pass then the files should be good. Or you can simply download the newest version of whatever DX version the 9600 uses.

Tell us what Orthos turns up.
 
Orthos "No problems detected in 1631456 iterations, bye! StressCPU ran 2 hours, 18 minutes 57 seconds.Execution halted." I guess that means my CPU is good? The direct3d tests also passed. Could this not only be a video card problem but a power supply problem?
 
It is possible. Though it doesn't sound like it to me. This problem just started, right? If the problem has been evident for awhile it more of a suspect. But another reason I don't think it's the PSU is the problem is because the stress test went fine. Orthos will seriously stress your CPU, making it use more power, had the PSU been bad I would have expected the tests to fail.
 
Well before my video cards fan stopped I used to play some games and the game would have really weird lines jumping across the screen after playing the game for about 20minutes. I would then get a ATI driver error. I don't remember exactly what it said but it needed the drivers to be restarted or something like that. I would have to restart then to reset back to normal. I blamed that on the fan stopping but I can't be positive. When the fan stopped, the screen showed barely anything. Now after the fact I get the black screens in the games instead of the lines. I think I get the same driver error but its been a while since I played a game since this problem annoyed me. But this never used to effect me when I watched movies, listen to music, etc... I just assumed this was a problem when played graphics hungry games.
 
The lines and foreign crap that turn up when playing games are called artifacts, usually happens when overclocking too much or when the card gets too hot, which seemed to be your problem. Also I'm not very knowledgeable about ATI card drivers, but from all I've heard about them they can be quite the pain in the ass.

So pretty much everything you just described is indicative of a failing or overheating GFX card. Try opening up the case and a pointing a house fan directly at the card. It may not work though, the card may have just had enough and pooped out on you. But better safe than sorry, eh?
 
well as I type it seems to have stopped lagging as much, but ill try the fan and oblivion and see if i can get past the part that I could never get passed since the computer would restart.
 
I tried the fan but it didn't help, It still gets black screens. I also tried to under clock the card a few months ago and that didn't help either. Well i guess its just time to get a new video card. Any suggestions? I'm considering the GeForce 8800 GTS right now but, is anything new coming out in the next few months that will lower prices?
 
OMG Bambi's so cool, How could you whore out Bambi as SPAM you conceited, tyrannical, transvestite, SPAM****?

Op; You may just need a better cooler. ;)

Edit: I missed your post cause a' the spam guy. Do you have a PCI-e slot? What is the voltage and amperage of the +12v line on you're PSU? Gotta make sure it'll work

Yes the G92 is coming out in november, I believe
 
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Yeah I have both agp and pci-e and the amperage on the +12v line is 19 amps. That enough? I don't think thats enough do you?
 
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For a 8800gts? No, You need 26-28a. But it is enough for a 8600gts, as long as it's a 300-350w. it packs about half the power of a 8800gts, but it's cheaper as well.

If you're set on a 8800 then you'll have to upgrade your PSU. Makes it a tad more complicated if you have a pre-built like Dell as their PSU and motherboards are proprietary POS'. But seeing as you have an Opteron 165 and 2Gb's of RAM I'm guessing it's a custom?
 
lol yeah its custom. Never owned anything but custom. I think its better to spend the extra money to get get twice the power. Now what about PSU's that have multiple 12+ volt rails? One of them has to be at least 26-28amps or does it draw the rest from the other rails?
 
Do you think its worth buying now since the new g92 is coming out in November? I'm really in no hurry to get the card since the games I really want to play aren't out yet. Ill save that Ultra power supply though, looks good. I trust them Antec, and a few others.
 
The G92 is one of the lower-medium end Geforce 9 series cards. And I really don't know how they're going to perform against say a 8800gts. So I really can't say. If you're willing to live without gaming (or are willing to get a cheap one to last till, like the 80-90 dollar 7600gt, very good budget card, much better than your 9600, I have one and can play Oblivion maxed at a 1280 x 1024 rez, as well as Bioshock maxed at a 1100x800 rez, plus it'll work with your current PSU.) or with a busted card then sure. Even if the G92 sucks you can still pick up a then cheaper 8800
 
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