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Vid card problem?

kantseemekantseeme Member Posts: 709

I keep having this issue where these tiny boxes flicker across the screen. been having to restart very often. I NEED to know what it is and how to get it to stop. iv added some pics of what it looks like.

 

I have tried to update my vid card drivers and it says that i have the latest.

 

I am useing a samsung hdtv monitor.

 

ANy help would me AWESOME!

 

 

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Comments

  • PoufPouf Member Posts: 341

    This is amazing, I want a computer that does that...

     

    quite frankly it can be anything related to graphics. But glitches like that sometime just comes from the cable connection.

    Did it always do this or is it new?

    Check if your cable connection is fine, unplug and plug again.

    Otherwise, you will have to try with a different cable and monitor, if it still does that you are sure that it is your graphic card..

  • L0C0ManL0C0Man Member UncommonPosts: 1,065

    When I've seen glitches like that, it usually means a video card going bad.

    Try first the obvious, cable, drivers (rollback to a previous version maybe), monitor (try with a different monitor), clean any dust/contacts in the computer. However you say it goes away after a reboot so I strongly suspect it's a video card problem.

    You can also check overheating, there are several utilities out there that let you monitor the temperature of your GPU (some video card even come with their own software on the drivers DVD). You say that they go away for a little while after a reboot. Do they take longer to appear when you turn on the computer, and less after a simple reboot?. If that's the case I'd suspect it can be overheating, specially if it's hot where you are. Try to run the computer open with a desktop fan blowing cool air into it, specially to the motherboard. It can also be caused by dust buildup on the video card fans.

    What can men do against such reckless hate?

  • kantseemekantseeme Member Posts: 709
    Originally posted by Pouf

    This is amazing, I want a computer that does that...

     

    quite frankly it can be anything related to graphics. But glitches like that sometime just comes from the cable connection.

    Did it always do this or is it new?

    Check if your cable connection is fine, unplug and plug again.

    Otherwise, you will have to try with a different cable and monitor, if it still does that you are sure that it is your graphic card..

    Its been doin it for about a mouth now. i have another monitor i could try. its smaller and older though. like 8 years old.

  • kantseemekantseeme Member Posts: 709
    Originally posted by L0C0Man

    When I've seen glitches like that, it usually means a video card going bad.

    Try first the obvious, cable, drivers (rollback to a previous version maybe), monitor (try with a different monitor), clean any dust/contacts in the computer. However you say it goes away after a reboot so I strongly suspect it's a video card problem.

    You can also check overheating, there are several utilities out there that let you monitor the temperature of your GPU (some video card even come with their own software on the drivers DVD). You say that they go away for a little while after a reboot. Do they take longer to appear when you turn on the computer, and less after a simple reboot?. If that's the case I'd suspect it can be overheating, specially if it's hot where you are. Try to run the computer open with a desktop fan blowing cool air into it, specially to the motherboard. It can also be caused by dust buildup on the video card fans.

    i dont think overheating is the problem. running very cool atm and i can barly see the screen. They come back very soon after a reboot.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347

    Which video card do you have, and which drivers?

    For that matter, what else do you have in your computer?

    You could try reseating everything relevant (pull the video card out of its slot and put it back in, and disconnect both ends of the monitor cable and plug them back in), and uninstalling your video drivers entirely before reinstalling them.  But there's a decent chance that you're going to need to replace the video card.

  • BadaboomBadaboom Member UncommonPosts: 2,380
    Make sure there is not dust on the fans, etc causing it to overheat.  Buy a can of air and clean your case.  Make sure cables are plugged in correctly.  Update your video driver.
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    I might as well add, check your video card temperature directly to see if it's overheating.  Don't just assume that because you think it shouldn't be, that it isn't.
  • kantseemekantseeme Member Posts: 709
    pulled fans and vid card from case and blew them out. took some huge metal coil off aswell and cleaned that. I have a Fatal1ty Champ1on series case if that helps picture the metal coil thing. playing aroiund with it now. seeing if those boxes come back and how fast.
  • kantseemekantseeme Member Posts: 709
    been good for almost 30 mins now. jumping in and out of everything. music players and multi web browsers, so far so good.
  • kantseemekantseeme Member Posts: 709
    Still nothing. seems like its fixed for now. will have to keep blowing the dusts out of this thing quite abit. PC is in a room with a carpet and dog. lots of dust.
  • kantseemekantseeme Member Posts: 709
    and its back. might have to get new gfx card. oh well.
  • cronius77cronius77 Member UncommonPosts: 1,652
    is it overclocked or on regular settings?
  • WeretigarWeretigar Member UncommonPosts: 600
    Those are Artifacts, they start to show up once a videocard is ran to hot or overclocked to much. It's a sign your card is dying. Sorry. 
  • kantseemekantseeme Member Posts: 709
    thanks for the replies. Will just have to get a new vid card is all. what can you do you know. oh well.
  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347
    Again, what hardware do you have in your computer?  Don't just buy something random and hope that it's good.
  • MothanosMothanos Member UncommonPosts: 1,910

    Did you happen to overclock the card ? if so check if your card doesnt use your OC settings when you booth your PC up.

    I have this sometimes when i OC my card to high.

     

     

  • MothanosMothanos Member UncommonPosts: 1,910

    TIP:

     

    If you dont use a OC program of never used  one, try it now and down your videocards memory setting a little bit ;)

    i used a Ati card fora  very long time and it was ready to die out, i down clocked the card and it lasted another 2 years :P

     

    if your new to Overclocking, downgrade both sliders 10 mhz at a time 1 by 1.

     

  • kantseemekantseeme Member Posts: 709
    Originally posted by Mothanos

    Did you happen to overclock the card ? if so check if your card doesnt use your OC settings when you booth your PC up.

    I have this sometimes when i OC my card to high.

     

     

    The pc i have was bought 2ed hand. so if its OC i dont know about it. wouldent know how to check it anyway. Im not very good when it comes to these things. But i dont believe its OCed

  • kantseemekantseeme Member Posts: 709
    Originally posted by Quizzical
    Again, what hardware do you have in your computer?  Don't just buy something random and hope that it's good.

    ill do my best to see what it is i have in this thing.

    I do know that i have a cracked copy of windows 7 in here.

     

    I would just like to say that im am a PC NOOB. i dont know shit about this stuff what so ever.

     

    I hope this helps.

  • Loke666Loke666 Member EpicPosts: 21,441
    Originally posted by kantseeme
    and its back. might have to get new gfx card. oh well.

    You could try to increase the speed of the fan, Rivatuner for Nvidia cards, not sure for ATI cards since Im a Nvidia fanboy.

    Another option would be clocking the card down a bit. And you did install the latests drivers, right?

    But yeah, these are all just temporary fixes. Since you overheated the card for so long it is most likely damaged and besides, you should upgrade your GFX cards every 2-3 years anyways.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347

    You have a Radeon HD 5970, and the reference cards of those were fairly prone to overheating.  The stock clock speed is 725 MHz, but AMD unofficially encouraged people to overvolt and overclock them to 850 MHz.  This was a bad idea, as the reference card couldn't really handle it.

    Sapphire, Asus, and XFX made aftermarket 5970s with better cooling that could handle the higher clock speeds.  Or at least I think the XFX one could, though I'm not entirely sure.  The Sapphire and Asus ones definitely could, though Asus called theirs a Radeon HD 5870 X2 rather than a 5970.

    Exactly which 5970 do you have?  You can determine this by a visual inspection.  If it has a fan on one end (the end near the front of the case) and the rest of the card is covered up, it's a reference card.  The XFX card had a fan in the middle, while the Sapphire and Asus cards had two fans and a visible heatsink.

    Also, which video drivers do you have?

    And which case and power supply do you have?  You'll probably have to open up the case and read the label to find out what power supply you have.

  • Loke666Loke666 Member EpicPosts: 21,441

    Another thing worth trying is to take off both side covers of the computer case and see if it makes any difference.

    Yeah, some cases do ventilate better with those on but many does not and it could be the temperature in the entire case that is the problem as well.

    It is an easy thing to try at least.

  • spadge3k00spadge3k00 Member Posts: 56
    id go into ur bios mate an hit "load optimum defaults" jus incase its clocked in ur bios .
  • kantseemekantseeme Member Posts: 709
    Originally posted by Quizzical

    Exactly which 5970 do you have?  You can determine this by a visual inspection.  If it has a fan on one end (the end near the front of the case) and the rest of the card is covered up, it's a reference card.  The XFX card had a fan in the middle, while the Sapphire and Asus cards had two fans and a visible heatsink.

    Also, which video drivers do you have?

    And which case and power supply do you have?  You'll probably have to open up the case and read the label to find out what power supply you have.

    The card its self its black and red with what looks like 2 squares cut out on the top. on the bottom, the fan is closer to the front of the case.

     

    The case i have is a Fatal1ty Champ1on series.

    http://www.bit-tech.net/custompc/reviews/100852/zalman-fc-ze1-fatal1ty-champion-computer-enclosure.html

     

    Power supply is Tagen BZ series 900w

     

    would not know were to look to see what vid drivers i have sorry.

  • QuizzicalQuizzical Member LegendaryPosts: 25,347

    Open Catalyst Control Center and go to Information -> Product Summary -> Software and it will tell you the driver version.

    I don't know if the power supply is any good or not.  It's old, and I couldn't find a good review of it.

    The case doesn't have that much airflow, and certainly nowhere near what you'd want for a reference 5970, which is what it sounds like you have.  So you should worry about the video card overheating, especially if it's overclocked.

    What is the video card clocked at?  You can find this in Catalyst Control Center under Performance -> Clock Controls -> AMD Overdrive.

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