Time for a new video card?

[pwnagesarus]

Right now I have an BBA Radeon x1900 XTX which I purchased from a user here over a year ago. I stuck a Zalman cooler on it and it's worked perfect until I started gettin screen tears in WoW a couple months ago. Never bothered me cause that was pretty much the only game I played and it was tolerable. When I loaded up Oblivion lots of the textures were white and black, I would run around for awhile and my computer would suddenly. I was really bored tonight and loaded up Quake 4. Screen was all funky and after about 5-10 min my computer restarted.

The thing is my temps have never really changed (~40C Idle and ~75C Load IIRC).

Do you guys think it's time for a new video card?

 

[mpilchfamily]

Sounds like the video RAM is giving out. Time for a new card.

 

[Maluno]

Originally posted by: mpilchfamily
Sounds like the video RAM is giving out. Time for a new card.

Yeah, it does sound like your card has some bad RAM. IIRC, there are some apps that are designed to test your video RAM. Maybe someone else knows of one in particular that would be good for you to use.

 

[Sam25]

Yup, the software's called Artifact Tester. It's a free download, just search it on Google and it'll come up.

 

[pwnagesarus]

Yeah I got artifacts in both Software testing and DirectX. =/

 

[faxon]

yea looks like you need a new video card. since you are only playing WoW you can probably get away with using an HD4670, but if you have a monitor with resolution 1650x1080/1600x1200 or higher i would get a 4850 instead. you probably dont need more power than that for most new games comming out in the next year unless you are running at 1920x1200 or higher, in which case i would get an HD4870 if you plan on getting any new games anytime soon

 

[MichaelD]

It does sound like the card/ram is giving out. But before you spend the money on a new card, check a few things first.

Specifically, what are your card's operating temps? Possibly, it's just overheating. Artifacting/tearing is a sign of overheating OR the RAM/card going bad.

Since you put an aftermarket cooler on it, maybe the cooler has come loose and is no longer making contact with the GPU core.

Is the fan on the HS working? Is it clogged with dust?

Check all that and then decide. These days I wouldn't recommend anything below the HD4850 equivalent level. If you have a 22" or bigger monitor, I'd recommend somehting a bit more beefy. Say a HD4870 or GTX260.

 

[pwnagesarus]

Well I am looking at getting back into other PC games, but atm I'm trying to save money for a car so a HD 4870 is out of the question. I've been debating on whether to get a 4850 or 9800GT.

There is a 4850 on NewEgg for $140 AR but I also see there's a XFX 9800GT for $110 AR that comes with CoD4. I know the 4850 kicks the 9800GT's ass in higher resolutions but I'm running 1280x1024 so I don't think that's an issue. I'm also thinkin about gettin an eVGA 9800 GT just so I can step up later...

EDIT:

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Specifically, what are your card's operating temps? Possibly, it's just overheating. Artifacting/tearing is a sign of overheating OR the RAM/card going bad.

Since you put an aftermarket cooler on it, maybe the cooler has come loose and is no longer making contact with the GPU core.

Is the fan on the HS working? Is it clogged with dust?

It idles at around 40C and load is about 75C. It's been more or less the same for the whole year I've had it.

My heatsink is pretty clean, not much dust at all.

 

[MichaelD]

Sounds like the heatsink is functioning correctly...and you have a bad card. Is there a possibility that you'll be upgrading your monitor in the next couple of years? Always good to plan for the future. 9800GT is a great card...especially for $110 and with CoD4.

 

[MichaelD]

D/P

 

[pwnagesarus]

Originally posted by: MichaelD
Sounds like the heatsink is functioning correctly...and you have a bad card. Is there a possibility that you'll be upgrading your monitor in the next couple of years? Always good to plan for the future. 9800GT is a great card...especially for $110 and with CoD4.

There's definitely a chance I'll be picking up a new monitor sometime in the future...especially when Black Friday rolls around. But I'll be aiming at a 22" WS.