Is this hardware problem or software?

SilentSteps

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Is this hardware problem or software? [Partially answered]

Alright, I believe my video card has been fried due to some random overheating. I see artifacts in the desktop, like purple lines, and missing icons. However, if I uninstall the drivers, everything is fine in the desktop. So it must be software problem right? Here's the situation. No matter what, whether or not the drivers are installed, there are artifacts showing up in the windows XP logo loading screen. So would this be a hardware or software problem?
 
still probably a software problem, because the winxp boot screen is just an executable really. The file might have gotten slightly corrupted, maybe.
 
This does seem like something that has fried though I'm afraid. Especially if its happening on your desktop. I've heard artifacts appearing if you overclock too much. Your not overclocking your card are you?

Have you got a temp facility on your PC that you can scan to see how hot the video card is getting, or the surround ambient temperature of the PC?

My idea is that lower resolutions would use less power, and so would create less artifacts as it would cool down a bit if you un-installed drivers using the default VGA drivers it would use.

A fix could be to open the side of the case on yuor computer and blow air into it if you have a house fan. Does this work?
I would think it is temps though in some way, since when you overclock and they appear, it is also because of overheating of the chips, like memory.

So i'd suggest hardware as in heat.
If its not heat, I'm afraid one of your video card pipes meant for 2d rendering is a bit dead :(

I hope this helps :)
 
Here's more info. This problem occurred AFTER cleaning my PC of dust. Before, it was 70ºC for the video card, now it is 47ºC. The CPU is around 41ºC I think...I may have damaged the video card itself myself. I never overclocked the video card, even though in the bootup screen, it says overclocking failed. Also, lowering the resolution gave me more artifacts.
 
Silent-

When you clean, you can inadvertently loose any

component...

Check the fitting of all internal parts and add ons...
 
r53s said:
Silent-

When you clean, you can inadvertently loose any

component...

Check the fitting of all internal parts and add ons...
:D Thats exactly what I said before :rolleyes:
 
Yes, Check the connections of all your hardware.
The onboard fan on your graphics card may have been damaged or became loose. Check to see if it is working at all. This has been an issue with the 9800ati cards and also the geforce 4ti4400. The fan broke and artifacts appeared. You may have to remove some other cards to be able to see if the fan has stopped.
 
The fan on the video card is rotating fine, as well as the CPU fan, just incase you wanted to know. I'm still stumped by why the lack of drivers fix the desktop, but the problem still persists in the bootup screen. Should I swap cards with a friend and see if the graphics card is dead?
 
If you swapped cards with a mate, you will find it'll work.

Did you say the video card temperatures actually dropped?

"Before, it was 70ºC for the video card, now it is 47ºC"

So it can't be because of heat issues, but I wonder why its suddenly noticing such a drop. more cooling?

Plus when you took that first temperature, it might have been playing a game? Whilst on the second reading, it wasn't?

Plus even though you un-installed drivers for the card, the card was still being used after you restarted, yet with VGA drivers which are ones that are used with Windows when you first boot up with a new card, or in safemode.

The fact that its appearing at bootup and not in desktop in this mode confuses me...

I seriously think you've done some damage mate :(

Also the fact it says overclock failed...is it stuck at some point? Or by any chance have you installed a bios update for your video card without knowing to make it better than it is? (There are bios updates that will fake a card to think its something higher and run it at that speed) so maybe something like that? So its actually running at a too high memory and clock speed when you start up.

I would seriously consider getting a new card. Something like a Geforce 6600GT would do nicely (about £160).

I hope this helps
 
I hate to say it, but Kage is right, sounds like serious damage, however you can get a Geforce 6600GT (which is a very nice AGP card) for about 170-200 dollars at newegg.com
 
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