Is my graphics card dying

[da1rym1lk]

Hi recently i have built my first pc from scratch, the only pasrt i used from my old pc was the graphics card (NVIDIA GEFORCE 7600 GT).

I was previoulsy able to over clock as high as EXPER tool allows me without any probs at all but now out of the blue while playing games online they freaze often i can still move the mouse but if i try Ctrl tab into windows everything freazes. asfter reeboot sometiems screen freazes again while loading intial programs.

After a crash if i open EXPER Tool to reduce the setting to default i get a message saying test of the new setting had failed and advising me to reduce the settings eventhough they have always worked on much higher setting.

Also sometimes when i try to load windows xp all i get is a screen full of vertical lines, i have downloaded all the newest drivers for the card.

So i guess my question is is my graphics card dying or should i look elsewhere please help

Thanks in advance to anyone who overs me some advice

[Guest Wolfeymole]

Hello Dairy Milk

 

Welcome to Extreme Tech Support - Free PC Help

 

I will agree that it is time for a new card as I reckon your over-clocked card is now over-cooked.

 

I would definitely obtain a new one as soon as possible.

 

The pleasures of over-clocking eh? :(

[da1rym1lk]

Thanks for the advice kinda wanted to get a new graphics card anyway so gives me an excuse to get the ok from my boss :)

[da1rym1lk]

Just noticed something that may be relevant to my problem.

Checked the event log after the last few times my system froze and everytime i have had a problem a string of disk errors appears all saying "the driver detected a controller error on\Device\Harddisk0\D", when i click on the help and support link the response points to a failing cable and tells me to replace it. I have replaced the data cable 3 times and still get the same errors. Last time this happened this error message was generated 26 times about 30 seconds apart.

The drive i have is 320GB 3.5 inch Hard Disk Drive (7200rpm) Serial ATA II-300 16MB

Samsung SpinPoint T166 and i am using a standard sata cable i got free with my new motherboard. I spoke to the sales rep from the shop i bought it from who suggested getting a sata2 cable but other ppl have told me there is no diff between sata 1 and sata 2 cables. After checking various posts on the subject ive seen that the sata 2 cables can hit a burst transfer rate of 300 mb/s where as sata 1 peak at 150 mb/s could the drive i'm using require the cables to be able to cope with the faster transfer speeds and because the sata 1 cables can't cope be causing these errors or could i just have a damaged hard drive?

Inace it makes a diff the motherboard i'm using is a asus p5n-t deluxe and i'm running windows xp pro with sp 2 installed. I have also tried plugging the cable into diff ports on the motherboard but i still get the same problem.

Really hope someone can help as its driving me mad

[JEBWrench]

Overclocking will always lessen the lifespan of your hardware, but another consideration - what are you using for a Power Supply?

[da1rym1lk]

At the moment i have a WINPOWER 500w POWER SUPPLY but will be upgrading it to OCZ 600 W StealthXStream Power supply when i replace my gfx card

[JEBWrench]

That should be suitable for your needs either way. Though bigger is usually better if its hardy enough.

 

(I recall a 450 watt PSU of mine being outlasted and outperformed by a sturdy 300W dealie.)

[da1rym1lk]

Just spent £8 on a new sata 2 cable to try see if it sorts the problem out and i still have the same errors appearing in the event log so eventhough the help centre says it is caused by a faulty cable i don't think this really can be the source of the problem, i mean what are the chances of me having 4 faulty brand new sata cables and also a faulty brand new sata 2 cable.

So could all my problems be down to a fault on the hard drive?

[Pixelkitten]

That kind of hdd-errors that you hace been experiencing are in my experience usually created by overheating. Is your refrigerator running? ;-)

[Flair4it]

Hi been awhile since i posted here been working on my new site you can check it out if you like links in my profile, anyways I would try going into your bios and Enabling S.M.A.R.T on your Hard drive, when you restart your PC your Motherboard should detect if the hard drive is failing something like backup and replace will come up, if thats the case is most likely that your Windows Installation and Computer Data (Music / Photos / Videos) are all on that drive and are using more then a 75% HD Space, if this is the case I would suggest backing up what you want and what you can, Formatting the Drive and restarting install,

 

Overclocking is always a bad thing to do, I noticed you kept your Graphics card from the old machine, I presume you kept your HD as well.

 

Let me know a bit more of your problem if this doesnt help in anyway,

 

If your hard drive is failing, I would replace soon as possible dont be like me and loose 180 gig of valuble information.....

[Dalo Harkin]

Overclocking components works differently on different MOBO's.

I 'personally' would not OC unless you know that all the components are up to it, and more importantly you have the cooling to handle it.

As for the SATA cables - you can make a SATA2 drive compatible for SATA1 via the jumper on the back, the only difference I have seen in the cables is that the SATA2 ones 'lock' into place.

OCZ 600 watt PSU - NO get the Corsair ones they are made by Seasonic ;)

are you using an add on card for the SATAs or the MOBO - the error is pointing at the controller.

If you are overclocking then the controller is on the MCH and you will be overclocking that for your GPU - if you have clocked it too high you may have burn the controller out and I hope for your sake this is not the case as you will be needing a new MOBO :(