Serious problem with graphics/crashing

[bluebikeblood]

Hey,
i have an ATI Radeon X 1900 GT 'sapphire techology' video card.
i am a gamer who plays FPS and RTS games such as counter-strike and star wars: empire at war.
one day while i was starting up my computer, steam prompted me to update my video drivers. so i update my video drivers, but then from that point on i always get random lines shooting across my screen or huge chunks of land/guns will be way out of place or dragged out. most of the problems stem straight from the crosshairs in an FPS.
on top of that, most of my games will randomly freeze for a few seconds, display a black screen, then an error message will appear and the game will either resume like nothing happened or crash completely.
the worse part is, i reformatted my computer but the problem still consists (before and after updating drivers). i have no idea what to do or what kind of problem this is (hardware/software). Can anyone PLEASE help me solve this?

[pharoah]

did this start after the driver update?if so uninstall the drivers,and reinstall them.

edit:my bad i see you formated your pc.hmmm have any idea what the temp of that card is.that looks like artifacting a sign it is to hot,or maybe already half baked.

[bluebikeblood]

it started after i originally updated my driver, but even after uninstalling drivers/reformatting my computer i still have the same problem. i've uninstalled and reinstalled the driver multiple times but the same problems consists

[pharoah]

you must have started posting before my edit hehehe.do you know what the temp of the card is.

[bluebikeblood]

hhah yeah i did. i have no idea what the temp of the card is but i have the box right here so i'll take a quick look

[bluebikeblood]

alright stupid question: where do can i find the temp of the card?

[pharoah]

ok if it is overheating that could be the problem.

[bluebikeblood]

i think that is most likely the problem, seeing as i've reformatted my computer and the problem was still existant. so i guess repairing or buying a new video card is my only option?

[pharoah]

what was the temp reading on it?

[bluebikeblood]

i have no idea where to find the temp reading :|

[pharoah]

here i am attaching a file for you.ati tool can read the temps.

[bluebikeblood]

okee dokee. i got the ati tool going. what readings are we looking for

[pharoah]

ok i just did a pic the circled area is the temp readings.

[bluebikeblood]

mmm, my ati tool is different from yours, but check out the screen shot

[pharoah]

what kind of temps is the card actually getting to when playing a game?that temp you have there is not overheating.ive seen video cards get hotter with no problems.