Has my graphics card died?

Gnostiko · 07-02-2009, 03:19 PM

Empire Total War has just killed my graphics card...

...or at least I think it has

Recently bought and have been playing it, but yesterday I got a crash; fair enough, I thought, the Total War series has its flaws, but these things get worked out. Left it alone to go to work and do other things. Load it up today, and the game crashes right after loading from the menu. Weird, I think, and leave it to play other games...only to encounter the same problem: the game crashes upon exiting the menu, and I'm talking any and every game I've got installed on my computer, add to that, I get random crashes where the monitor goes green, white, or just black after logging onto windows, or when I fire up Windows Media Player and use the music animation backgrounds as a test.

What the hell gives?

I know my monitor can't be the problem, because if I have music on and the monitor goes, the music becomes an infinite hiccup.

My graphics card is a brand spanking new GTX 260. I've uninstalled, I've reinstalled, I've updated drivers, I've tried with original drivers. Same thing all the time - I can't play any games!

I've just about got it stabilised now i.e. I can use windows media (woop), but none of my games are working.

What might be a related problem, but in my n00bishness I feel isn't, was an overclocking attempt I made yesterday. Tried using the Nvidia control panel to overclock my CPU (not my GPU) by a measly 100mhz, had to stop and revert to original settings because I got glitchy performance. Just to clarfiy: everything has been returned to their default settings! Aside from plugging in my old 9500 gt as a test, is there anything else I can do?

Any help, please!

Niram · 07-02-2009, 03:41 PM

seems to me your PSU is nasty, don't think anything significant is wrong with the graphic card.. can you download SIW and post full specs? just put SIW in google and you'll get the download page

**floop12444** · 07-02-2009, 03:44 PM

Hi and Welcome to the forum,
Could you please post the brand and wattage of your Power Supply?
Thanks.

Gnostiko · 07-02-2009, 05:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by floop12444

Hi and Welcome to the forum,
Could you please post the brand and wattage of your Power Supply?
Thanks.

Thanks! I thought it would be a tad impolite to make a big 'teh first post!' thread :)

I'll try and get a hold of brand name, but IIRC, it's generic with a capital g - I simply typed the wattage into eBay and bought the cheapest one I could get! It's 750w and I'm using a Q6600.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Niram

seems to me your PSU is nasty, don't think anything significant is wrong with the graphic card.. can you download SIW and post full specs? just put SIW in google and you'll get the download page

I'll take a look-see when I get home from work, but what does this SIW do?

**Lord Sirian** · 07-02-2009, 10:03 PM

Ooof.

Running a GTX260 on a generic 750W PSU from ebay is not a great idea.

A game can't kill your graphics card, so you can be sure its not Empire Total War.

You should download Everest from here:

http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html

And SensorsView from here:

http://
www.stvsoft.com/SensorsViewPro21Setup.exe

Use them to check your PSU voltages and post them back here.

Niram · 07-03-2009, 12:08 AM

I think SIW is better than everest.. everest makes problems to many people by not showing specs(including me lol)

Gnostiko · 07-03-2009, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Sirian

Ooof.

Running a GTX260 on a generic 750W PSU from ebay is not a great idea.

But I've never had any problems with it before

Quote:

A game can't kill your graphics card, so you can be sure its not Empire Total War.

Ok, I suppose that's a little bit of a rest for me. I just thought it was odd it should crash during a game (and not even on the battle map) and then refuse to work for anything else!

**RockmasteR** · 07-03-2009, 03:59 AM

hello
download ATITOOL from here:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=725
this version is compatible with Vista
open it and click on "scan for Artifacts"
leave it for about 30 mins and see if the program finds any artifacts in it

Tiber Septim · 07-03-2009, 04:02 AM

Could you please open up the side of your case and post the details from the label on the side of the PSU. Make, Model and amperages per rail (+3.3v, +5v, +12v etc.) please.

Also, as Sirian has asked, please post the voltages Everest and SensorsView report, as well as the temperatures. Both when the computer is idle and when under load.

Gnostiko · 07-03-2009, 10:36 AM

Update: got home from work today to find computer was just working fine...for a half hour. Currently back to green/white/blue/black screen of death when trying to load games.
Downloaded and ran SIW...what is it I need to post here? Also for my PSU, what exactly am I looking for? I'm staring at words and letters and numbers, but I haven't a clue what's what. Scanning with atittool now...

edit: unless it's supposed to do so, when I click 'scan for artifacts' it's an automatic white screen of death.

Testing with my old 9500 gt now...

~~Mcninjaguy~~ · 07-03-2009, 10:59 AM

If your 9500GT works fine it could be either your graphics card has died or you will need a better PSU to make sure your graphics card gets enough power.

Gnostiko · 07-03-2009, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mcninjaguy

If your 9500GT works fine it could be either your graphics card has died or you will need a better PSU to make sure your graphics card gets enough power.

Can't even test my 9500; the monitor is extremely sensitive and has now decided it doesn't want to work when plugged into anything other than the gtx 260. I can't see how the PSU is the problem - Everything's been fine over the last month and a half I've had the card...

~~Mcninjaguy~~ · 07-03-2009, 12:42 PM

That is exactly what happens with weak PSU's. They are fine for a short while then huge fatal errors and weird things happen all of a sudden.

Boot into safe mode by pressing F8 at boot up and uninstall the driver for the GTX 260.

Tiber Septim · 07-03-2009, 09:28 PM

I've circled the information you need to post:

Like Ninja has said, this is what underpowered systems do. They'll be fine for a while then eventually the PSU will simply fail from being under too much stress. All you can hope for is that it doesn't take other components with it when it goes.

What exactly does your monitor do when you try and use the 9500?

07-02-2009, 03:19 PM	#1 (permalink)
Gnostiko Registered User Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 7 OS: Vista 32	Has my graphics card died? Empire Total War has just killed my graphics card... ...or at least I think it has Recently bought and have been playing it, but yesterday I got a crash; fair enough, I thought, the Total War series has its flaws, but these things get worked out. Left it alone to go to work and do other things. Load it up today, and the game crashes right after loading from the menu. Weird, I think, and leave it to play other games...only to encounter the same problem: the game crashes upon exiting the menu, and I'm talking any and every game I've got installed on my computer, add to that, I get random crashes where the monitor goes green, white, or just black after logging onto windows, or when I fire up Windows Media Player and use the music animation backgrounds as a test. What the hell gives? I know my monitor can't be the problem, because if I have music on and the monitor goes, the music becomes an infinite hiccup. My graphics card is a brand spanking new GTX 260. I've uninstalled, I've reinstalled, I've updated drivers, I've tried with original drivers. Same thing all the time - I can't play any games! I've just about got it stabilised now i.e. I can use windows media (woop), but none of my games are working. What might be a related problem, but in my n00bishness I feel isn't, was an overclocking attempt I made yesterday. Tried using the Nvidia control panel to overclock my CPU (not my GPU) by a measly 100mhz, had to stop and revert to original settings because I got glitchy performance. Just to clarfiy: everything has been returned to their default settings! Aside from plugging in my old 9500 gt as a test, is there anything else I can do? Any help, please!

07-02-2009, 03:41 PM	#2 (permalink)
Niram Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: croatia Posts: 169 OS: xp service pack 3 My System	Re: Has my graphics card died? seems to me your PSU is nasty, don't think anything significant is wrong with the graphic card.. can you download SIW and post full specs? just put SIW in google and you'll get the download page __________________ Damn those critters! Have to kill em all! (referring to viruses)

07-02-2009, 03:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
floop12444 Senior Tech, Games Team Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: England Posts: 920 OS: Windows XP SP3 My System	Re: Has my graphics card died? Hi and Welcome to the forum, Could you please post the brand and wattage of your Power Supply? Thanks. __________________ Everest Home Edtion ♦ System requirements test ♦ Nvidia Drivers ♦ ATI Drivers ♦ Revo Uninstaller ♦ GPUz Forum Rules Steps Before Posting

07-02-2009, 10:03 PM	#5 (permalink)
Lord Sirian Mentor, Games Team Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,441 OS: Windows XP SP 3 My System	Re: Has my graphics card died? Ooof. Running a GTX260 on a generic 750W PSU from ebay is not a great idea. A game can't kill your graphics card, so you can be sure its not Empire Total War. You should download Everest from here: http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html And SensorsView from here: http:// www.stvsoft.com/SensorsViewPro21Setup.exe Use them to check your PSU voltages and post them back here. __________________ "I will never be what they Want me to. I live by my own path in life No turning Back now, I won't be held down Forced into a shallow grave built upon their empty ways. No turning back..."- Kirisute Gomen

07-03-2009, 12:08 AM	#6 (permalink)
Niram Registered User Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: croatia Posts: 169 OS: xp service pack 3 My System	Re: Has my graphics card died? I think SIW is better than everest.. everest makes problems to many people by not showing specs(including me lol) __________________ Damn those critters! Have to kill em all! (referring to viruses)

07-03-2009, 03:59 AM	#8 (permalink)
RockmasteR Moderator, Games Team Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Lebanon Posts: 3,015 OS: Vista Ultimate 32bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Has my graphics card died? hello download ATITOOL from here: http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=725 this version is compatible with Vista open it and click on "scan for Artifacts" leave it for about 30 mins and see if the program finds any artifacts in it __________________ CPUz GPUz Nvidia Drivers ATI Drivers System Information for Windows (SIW) Revo Uninstaller RivaTuner ATITOOL Directx 9.0C !!Please don't PM me for Tech Support!!

07-03-2009, 04:02 AM	#9 (permalink)
Tiber Septim Asst Manager, Games Team Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Queensland, Australia Posts: 2,827 OS: Fedora 11 / Windows 7 My System Blog Entries: 5	Re: Has my graphics card died? Could you please open up the side of your case and post the details from the label on the side of the PSU. Make, Model and amperages per rail (+3.3v, +5v, +12v etc.) please. Also, as Sirian has asked, please post the voltages Everest and SensorsView report, as well as the temperatures. Both when the computer is idle and when under load. __________________ First Steps - System Specs - SIW Help TSF beat Cancer and other serious Illness.

07-03-2009, 10:36 AM	#10 (permalink)
Gnostiko Registered User Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 7 OS: Vista 32	Re: Has my graphics card died? Update: got home from work today to find computer was just working fine...for a half hour. Currently back to green/white/blue/black screen of death when trying to load games. Downloaded and ran SIW...what is it I need to post here? Also for my PSU, what exactly am I looking for? I'm staring at words and letters and numbers, but I haven't a clue what's what. Scanning with atittool now... edit: unless it's supposed to do so, when I click 'scan for artifacts' it's an automatic white screen of death. Testing with my old 9500 gt now... Last edited by Gnostiko; 07-03-2009 at 10:43 AM.

07-03-2009, 10:59 AM	#11 (permalink)
~~Mcninjaguy~~ Troubled Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Has my graphics card died? If your 9500GT works fine it could be either your graphics card has died or you will need a better PSU to make sure your graphics card gets enough power.

07-03-2009, 12:42 PM	#13 (permalink)
~~Mcninjaguy~~ Troubled Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Posts: 10,422 OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit My System Blog Entries: 1	Re: Has my graphics card died? That is exactly what happens with weak PSU's. They are fine for a short while then huge fatal errors and weird things happen all of a sudden. Boot into safe mode by pressing F8 at boot up and uninstall the driver for the GTX 260.

07-03-2009, 09:28 PM	#14 (permalink)
Tiber Septim Asst Manager, Games Team Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Queensland, Australia Posts: 2,827 OS: Fedora 11 / Windows 7 My System Blog Entries: 5	Re: Has my graphics card died? I've circled the information you need to post: Like Ninja has said, this is what underpowered systems do. They'll be fine for a while then eventually the PSU will simply fail from being under too much stress. All you can hope for is that it doesn't take other components with it when it goes. What exactly does your monitor do when you try and use the 9500? __________________ First Steps - System Specs - SIW Help TSF beat Cancer and other serious Illness.