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Thread ID: 100208 2009-05-30 06:07:00 Signs Of Vid Card failure? SurferJoe46 (51) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
778275 2009-05-30 06:07:00 What does a vid card typically do when it starts to fail? I have an nVidia GeForce FX5500 . I don't game so I don't think I need anything bigger or faster .

If I run a DVD either from the hdd or from a commercial DVD in my DVD-RW optical drive, I get some stops and starts and the sound loops looking for sync . This is with Power DVD, Nero Player and WMP10 although Power DVD seems to have the most troubles and Nero about the best uninterrupted performance

Besides just changing out the vid card, is there any bench test I can perform on it while it's in the computer?

The fan on it is running OK .

I tried other optical drives - no change .
SurferJoe46 (51)
778276 2009-05-30 06:16:00 Whats the specs of the system?? (Speed of the CPU / how much ram)? Speedy Gonzales (78)
778277 2009-05-30 06:24:00 Boot from a live CD then play the movies. See if it lags/stops Blam (54)
778278 2009-05-30 06:33:00 Whats the specs of the system?? (Speed of the CPU / how much ram)?


Win XP-Pro SP3
Athlon XP 1.5 or 1.7G, depends what you believe.
2G RAM

This ran well for years and has just started acting badly. Right now I'm looking for new/updates nVidia drivers. Think that'll help?

I changed out the PSU (remember - last week?) and I thought I had a dying hdd, but now maybe not so sure. The voltages were all over the place.
SurferJoe46 (51)
778279 2009-05-30 22:52:00 UPDATE!

The new driver did it .

I deleted the nVidia driver, rebooted and then went to the CD-ROM that came with the MOBO and re-installed the nVidia drivers and all is well . . . . . . for the moment .
SurferJoe46 (51)
778280 2009-05-31 03:41:00 What does a vid card typically do when it starts to fail?

Artifacts mainly . It's totally obvious . For future reference . . . . . .
pctek (84)
778281 2009-05-31 14:51:00 What Pctek said. Usually caused by the RAM or GPU itself going faulty. Overclocking and/or overheating helps this.

Of course, no signal at all, exploding MOSFETs and bulging capacitors are other failure modes

Then there's the 'fan fell off or seized up or is running to slow and my card is too cheap to have an RPM sense wire' failure mode which is usually accompanied by a slow, artifacting card, a bad smell and eventually no signal if you don't turn it off in time
Agent_24 (57)
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