GPU probably is likely (delicious) toast

Squall

Seems like my EVGA GeForce 8800GTS is on its last legs as far as I can tell.

A couple weeks ago I ran Bioshock 2 for a few hours straight and the image on the monitor cut itself in half and turned into an awful glitchy fractal. I restarted and it seemed there wasn’t any damage to it, but a couple of days ago it started restarting at random.

Shortly thereafter vertical green dotted lines and colored boxes appeared on the screen in the BIOS and after startup. As of right now the computer will either lock up at the ‘starting windows’ screen (still with green dotted lines) or blue screen shortly before. I am able to start the computer in safe mode, but startup repair hasn’t done any good.

I’ve never had a hardware failure before but it seems like the issue is the GPU and not the PSU or CPU seeing I can still boot into safe mode. I contacted EVGA and the card is out of warranty but they suggested I try to reapply thermal paste (I haven’t tried this yet). I also don’t have a spare GPU to swap and fully confirm it’s the problem.

What I have done is dusted the shit out of the inside of both the PC and the GPU as well as reseating it multiple times.

First question then: Does it seem like the GPU is the source, and should I try to reapply the heatsink?

I built the computer in July 2007, only adding two more HDDs since then:

Spoiler:

GIGABYTE GA-P35-DS3R Mobo
Corsair G Skill 4GB (4x1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) RAM
Intel Core2 Duo E6600 2.4GHz CPU
EVGA GeForce 8800GTS 640Mb GPU
WD 250Gb HDD 7200RPM
WD 500Gb HDD 5400RPM
WD 1Tb HDD 5400RPM
XCLIO Stablepower 500W PSU

If it is fried then these are the options I see:

• Purchase a middle of the line GPU (heard the HD 5770 is good?) to hold me over if I want to wait to build a new PC
• Purchase a cheapo $40 GPU to have the computer run and turn it into a backup media PC, then spend ~$600 building a new one
• Gut the old PC (for RAM, HDDs, possibly PSU?) and build a new one with less cost

Any advice is appreciated folks!

TychoCelchuuu

I built a computer in July 2007 with the exact same card and mine failed a couple months ago with largely the same problem, although I had vertical blue dotted lines and my computer didn't BSOD at all. Mine was in warranty so EVGA sent me a new one but at this point reapplying the heat sink is a pretty easy thing to try (even though I would say it won't do anything) and I would suggest getting a cheap GFX card and buying a new PC, because I have basically the same computer as you do and I'm starting to think that a quad core would be nice. If you want to wait for a while, though, a mid-line GPU should probably last you pretty well, especially for games that aren't as CPU intensive.

Squall

The CPU has always been the bottleneck on that machine so yeah I am leaning away from option one. A mid-line GPU will keep it up for another couple of years but it's beginning to show its age when running things like metro 2033, and I definitely want something that can handle DA2 and ME3 on max when the latter comes out.

So if it's definitely the GPU that's gone I need to find out if I should salvage things from my current computer or just convert it and build a new one.

The HDDs and possibly RAM & PSU could possibly be reused, but I don't know if the PSU can handle a new card, if I can take advantage of 6gb DDR3 and an SSD for the OS.

I suppose these questions can go into the build a new computer thread, but I'd still appreciate it if anyone else can weigh in on my technical problems + if I can recycle parts

citizen059

Given what you've said I would say it's absolutely the video card. Thank it for everything it's done for you, and say goodbye.

You can have a memorial ceremony later if you want.

In my case I'd go the cheaper route of replacing the card to get things going again, but since you've stated a desire to run newer games later on, you should certainly consider putting together a new system.

I'd still replace the video card in the existing one - after you've finished your new build. Depending on how creative you feel or what kind of things you like to tinker with, I'm sure you can come up with a use for it. You've already mentioned a backup media PC, which is one possibility.

I mean really, if I had an extra PC sitting around the house it'd probably be my "experiment" box upon which I'd load every OS or software package I could get my hands on, wiping it on a weekly basis to try something new. I've gotten rid of some old systems in the past and then always kicked myself for it later on when thinking "you know, I could try this if I just had that old computer around".

TychoCelchuuu

You're going to have to largely rebuild the PC if you go for the substantive upgrade; you'll need DDR3, for instance, rather than your DDR2. The PSU and HDs can stay but everything else must go.

Squall

Thanks for the help fellas.

If my PSU is able to handle newer cards (and the possibility of running two cards in years to come) perhaps I'd consider buying a cheap psu to power the old computer along with the cheap card

certainly would save me some money on the new build

I'll migrate over to the build a computer thread and hopefully get a good idea of what I can build for the cash.

spono

squall, if what you're experiencing is anything like what I described in this thread, you might want to try cooking it

here's a quick guide: http://tech.icrontic.com/articles/dead-8800-gtx-scienced-to-undeath-by-oven-mad-owner/

I cooked mine yesterday afternoon, put it back together this morning, and now it works! We'll have to see how long it lasts, but it might be enough to put off buying a new card for a little while

Squall

Interesting, I may have to give that a try so I can put off building a new one until my tax return comes in

Thanks spono!