Video Card Freezes

Every time I run a program that uses alot of graphics and rendering, the video on the monitor will stop for about 10 - 15 secs. Could this be from the video card overheating or is there another issue? It doesn't get any artifacts so I dunno what the issue could be. Could it be the PCI - E slot? The monitor? Motherboard? Here's specs

Amd 4200 dual-core
gigabyte k8n-sli
evga 7600 gt SO superclocked
1 gig kingston hyper x ram
antec smart power 500w
windows xp pro

 

You indicate that you've OC'ed your videocard; what EXTRA cooling have you provided to prevent overheating? If the answer is none / not much, you already know why you're having this problem.

Remove the side cover on your case, and set up a desk fan to blow DIRECTLY onto the videocard, and let us know what happens with the extra external cooling.

 

well the thing is, is that it came overclocked, so I figured it should be stable, but apparently it's not. I added a case fan blowing right on it and it still freezes, I now up'd the voltage and it runs better with higher fps but still freezes sometimes, any other suggestions?

 

Overclocking is ALWAYS a crapshoot; you could have problems from excess heat, a less-than stable PSU, the phase of the moon... I would set the videoclock to the stock speed, and see if that corrects (or reduces) the problems. If so, I would then look into every available method (extra cooling, overvolting, etc.) the card to see just how far I could push it. You might not get every last MHz possible, but a STABLE card is better than the alternative.

Good luck; let us know how this turns out...

 

I can't change any clock speeds. As soon as I do the card freezes. I got the card from the store overclocked not thinking that it would be an issue, I thought they would have at least run a test or something on the card to prove that's it's stable... What was I thinking. I can't up the voltage anymore or the card freezes, and I have a fan blowing directly on it, so i guess that's the best I can do?

 

One thing I'd like to know is whether or not you installed the latest motherboard chipset drivers BEFORE you installed the new video card. They were just released in June; if you DIDN'T install them, you can download them from here:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/Motherboard/Driver_DownloadFile.aspx?FileType=Driver&FileID=2734

Save them to the Desktop, CLOSE ALL OPEN PROGRAMS including your browser, then double-click the file to install it. The system will need to be rebooted; do NOT interfere with the reboot process. Windows does a lot of housekeeping during the reboot; it deletes old driver files, and installs new ones, so allow the system to reboot whenever it is indicated.

If the system hangs during reboot, shut off the power and wait 15 seconds, then turn the power on and reboot. Once you get back to the Desktop, test the system; if you STILL have the same problem, UNINSTALL the nVidia video drivers, REBOOT, and reinstall the videodrivers. Once you've reinstalled the video drivers, reboot one last time, and test the system again. The new chipset drivers MIGHT correct this problem; all the OTHER system drivers (LAN, audio, SATA RAID, and USB 2.0) are available from here:

http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/...erboard&ProductID=1928&ProductName=GA-K8N-SLI

Good luck; let us know how this turns out.