Video Artifacts - Is My 6600GT Toast?

I was gaming a few days ago and put the thing on Pause then forgot about it. When I returned a few hours later my screen was black and I had to reset. Ever since I've had wicked artifacts whenever I game. They're pixeled rectangles in rows and columns that cover the screen. Someone said I fried my GPU. It doesn't matter what game. I've installed the newest drivers with no luck; even did system restore. Nothing has been overclocked (although I'd like to).

I'd like to confirm what the problem is in case its really a PSU problem or something else. I've had the PC for 15 mths with no problems until now. If its my GPU I'd probably replace it with a 7600 GT and add an extra 120 mm case fan (if needed). Will my Antec 380W (Antec Sonata case) PSU be enough?

Here's some specs:

Processor
Model : AMD Athlon(tm) 64 Processor 3200+
Mainboard : Gigabyte(GA-K8NF9)
Total Memory : 1GB DDR-SDRAM
Adapter : NVIDIA XFX GeForce 6600 GT
PSU: 380W (Antec Sonata case)
HD: 160 GB Samsung SP1614C SATA
OS: XP Pro

Here's some environmental numbers at IDLE:

Board Temperature: 25.0°C(Min 25.0°C;Avg 25.0°C;Max 25.0°C)
CPU Temperature: 23.0°C(Min 23.0°C;Avg 23.0°C;Max 23.0°C)
GPU Temperature: 41.0°C
Power/Aux Temperature: 69.0°C(Min/Avg/Max 69.0°C)
Chassis Fan Speed: 3184rpm
Power/Aux Fan Speed: 2192rpm
CPU Voltage : 1.39V (Min 1.39V; Avg 1.39V; Max 1.39V)
Aux Voltage : 2.54V (Min 2.54V; Avg 2.54V; Max 2.54V)
+3.3V Voltage : 3.28V (Min 3.28V; Avg 3.28V; Max 3.28V)
+5V Voltage : 5.24V (Min 3.17V; Avg 4.32V; Max 5.24V)
+12V Voltage : 11.67V (Min 11.67V; Avg 11.67V; Max 11.67V)
Standby Voltage : 4.14V (Min 2.63V; Avg 3.84V; Max 4.87V)
Battery Voltage : 4.08V (Min 4.08V; Avg 4.08V; Max 4.08V)
CPU Core Power : 55W (Min 55W; Avg 55W; Max 55W)

Here's some while GAMING:

Board Temperature: 25.0°C(Min 25.0°C;Avg 25.0°C;Max 25.0°C)
CPU Temperature: 30.0°C (Min 25.0°C;Avg 28.3°C;Max 30.0°C)
Power/Aux Temperature: 71.0°C(Min/Avg/Max 71.0°C)
GPU Temperature: 62°C
Chassis Fan Speed: 3184rpm
Power/Aux Fan Speed: 2519rpm (Min 2250;Avg 2430;Max 2538)
CPU Voltage : 1.39V (Min 1.39V; Avg 1.39V; Max 1.41V)
Aux Voltage : 2.54V (Min 2.54V; Avg 2.54V; Max 2.56V)
+3.3V Voltage : 3.26V (Min 3.25V; Avg 3.27V; Max 3.28V)
+5V Voltage : 4.14V (Min 1.42V; Avg 3.77V; Max 5.73V)
+12V Voltage : 11.48V (Min 11.42V; Avg 11.48V; Max 11.67V)
Standby Voltage : 3.09V (Min 2.10V; Avg 3.62V; Max 5.43V)
Battery Voltage : 4.08V (Min 4.08V; Avg 4.08V; Max 4.08V)
CPU Core Power : 55W (Min 55W; Avg 56W; Max 57W)
CPU Cooling System Thermal Resistance : 0.09°C/W (Min 0.00°C/W; Avg 0.06°C/W; Max 0.09°C/W)

Any ideas/help is awesome. This thread discusses a similar problem and they say its the GPU: http://forums.majorgeeks.com/showthread.php?t=87280&highlight=artifacts

Thanks!

 

Do you have an old computer to check your video card with?
It maybe also your motherboard may be going out on you (i had a simular incident about 10 years ago with windows 95)
I had question marks that appeared all over my screen (the computer i had at the time was second hand) and my motherboard eventually died.

 

No, my MB is PCI-E so I can't plop in into my old PC.

 

well as far as your PSU goes I would replace that no matter what. Those rails under load (+3.3 and +5V) are too low.

You want your voltage to be within 4%.
12v rail should be between: 11.52 to 12.48 during load.
5v rail, should be between: 4.8 to 5.2
3.3v rail should be between: 3.17 to 3.43

Looking at your rails I would say you are too low on the 5 and 3.3 for sure.

Is it causing your strange artifacting? I'm really not sure but it's possible. usually artifacting is caused by the GPU running too hot or the memory running too hot. If I remember correctly white dots all over the screen is caused by over heating memory while large square style blocks are caused by the GPU over heating. In any case you should get a quality PSU and also you might want to ask a friend to bring over a graphics card so you can test it. If you put in a working video card and you still get that crap on the screen then you know its something else.

 

5v rail is borderline. The 3.3 is within spec.

The 5v rail is almost an entire volt off while gaming.

 

yes you are correct. I meant the 5v. My bad.

 

Your current power supply should be OK if you decide to get a 7600GT.

BTW, does it have artifacts in safe mode, as well as general use?

 

Thought my voltage looked low. If its low now won't it be worse with a 7600GT? Those specs were from playing Tiger Woods 2006 which is probably low demand. I'll try it with HL2 and see what the 5v rail gets.

If I do need a new PSU, I was thinking of the Antec Sonata 2 case http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=15422&vpn=SONATA%20II&manufacture=ANTEC which comes with a 450w PSU and maybe better air flow? Its not much more $ than just a new PSU, or am I better to get a quality PSU alone and keep my existing case (Antec Sonata)?

Haven't tried Safe mode, will do that now.

The artifacts are rows and columns of dashes, maybe a pixel or two thick and several long.

 

No artifacts in Safe Mode! Does that mean the video card is toast?

Here's some environmentals while playing HL2. My 5v rail is now almost 2v low @ 3.17v :

Board Temperature : 25.0°C (Min 25.0°C; Avg 25.0°C; Max 25.0°C)
CPU Temperature : 29.0°C (Min 26.0°C; Avg 27.8°C; Max 29.0°C)
Power / Aux Temperature : 71.0°C (Min 70.0°C; Avg 70.3°C; Max 71.0°C)
Chassis Fan Speed : 3184rpm (Min 3125rpm; Avg 3164rpm; Max 3184rpm)
Power / Aux Fan Speed : 2394rpm (Min 2250rpm; Avg 2337rpm; Max 2411rpm)
CPU Voltage : 1.39V (Min 1.39V; Avg 1.39V; Max 1.41V)
Aux Voltage : 2.54V (Min 2.54V; Avg 2.54V; Max 2.54V)
+3.3V Voltage : 3.26V (Min 3.25V; Avg 3.27V; Max 3.28V)
+5V Voltage : 3.17V (Min 1.67V; Avg 4.08V; Max 5.35V)
+12V Voltage : 11.73V (Min 11.42V; Avg 11.62V; Max 11.73V)
Standby Voltage : 4.41V (Min 2.23V; Avg 3.70V; Max 5.99V)
Battery Voltage : 4.08V (Min 4.08V; Avg 4.08V; Max 4.08V)
CPU Core Power : 55W (Min 55W; Avg 56W; Max 57W)
CPU Cooling System Thermal Resistance : 0.07°C/W (Min 0.02°C/W; Avg 0.05°C/W; Max 0.07°C/W)

 

Like I said earlier. I would buy a new PSU. The power supply is one of the most important parts of a pc and should never be skimped on. This of course is based off your voltages and not so much on your artifacting. To be honest if it were me I would be swapping out cards. I know you don't have any extra ones. I think I have 4 laying around and 5 more installed in computers.

sounds to me like it might not be the video card though since its not doing it while in safe mode. You over clocking at all?

 

Excuse my newbie questions, do you mean swapping the video card for a different one? If so, you're right, I don't have an extra one around and really don't know where to find one. Perhaps I can throw this card in a friends PCI-E slot to see if it works OK as I think he only has an on-board card.

So, any thoughts on the Sonata 2 or should I get a stand alone decent PSU for my existing Sonata?

Thanks for your help.

 

Oops, forgot, no overclocking at all.

 

If it's not doing it in Safe Mode, then chances are it's not faulty hardware, but more likely to be software related.

If it was the power supply as suggested, then it should do the same thing in Safe Mode.

Try a driver cleaner to completely remove the existing driver, then install the latest one.


As a last resort and before I purchased anything, I would do a format and fresh install.

 

I don't understand how you can try it in Safe Mode anyway, considering DirectX and any hardware acceleration does not work there.

Not even the Nvidia driver is being used there.

 

yeah thats what I meant. I would ask your friend to let you install your card in his pc just to see what happens. Thats a great idea and an easy way to see if its your card or not. (just remember if he's using onboard video to disable it in the BIOs before booting up with your card.

Yeah that Sonata 2 is a nice case. great air flow and since its made by Antec you know the PSU will be very good. I'd pick that up.

(please keep in mind this PSU upgrade is just a recommendation. I'm not saying you have to get this and I'm not saying it will solve your artifacting problem. I am saying that you will be better off for it.)

You really should test that video card in another system (your friends) when you can.

 

Sledneck, is it doing it during gaming ONLY, or does it happen in general use?

Does it happen immediately, or after a while, etc?

 

Gaming only, not during regular use. Happens immediately (while game is loading the artifacts appear). Actually it does it in Google Earth as well which uses directX so that makes sense.

 

Thanks, that makes sense! So it may not be a software issue?

 

That was my fault, I thought it happened in regular use as well.


If it was working OK for 15months, and nothing has changed, then it's more than likely failing hardware.

Could really be anything, but most likely is video card or PSU.

Nothing is guaranteed, and you won't know till you try other parts.

 

Thanks for the advice on the Sonata II. Since its just a few $ more than a standalone Antec PSU, it makes sense to get this newer case as air flow should be better. Or does soemone else think its better to put the $ into a higher end PSU, perhaps the http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16685&vpn=TPII-550&manufacture=ANTEC which is 550W instead of the Sonata II which is 450W?

Haven't had a chance to plop it into another PC. Will try that soon. I realize the PSU may not be a problem but if its suspect now and I get a 7600GT then it will likely be a big problem.

 

Tried Driver Cleaner Pro and Cab Cleaner, still no luck.

 

try checking the card itself. is the fan working? is the gfx hot? etc...

 

Yes, the fan is working. The temp is 71 C while gaming which seems high.

I was gonna get the Antec Sonata II case w/ 450W PSU but I read some bad things about the PSU. I think I'll just get a 550W Antec PSU and keep my original Sonata case plus add another 120mm fan. Hopefully things will cool down a little.

Still haven't had a chance to swap the card into another PC. Hopefully soon.

 

71 C isn't hot for a GPU, especially while gaming.

If anything, it's on the cool side.

 

UPDATE: Finally got to check my GPU in another PC. Same artifact problem so my GPU was toast. Replaced it with a 7600GT. Manually checked voltages, they are fine, never trust appz that are supposed to do this for you. Everything back to working great.

Its a shame my XFX 6600GT fried after only being about 15 mths old. Hopefully this 7600GT lasts a bit longer.

Thanks to everyone who gave their 2 cents worth on this problem!!!