Dodgy graphics card?

[Neil Toulouse]

Hi guys!

I am having an issue which I am assuming is the GPU but not sure how to check for certain (especially as I have had a clearout recently of all my spare parts which have been slowly taking over the house!).

The symptom is basically the PC works fine, can leave it on for days on end, run Photoshop and other apps no problem.

If I then run any video (eg iPlayer/YouTube/a film etc), after about 5 minutes the monitor powers off and it would appear the PC has crashed (no HD activity etc). I can immediately reboot it without issue, go back to the video, play it again and then 5 mins in it crashes. This is almost repeatable to the second!

I think this is the confusing bit for me as I would assume if the GPU was overheating I wouldn't be able to go back to video so soon? Also wouldn't the PC 'hang' under normal load? Could it be the monitor??

The GPU is a NVIDIA GeForce GT 220. I updated to the latest drivers the other day but to no avail.

Is there an easy check I could do to confirm the GPU (or not) is the problem before I go and buy another one?

Any pointers are much appreciated. The PC is an Intel Core 2 Quad CPU Q3800@2.5GHz, 6Gb RAM and 64-bit Win 7.

Many thanks

I like work. It fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours...

 

[rclarke250]

Well, you can run dxdiag and run the video tests. you can run it from the run line. Also you can download the free version of 3dmark vantage from here

http://www.3dmark.com/3dmarkvantage/

and run the test, if you get the same lockup issue, than it could be the video card, if it runs clean most likely something else. The strange thing is the photoshop can pretty intensive video wise if you are rendering some large pictures, so it might not be the video card.

 

[vacunita]

Try a different monitor just rule it out, specially when it goes black, if it comes on, then it points to the monitor.

If you have another machine perhaps try a network ping, or remote desktop when it goes black just to confirm its really dead.

Are you playing the video in full screen? Does it happen if you try to play the video in Safe mode?





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Phil AKA Vacunita
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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

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[Neil Toulouse]

Thanks for the responses!

@rclarke250
That sounds like a plan. I guess it will depend if those tests run long enough to initiate the problem. I do perform pretty intensive tasks on Photoshop, but I can do them all day long without a problem which is why I am confused

@vacunita
I have my laptop I can use to ping the desktop when it the problem occurs so I will give that a go. Unfortunately I binned all my spare monitors recently so will see if I can borrow one from somewhere else. The problem occurs both in full-screen and windowed mode. I have not tried safe mode yet.

I should have some free time over the weekend to dedicate to this. Will report back on Monday with any findings!

Thanks again
Neil

I like work. It fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours...

 

[Neil Toulouse]

Ran the 3D benchmark test and it crashed within 3 minutes! Was also running at 2-3 FPS which I thought was very slow for the card?

Anyways, looks like a new GPU for me!

Thanks guys

I like work. It fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours...

 

[rclarke250]

Well that test will make even the best the video cards out there run to a crawl, so not surprised at the fps for the 220gt, which is considered an entry level card. But it should have completed the run, just slow to a crawl, not crash.