So I think my GPU is fried.

dopezilla

dopezilla

God of Blood and War
I was playing Morrowind when suddenly, the colours turned all weird, bright dots appeared, and when it crashed to desktop, Windows gave me some sort of warning about some graphical driver not responding. Of course I hastily clicked everything away instead of making some notes of it, so I can't really give any more information about that.

So, I just figured it was some sort of Morrowind related graphical bug (I am playing with MGSO), and just restarted the game. Same thing happens about one second after reloading my save. This time it refuses to crash to desktop but just freezes, the screen weirdly lit, the sounds glitching like fuck (kind of like a speedcore record), again with the weird colours, and after a while my screen just went black. Couldn't Ctrl+alt+del my way out of it, so I just hit the reset button.

While restarting blue dots appeared on the screen even before Windows was loaded. I'm starting to panic for a bit, because I haven't seen that before. Ever. When Windows had started, it had changed my screen resolution to 640x480. I went on to set it back to were it was before, downloaded the latest drivers for my GPU, restarted, started Morrowind again, but the problem still persists.

Some restarts later, Windows loads up, and suddenly the theme I was using had a sort of greenish hue. This also worried me. While I tried to make my way to my Morrowind game folder, still hoping it was some sort of Morrowind related problem my pc gave me a bluescreen. Of course, this time too, I forgot to make notes. It was some hardware related bluescreen of death, and I'm sure I'll be able to get to it again in no time. My computer is starting up as we speak.

Anyway, now I get the weird blue columns of dots while the computer is still starting up, then the logon screen works fine up until I enter my password and actually get into Windows. Then it starts giving me problems again. Like I said, I'm worried.

Some system specs:

Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit
Gforce 9800GTX+

It's an old system. I wish I could give you more system information, but I'm going to see if I can make it into windows far enough to gather some information before the screen dies on me again.

I've just cleared the dust out of the computer as well. It wasn't all that much, so I don't think it was a dust related overheating thing, but you can never be sure.

Anyway, I'll update this thing with some more information if I can.

UPDATE: So I've made it into Windows again, just logged on, and already my computer is giving me trouble. LCD Gamma (program that came with my Samsung monitor) says "The graphics card in use does not support gamma adjustments or the adjusted gamma value is beyond the support range of the graphics card."

MagicTune, which also came with my monitor is saying "This computer system does not support MagicTune. Click the OK button and click on the "Goto MagicTune Web Site" button to refer to the home page."

These programs have never given me problems in the past, so this probably can't be good. Confirmation that it's a graphics card issue at least, but I'm still not happy.

The greenish hue over my Windows theme has gone, though. Also, I've been in Windows for some time now, and the screen hasn't died on me yet, so maybe it was some dust related issue.

I'm not exactly sure what I should be doing right now, so I'm gonna wait for some advice. I think I'll try and start up some other game and see if that works.

UPDATE: Nvidia is telling me that my drivers still aren't up to date, even though I just installed the most recent version manually. Last time I was looking around it did say it was installed correctly, but then my computer gave me the bluescreen. I've no reinstalled the drivers, made a clean install reverting all settings to default, and now during restarting my computer the red and blue columns of dots have reappeared.
 
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9800GTX? I'm surprised it still powers up after all these years [mid 2008 release date]. Best bet would be to stick another working vidga card in to see if it is indeed what you suspect, although that's not always possible. Does your CPU have a graphics core that can be utilised?
 
Funny, I remember having a similar issue with my old GPU a few years back. I'm not sure about the exact model, but think it was some form of 9800 too.
My suggestion is to do a clean installation of the last driver you used where this problem did not occur. Go back to the stable one and never ever upgrade again. It's not like you're going to be able to run any of the games the new drivers help with anyway.
 
kraag said:
9800GTX? I'm surprised it still powers up after all these years [mid 2008 release date]. Best bet would be to stick another working vidga card in to see if it is indeed what you suspect, although that's not always possible. Does your CPU have a graphics core that can be utilised?
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Yes, it has served me well over the last eight years. Also, I don't have any other GPU's lying around, and I don't have money to buy one either. Ever. Period. So testing shit out with another card is going to be hard.

I suspect my CPU has a graphics core, because like I said, Windows displays just fine, it's when I start up a game when the trouble starts.

Anyway, here is a picture of my system specs.

PlanHex said:
Funny, I remember having a similar issue with my old GPU a few years back. I'm not sure about the exact model, but think it was some form of 9800 too.
My suggestion is to do a clean installation of the last driver you used where this problem did not occur. Go back to the stable one and never ever upgrade again. It's not like you're going to be able to run any of the games the new drivers help with anyway.
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Any way to find a history of my drivers? I can't remember which version I was using before I updated it. Also, I suspect it isn't a driver thing, because I only updated my drivers after these problems started and had been using older drivers for over a year or so now. :(

Also, it held up pretty well during the years. The most recent game I've played on it was Skyrim, it ran fine at medium settings while being modded to hell and back. It really served me well the past 8 years. :)

EDIT: so, maybe I should be considering buying another GPU, but like I said, I have zero monies, so it's gotta be cheap, and preferably at least as powerful as the one I have right now, which shouldn't be too hard considering I've had this one for over 8 years now. Any tips?
 
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If you've had the same GPU for 8 years, you probably need to upgrade more than that anyway. New motherboard, CPU and PSU. Might as well get a whole new one. I can recommend getting an SSD too.

Until then, try looking in C:\NVIDIA\ for old drivers.
 
PlanHex said:
If you've had the same GPU for 8 years, you probably need to upgrade more than that anyway. New motherboard, CPU and PSU. Might as well get a whole new one. I can recommend getting an SSD too.

Until then, try looking in C:\NVIDIA\ for old drivers.
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It's not the drivers, that much is clear now. But like I said, I don't have the money to upgrade even my GPU, so upgrading other parts is going to be tricky. I might contact some family members for help, but I'm not really eager to do so. Are there any GPU's out there that are still compatible with my old hardware? Or am I going to have to look for second hand stuff?

Also, when I say I don't have money, I mean I can spend €50,- at most, because I wouldn't be comfortable asking for more money than that. I am probably the poorest forum member. :P

Edit: I think I'm going to go for this. I really don't have a budget. :(
 
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dopezilla said:
It's not the drivers, that much is clear now. But like I said, I don't have the money to upgrade even my GPU, so upgrading other parts is going to be tricky. I might contact some family members for help, but I'm not really eager to do so. Are there any GPU's out there that are still compatible with my old hardware? Or am I going to have to look for second hand stuff?

Also, when I say I don't have money, I mean I can spend €50,- at most, because I wouldn't be comfortable asking for more money than that. I am probably the poorest forum member. :P

Edit: I think I'm going to go for this. I really don't have a budget. :(
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Buying second hand isn't bad. I've bought my share of used graphics cards in past and they usually work fine in my experience at least.

Have you considered any ATI cards as an option?
 
Go for it. Pretty cheap. The rest looks fine enough actually. You can probably get one that's better if you can afford it, even though your MB looks a bit old.
 
I really know jack about computers. All I know is that my current computer was doing all right, even with new releases like Wasteland 2. I'm not interested in AAA titles like Fallout 4 anyway since I mostly play cRPG's, with Morrowind and Starcraft II being the exceptions. Going out there and finding another graphics card with comparable specs seems like a lot of hassle. I'm sure there's something available under €50,- that's better than my current GPU, but I really wouldn't know where to start.
 
I wouldn't know where to start, but you could ask the PC Master Race. I'm in the process of ascension and they've been very helpful.

I've also been building a PC, and they've helped with that, too.
 
I always check out GPUBOSS to compare different cards which helps to make a decision about bang-for-buck. Also it might help if you find out what the absolute best graphics card your motherboard is able to take then go down the line from there. I know how you feel about not having much of a budget for computer upgrades, I finally got my car registered which cost me over $1000 [had to loan, so now I owe someone else], so there goes any chance whatsoever of being able to afford at least maybe a 770ti or even a 960 :/

[sarcasm]
I'm fine paying 35% income tax while massive multi-national coporations pay 2% - really! I'm fine with it!

Yep, gotta pay those taxes so they can be spent on stealing other countries resources by military force. I'm fine with that too.
[/sarcasm]
 
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Stealing the resources of other countries; that's America's god-given right. [/sarcasm but i do believe there were WMDs in the middle east due to first hand accounts]

In all seriousness, though, income tax is ridiculous.
 
I've found a second hand Geforce GTX 560 within my budget, but I'm wondering if it's compatible with my motherboard. I don't even know which item on the hardwarelist in windows is my motherboard, so I can't really check. Dammit, I know so little about computers. :(

Please tell me which part exactly is my motherboard, because I think it'd come in handy if I were able to point it out myself.

For anyone wondering about my motherboard, check this.
 
Easiest way to find out what MB you have is to run dxdiag from the start menu. There you'll see system manufacturer and system model, i. e. motherboard brand and model.

What you'll also want to make sure is that your power supply unit can run a more powerful card.
 
I just saw the chipset said P31/P35, meaning it was old. Checking the exact model and manufacturer is probably a good idea.
Until then, I note that 560GTX uses PCI-E 2.0 and needs a 450 W PSU: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-560/specifications
Meanwhile the P35 chipset seems to use PCI-E 1.1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_P35#Features
However seems like PCI-E 2.0 is backwards compatible: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#PCI_Express_2.0
So you'll not get the full power out of it, but it's probably as good or better than anything else you can get as long as you have the wattage to run it.

Also, throw Vista away for gods sake. At least get windows 7.
 
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PlanHex said:
I just saw the chipset said P31/P35, meaning it was old. Checking the exact model and manufacturer is probably a good idea.
Until then, I note that 560GTX uses PCI-E 2.0 and needs a 450 W PSU: http://www.geforce.com/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-560/specifications
Meanwhile the P35 chipset seems to use PCI-E 1.1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_P35#Features
However seems like PCI-E 2.0 is backwards compatible: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PCI_Express#PCI_Express_2.0
So you'll not get the full power out of it, but it's probably as good or better than anything else you can get as long as you have the wattage to run it.

Also, throw Vista away for gods sake. At least get windows 7.
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I have a 750watts PSU so that'll be fine.

Gonna run this dxdiag thing and see what comes up.

Reading through the wikis you've provided as we speak, and I'm I am fairly certain this'll work. Like you said, the wikis indicate that it works. I might call the store from which I've bought my PC in the first place, back in 2008, just to be sure, though. I wouldn't want to waste money I don't have on something that's not gonna work.

Also, I know Vista is supposed to be crap, but I got my PC in 2008 and I believe 7 wasn't out yet at that time. I've never bothered with upgrading because Windows is hella expensive but I might have my license for my old laptop lying around somewhere. Although, I wouldn't know where to start looking. I might've lost it. Fairly certain I've lost it. :(

How much of a difference is Windows 7 going to make anyway? I know all the horror stories about Vista being the worst system since ME, but I've never really had any troubles with it. Is windows 7 just gonna run a lot faster?
 
UPDATE: been checking up on the chipset, and it seems it supports OpenGL 1.4 and DirectX9.0c while the GTX 560 supports OpenGL 4.1 and DirectX 12. Does this mean I still can't use DirectX 12 and OpenGL 4.1 features on my computer?
 
I don't think that's relevant. Probably just some built-in graphics adapter or something like that. OpenGL and DirectX should be resolved on the GPU regardless I think. Besides, here's some relevant specs for your old card: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_9_series#GeForce_9800_GTX
DirectX 10, Shader Model 4.0, OpenGL 3.3, and PCI-Express 2.0.
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So the 560 should be just fine.

Also, I think Vista can't use DirectX 11, just as Windows 7 can't use DirectX 12. Apart from that reasons to upgrade are mostly annoyances like Vista automatically moving your savegames around for older games or denying you access to save and shit like that. I dunno, I never used it because I heard so much shit about it. Performance-wise it probably isn't a big deal, beyond the performance boost you get from formatting and reinstalling an OS of course.

edit: Also, I finally remembered that the card I had where the same problem occurred was the 9800 GT (so not exactly the same as yours)
 
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Not sure about Vista Home Premium but Vista Ultimate x64 got access to directX 11 few years back but only up to DX11,0. Win 7 has support up to DX 11,1 and win 8,1 up to DX 11,2 ; win 10 as we know supports DX12

on the other hand with the GTX+9800 it's an eqivalent of Radeon HD4850 wich i ran up until december (and it would still work quite fine if i haven't upgrade it) so i doubt it's hardware related issue (who knows) but given the Nvidia policy where there is one driver for all (and this is why i hate nvidia cards) when card get's outdated the support for it in the never versions of drivers gets removed and installing them especially in beta can seriously screw over the system up to a point where it is nessecary to do a backup revovery/clean install. Not to mention there is little information when the support for a given card gets dropped.. plus it may partially still work in a later release or two.

However it might be a good idea to run some kind of RAM testing utility from a live distro like "hiren's boot cd" or put a windows malware clean scan on the run (try something good eg. emsisoft antimalware)
besides if Your ram turns out to be ok You can try to run a linux live cd and check there if Your card is allright (if You prefer it this way instead of windows reinstall).

EDIT
Oh yeah don't forget to check Your monitor and the monitor signal cable they might be faulty too

EDIT #2
as for the replacement card expenses You can try buy a used card on ebay or the like. On a local auctionhouse in my country i saw 9800GTX+ roughly for an equivalent of 25€ and it had a custom arctic cooling accelero twin turbo cooling kit on it, so buying a replacement is not such a big deal..
EDIT#3
i have preety similar mobo
and run radeon r9 390X on it all PCI-E are backwards compatible only difference is transfer speed so You've got two things to consider before You purchase the replacement
1) is Your power supply capable of supplying enaugh amperage on 12V rail (I assume You have the PCI-E power cables in Your PSU since GTX9800 also needs them)
to calculate how much amperage You need You'd need to know wattage consumption of Your PC components (CPU,HDD's FAN's etc..) besides cpu and gpu (wich can be checked on manufacturer's site) evrything else should have amperageor wattage use on the sticker)
to calculate amperage for DC divide wattage by voltage (W/V) in this case we divide by 12V
How much power supply can provide on 12V rail can be seen on the psu sticker on the psu.
sometimes PSU has 2x +12V rails one for cpu and hdd and one for additional mobo and gpu connectors ( they don't add up then) you just check for one of them refer to psu manual to find out wich one)
2)
ask for precise measurments of the card dimensions it might be possible that it won't fit Your old chasis (especially if you have mini-atx) usually hdd/fdd montage slots stand in the way and prevent longer cards from fitting in to the chasis so take a measurment from the nail slot up to the moment you'll see it won't fit and write it down in milimeters/inches whatever u use and compare it to the length of the card you buy to be sure

EDIT#4 and yes those opengl1,4 and ditectX 9.0c are indeed for integrated graphic on the motherboard ( check for blue colored 15 pin in 3 rows socket at the back of the pc [usually a d-sub connector] where a lot of usb's are and a integrated LAN/internet socket) if it's there then you have integrated graphic card built in the motherboard) so yes newer type replacement card will work but there is one condition make yourslef ABSOLLUTELY sure that there are drivers from the manufacturer for your operating system for that card..
I've been screwed over and also needed to buy a win 7 copy in order to use my new card since there were no drivers under Vista

EDIT#5
as this might be the source of concern Yes I do manage to run Fo4 on quad core q9650 an old low end socket775 mobo and a new radeon r9 390x it runs super smooth only real problem anre the load times since PCI-E 1.0a is only 2,5GB/s while r9 390x supports up to PCI-E 3.0 wich has transfer in hundreds of GB/s and no SSD jus ta crappy hdd and 32 MB cache on it
 
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