Is my gfx card shot?

[Vice]

This has to be the worst time this could possibly happen...

I believe my gfx card is dead/dieing. It's been on its way out for a while now, making my computer crash when I get to high of an fps level - I can manage to play source with vsync on to prevent the crash, but everyother game I crash in.

And when I tried to play BioShock.. comp lasted about 3mins... corrupt windows.

Fresh install, tried BioShock... gfx shot..

The reason I think it is my card is that I am getting all these horizontal lines, which I guess would be artifacts, right when I start up windows. And when I boot, the text is all jarbaled, and there are lines of all different colors going down the screen. About 2mins into Windows, my systems locks up.

I've tried reseating... temps are okay...power is good...

I'm about out of options.

Any ideas?

Plus, suggestions on a new gfx card would be most welcome.

[zanzabar]

did u mess with the bios at all, and have u tested it in another computer couse it could be a psu or motherboard problem

[Genius_pt]

You can put a fan to blow some air to the digital vrms cause they can be overheating.

I once had a similar problem with a sapphire x1950pro that when I was playing for a while the screen turned black and I had to reset my system. I managed to get in touch with sapphire support team and they told me that the vrms were overheating.

The vrms are these:

http://img168.imageshack.us/img168/3830/pcbqk8.jpg

[Vice]

Its not the black screen I am worry about.

When I start up, there are lines up and down the screen of various colors, and I get millions of horizontal lines when I get into windows, and then I crash.

[AliG]

That happened to me last year, I believe it's a simple driver problem, as a driver fix corrected the problem for me. IF the card actually is shot, at least you will be able to pick up either an rv615 (55nm replacement for the 2600xt) for literally dirt, or the rv670 for around the same price of your x1950pro, worst come worst, the current 2600xt is only $105 for the saphire model and that will be a great hold over card that has dx10 and is dirt cheap even if it can't outperform nvidia's counterparts

[Vice]

I understand the idea of me getting a cheap gfx card now, but wouldn't it, in the long run, be cheaper if I got an 8800GTX now, and used eVGA's step-up program to grab a 9800GTX when they come out in November?

[AliG]

No, because evga charges ridiculously high amounts to buy anything off their site and to use step up you have to buy it off their site (plus I believe you don't get full value in credit so they can make money). To be honest with you, I can't stand people that buy top of the line products for two reasons. One, I can't afford to do the same:D. And two, it just doesn't make sense to me becuse with the plan ati has roughly every 6 months starting after the r700 they'll have a new high end product and it frankly just doesn't make sense to me to buy the top since you're just going to end up spending money you don't need because either the price will drop very quickly on your product and you'll have wasted money, or the new product blows yours away completely. Sure, step up is nice, but still just not worth it unless you're someone like shamino that pretty much makes a living off his computer success. Also, I'm confused, the g92 was supposedly the 9800gtx, now suddenly it's supposed to replace the 8800gts and has 256bit memory and that crap?

[Vice]

Yes but you see, if I go big now, I won't have to get a new gfx card for a while, and the way I see it, the 8800gtx will last me a LONG TIME.

I'm not one of those guys who buys the biggest and baddest the day it comes out. I need something that preforms, and will last me for 1yr+, and it looks like the 8800GTX fits the bill, wouldn't you say so?