OT Gaming computer help

[happypig]

My boy has a high-end gaming computer and the graphics card (a BEHEMOTH with two fans) has started "artifacting", diagonal lines flicker when he's playing games like Left4Dead & GTA.
I reckon the graphics card has gone faulty but has anyone with experience of such things had similar ?

 

[StonehamPark]

Edit: Wrong thread.

 

[SteveTheSeagull]

Change the thermal paste on the card to see if that helps. If not It's a new card for him.

 

[Frutos]

Have you tried turning it off and on again?

(Sorry, someone has to in these threads - it's the law)

 

[Brighthelmstone]

Could be cooking itself as per StevetheSeagulls comments. first step is to replace the paste and ensure any fins/fans are dusted out. is the PC getting hot? Sat next to a radiator for example?

 

[happypig]

His monitoring program says it's running at around 60C which he reckons is OK.

Where does the thermal paste go ?

 

[SteveTheSeagull]

His monitoring program says it's running at around 60C which he reckons is OK.

Where does the thermal paste go ?

You need to take it apart. I have some spare thermal paste if you are anywhere near Langney?

 

[MattBackHome]

His monitoring program says it's running at around 60C which he reckons is OK.

Where does the thermal paste go ?

If he's anything like I was as a youngster there will be thermal paste all over his bedroom.

 

[beorhthelm]

im pretty sure that re-applying thermal past will invalidate any warranty, so dont do that if its in the warranty period. the main manufactures seem pretty good about honouring them so i'd return it first.

 

[happypig]

You need to take it apart. I have some spare thermal paste if you are anywhere near Langney?

Thanks for the offer but I have some somewhere.

However...

im pretty sure that re-applying thermal past will invalidate any warranty, so dont do that if its in the warranty period. the main manufactures seem pretty good about honouring them so i'd return it first.

It's about 3 months old so a return seems likely

 

[Gullflyinghigh]

Beyond the possibility of over-heating (which seems to be ruled out already), it sounds like the card may be on its way out.

 

[brakespear]

I thought it sounded like it was overheating initially but seems not, doesn't seem likely to be driver issue either. If it's only in those games and not on the desktop though not sure it can be a faulty card - have you tried reseating it in its slot?

 

[Albion my Albion]

im pretty sure that re-applying thermal past will invalidate any warranty, so dont do that if its in the warranty period. the main manufactures seem pretty good about honouring them so i'd return it first.

Well, I never ever thought about a warranty on thermal paste.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Return it.

 

[deletebeepbeepbeep]

Actually does he overclock it? Hopefully he hasn't done this beyond the limits recommended by the manufacturer? You could also try undoing any overclock.

 

[Albion my Albion]

You need to take it apart. I have some spare thermal paste if you are anywhere near Langney?

You could meet in a Hayward Heath car park to share your thermal paste with the bloke.

 

[beorhthelm]

If it's only in those games and not on the desktop though not sure it can be a faulty card

not to rule out driver issues, games stress cards far far harder than the desktop ever will. even keeping the resolution down and reducing some of the graphic quality settings can keep the GPU usage low enough to reduce temps considerably. but driver reinstall and reseating are good ideas before a return. also if its overclocked try at the standard settings (though will probably still count this as faulty, depending on the amount of overclock.

 

[Deleted member 22389]

My boy has a high-end gaming computer and the graphics card (a BEHEMOTH with two fans) has started "artifacting", diagonal lines flicker when he's playing games like Left4Dead & GTA.
I reckon the graphics card has gone faulty but has anyone with experience of such things had similar ?

Sounds like it's gone to me, you could try the thermal paste as suggested. If that doesn't work you know it's 100% officially.

 

[KingstonSeagull]

I'll fix it for £50 and some paella.

 

[happypig]

He's not overclocked it as far as I know. I did try turning all the graphics settings in the game down to thier lowest and it still showed the lines/triangles.

I also got eaten by a zombie if that's relevant