[Scuddie]

My wonderful GeForce4 Ti4200 8x has been growing increasingly unstable over the past few months.  For example, I see flicker all over the damn place.  I get transparent polies, glow effects rendering infront of objects obstructing them, and it seems I always get tearing and "triangles of death" whenever movement occurs, even though VSync is always turned on.  Does it seem like my VRAM is going out?  Perhaps a driver issue?  Whenever I take a screencap of any game, the effect always disappears for that image.  So, does anyone know what this is?

EDIT:  Forgot to mention, I cant run much in D3D because it always seems to screw up.  And in OpenGL, it is much more stable, yet the circumstances are much more harsh if something happens (i.e. BSOD).

[WMCoolmon]

Sounds like I'm looking into improving the air circulation of my computer this summer...

[Scuddie]

...Huh?

[Taristin]

He means it may be overheating. I don't know if this'll help, but try removing the case, or a case wall, to help cool it?

[Scuddie]

My case is always wide open, with a table fan always sitting close to it.  The amount of airflow is quite high, and my system stability shows for it.  The thing is though, I seriously doubt that heat has anything to do with it.  The effects show up whether I'm running a game at 640x480 with no AA or Filtering, or 1152x864 with 2x2 AA and 8X Anistropic filtering.  Even though the card has to work much harder in the second scenario, the artifacts are not any worse than the first.

[Blitzerland]

My case is always wide open

OMFG!

Uh, right. Reverting to grammatical correctness now. Please stand by.

Do you have any idea how many things could go horribly wrong by leaving your CPU's innards exposed like that? Dust can get in, and if an external fan blows too hard, it can damage things, scratch stuff up (personal experience), and overall make a nuisance of itself.

Don't ever leave your CPU-case open!

[Scuddie]

No offense Blitz, but It seems that you do not know what you are talking about.  You are MUCH more likely to get lots of dust with a closed system with airflow, than an open system with airflow.  If I didnt have any airflow in my open system, then it'd be a different story.  However, since I have air circulation open to the room, the dust doesn't have a chance to settle.

Furthermore, what personal experience do you have that says your PCB components will get "scratched up" if you have a fan blowing on it?  Sure, if you have one of those $50000 hollywood fans that are used to simulate a windstorm you might have problems, but not a $10 mini table fan from WalMart.  Also, I dont see any threat, as the environment my case is housed is free of all kinds of debris or whatever that would be a risk.

Trust me, I've been fixing computers for people for almost 10 years.  I think I know what I am doing.

[Blitzerland]

My previous CPU case was left off all the time, under constant "fanning."

One day, my CPU wouldn't boot. The problem? Something had shredded up my motherboard. Whatever it was, it couldn't have happened had I kept the case closed, which would have kept my computer fairly secure from outside threats. You'd have to be raving mad to keep your case open all the time, in my humble opinion.

Even if that isn't the cause for you, I'd reccomend, if you can, examining the card itself. Since you keep the case off all the time, it should be fairly easy to remove the graphics card, examine it, and plug it back in. I've never had to do this, so I'm not sure if you could even recognize any damage, however.

If all else fails, take your CPU to a bona fide computer repair shop.

[vyper]

[q]You'd have to be raving mad to keep your case open all the time, in my humble opinion. [/q]

If I keep my case on, the system dies after a wee while.

[Blitzerland]

Wierd. I've had my current CPU for 6 years (plus upgrades), and I always keep my case on. No system-failures yet.

Meh. Personal preference, I guess.

[Scuddie]

How did something shred up your motherboard?  That doesnt make sense.  Are you sure it wasnt foul play?  Even if you were in a very dusty environment, it wouldn't have shredded up a solid PCB.  It however wouldnt be unlikely for someone to knock over the fan, and the fanblades did the damage.  That, as far as I know, is the only way it could be weathered.  But I see your point.  A grille wouldnt be a bad thing to look into, I suppose.

Anyhow, I already took a nice look at the card, but I couldnt see anything wrong.  The HSF was working properly, and all the lines appeared free of erosion.  I did, however, check the heat sync when I shut down the machine, and it was definately hot to the touch, although my system temp and CPU temp were cool.  Hmmm...  Perhaps the card IS overheating...

[Taristin]

Probably one of his many cats.....

[Blitzerland]

The scratches were too small to be from one of my feline friends. Besides, I keep my door closed when I'm not at home, being the paranoid jerk that I am.

[Corhellion]

Scuddie...I appear to be having the same problems that you're having.

It's damned annoying but I do believe that it's the Vid Card going...*crosses fingers*...If it goes...I get a newer (better!!!) one

And it's not because of overheating...hell I'm trying to keep myself warm down in my dungeon...er....basement.

When the flicker/jagged bar of death/Vid Card failiure happens I just reboot the comp and it works fine. But it happens from time to time.

I'm running a GeForce4 MX 440 though...must be the warranty going...

[phatosealpha]

It sounds like a heat problem to me.

Maybe you should double check that the heatsinks are still firmly attached.  If they came loose, it's unlikely the fan would be able to do much to keep it cool.

[Singh]

Originally posted by Blitzerland
Wierd. I've had my current CPU for 6 years (plus upgrades), and I always keep my case on. No system-failures yet.

Meh. Personal preference, I guess.

Im running it with no case at all....my CPU is on a flat wooden board all exposed. I'm not even running it with a switch (have to turn on the power manually on the motherboard)

Yes, it's dangerous; but with teh number of times I switch parts and such, its hassle-free and a lot easier to clean (i d/c everything and clean it once a month), so dust has little chance to do damage

[mitac]

Scuddie : it's most likely a heat issue, as has been said various times. I suggest you either a) remove the heatsink, put on new thermal paste and put the heatsink back on. Check if the fan's running. If that won't help, you could b) try a new heatsink, preferably copper and/or a case fan blowing air on the card. Underclocking the card for testing purposes may count as option c), though it may act up weird. Some cards do.

BTW, what's the temperatures in your machine (i.e. CPU/MoBo).

Singh : you know, there are casings that offer a lot of usability combined with the general positive effect of a) looking better and b) being safe.

Blitzerland : shredding up a MoBo? Do you have any idea how hard those PCBs are? I guess it's more like a massive overcharge that blew it up. Did any nuclear plant nearby blow up during that time?

Though that would explain why your cats are talking to you...

[WMCoolmon]

Singh, you should look up Lian Li cases and thumbscrews.

Or maybe just some sort of transparent, static-resistant plastic box to put over the computer.

Trust me, you never want to knock your brand-new $200 video card out of its AGP socket while the freaking computer is on. It's a terrifying experience.

[Blitzerland]

What would that do?

I mean, if you lost your graphics card while playing Fs2, what the heck would happen? That would be the scariest, freaky-glitchy thingy ever!

*is terrified*

[kasperl]

BEEEP

*shutdown*

"****, I hope that the warranty covers this."