Curse

Abnormai · Jul 23, 2009, 04:34 PM // 16:34

I've Played GW for about 2-3 years and never had a problem with glitching or freezing. Lately (the past 3 weeks) I've randomly frozen in game, then my screen goes black............

Then it goes to Standby and the game never comes on. I have to manually turn off the computer. After that nothing seems to be wrong, until this morning.

I log onto my computer and it immediantly goes Black screened, but quickly returns to desktop functioning.....Again, goes to black screen, then back to desktop.

Then, all of a sudden, i can see a few little "pixelized" looking strings appear beneath my desktop, but then fade. It has been continuing to go on and off black screen (sometimes 20 times in a minute, and other times 1 time in 7 minutes) til i wrote this post. I assume its my graphic card... I have a 3 year old I buy power computer,
3 ghz, etc... It can run just about anything and has never frozen on me..

I looked this up in my computer (I am not tech savvy) and I assume THIS is my Graphics card... Nvidia GeForce 7300 GT

If so, what would be a suitable replacement? and from what store? Should I buy on Ebay or at Best Buy? And also, if anyone has heard of this to assure me this IS the graphics card, if not something else.

Killamus · Jul 23, 2009, 05:04 PM // 17:04

www.newegg.com for spare parts, but could you give us a bit more information? Like the model number? (Assuming it's a prebuilt) That could give us a lot of help when trying to learn more about it.

LoneManWolf · Jul 23, 2009, 05:32 PM // 17:32

try updating ur drivers
and get rid of that nvidia pos card :P

Killamus · Jul 23, 2009, 05:37 PM // 17:37

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoneManWolf

try updating ur drivers
and get rid of that nvidia pos card :P

Updating drivers isn't worthwhile unless it actually seems to be a driver problem. This doesn't. He mentions artifacts and a flickering screen. Updating probably wouldn't be a bad idea, but before you do, try to boot in safe mode. If it still happens, that eliminates driver failure as a possibility.

Also: consider that Nvidia has the market pretty much cornered... Except for ATI's new 4890. Nvidia still gives a better price-performance ratio then ATI. Also, ATI/AMD still isn't doing too good, as a company. Get a card from a company that won't be gone in 5 years

I'll reiterate though: It probably is your video card, but your model number/manufactuer will help a lot in diagnosing the problem/recommending a new part.

It could also be your monitor, if you have a spare, try hooking that up. Or, if you have a different computer (Even 2004+ laptop should work) hook up your monitor to the different computer and see if it still happens.

Oh, and re-check your connections. I can't believe I forgot to mention this, but small animals and feet like to pull on cords when they're bored, losing it, and it might be causing that.

rb.widow · Jul 24, 2009, 03:41 PM // 15:41

If hes getting artifacts it is 100% the GFX card, and not the drivers, a GFX driver would not cause that, a driver issue would cause a hard crash, most likely a BSOD when gaming, and it would also be recorded into the windows event manager.

Artifacts can be cause by heat too, im assuming the card has a Fan on it, make sure its turning correctly and is free from dust etc,

Even though i stated to check the fan, the fact the card is making the screen go black then brings it back on, and its giving artifacts/flickering im going to guess the card is probably already on its way out, or and developed bad ram on board the card itself.

Also your 7300GT, there is an AGP and a PCI version of that card, as i dont know which one you have, make sure you replace it with a card that will fit, AGP cards are few and far between now due to it being old hardware,

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...0+GT&x=10&y=33

That link should have the same card in both AGP and PCI.

Lord Sojar · Jul 24, 2009, 09:27 PM // 21:27

It might be time to throw in a new card. Unfortunately, low end GPUs cannot take abuse (excessive load from gaming day in and day out) for too long before they start to degrade internally. They are just not build to be at full load constantly.

I can recommend a new GPU for you based on your budget and current PC stats. Please post your system information (Power supply manufacturer and model number/type, motherboard manufacturer and model/type, and number of disk drivers and hard drives)

In addition, post your CPU type and speed, RAM type and amount, and what games you play/would like to play.

Once I have that info, I will do my best to give you a few unbiased options to consider.

moriz · Jul 24, 2009, 09:46 PM // 21:46

Quote:

Originally Posted by Killamus

Updating drivers isn't worthwhile unless it actually seems to be a driver problem. This doesn't. He mentions artifacts and a flickering screen. Updating probably wouldn't be a bad idea, but before you do, try to boot in safe mode. If it still happens, that eliminates driver failure as a possibility.

Also: consider that Nvidia has the market pretty much cornered... Except for ATI's new 4890. Nvidia still gives a better price-performance ratio then ATI. Also, ATI/AMD still isn't doing too good, as a company. Get a card from a company that won't be gone in 5 years

I'll reiterate though: It probably is your video card, but your model number/manufactuer will help a lot in diagnosing the problem/recommending a new part.

It could also be your monitor, if you have a spare, try hooking that up. Or, if you have a different computer (Even 2004+ laptop should work) hook up your monitor to the different computer and see if it still happens.

Oh, and re-check your connections. I can't believe I forgot to mention this, but small animals and feet like to pull on cords when they're bored, losing it, and it might be causing that.

AMD/ATI is also partially owned by the Saudis. very rich Saudis might i add. they aren't going anywhere, except maybe up the market ladder. you are also wrong about nvidia covering the entire market. AMD's new radeons are competitive in every price category. if it wasn't for AMD's HD4800 series, we'll still be paying $600 for the GTX280.