Graphics Crashes - scII, COD4..in fact any game thats not tf2

[Spark]

okay this has been happening for agessssss and since it doesnt happen with tf2 which was kind of the only game i played then it wasn't an issue. now im starting to branch out however.

i used to be able to fix it with rivatuner by bossting the fan speed to 50%
now that fix seems doesnt seem to work on new games like scII

this is what it looks like when it happens: http://i44.tinypic.com/27yabg5.jpg & http://i42.tinypic.com/5duebp.jpg
that will be on screen for around 10-30 secs, after that the game will crash, or it'll recover, or the pc will lock up completely.

really stumped, like i said its been like that for well over a year but never really got in my way.
BE WARNED: responses like "new grapics card" is probz not gonna happen because of the low power supply on my dell computer
so yeah, any ideas would be awsome, otherwise it could be an "advice on sparks new computer" thread. >.<

[Monkeh]

That looks similar to when my Graphics card was pwned.  It would work ok for about 1 minute then start getting all those little glitchy bits, then more, then more, then freeze and crash.  I needed a new GPU, which I got on warranty 'cos I'd had it about 5 weeks.

Not a great help, but info is info....

[Spark]

http://i42.tinypic.com/33y2ovs.jpg <core temps when having tf2 open

i can post more system info if you guys need.
ah what the hell, i was bored:

Time of this report: 5/18/2010, 14:44:40
Machine name: SPARK
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7600) (7600.win7_gdr.100226-1909)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Dell XPS420                 
BIOS: Phoenix ROM BIOS PLUS Version 1.10 A06
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad CPU    Q9400  @ 2.66GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4030MB RAM
Page File: 1735MB used, 6322MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
Card name: ATI Radeon HD 3870

[Humbug]

BE WARNED: responses like "new grapics card" is probz not gonna happen because of the low power supply on my dell computer
so yeah, any ideas would be awsome, otherwise it could be an "advice on sparks new computer" thread. >.<

first thing you could try before starting the new advice thread is to underclock the card by quite a bit and see what happens..you could also clean the gfx card of all the dust etc along with your pc.

ofcourse i think the new pc thread will be soon in the making

[frymaster]

well your CPU temps are fine... might be worth posting graphics temps

surprised to see it's not an nvidia 8800, they were infamous for failing like that

[DeathByDribbling]

Looks like the graphics card memory is faulty - you can try underclocking it but tbh looks like time to buy a new card.

[Spark]

Looks like the graphics card memory is faulty - you can try underclocking it but tbh looks like time to buy a new card.

problem is on my dell pc i have a 350w power suply which really limits my options with good new cards, also the space in the case is really minimal so is this starting to look like a new pc jobby ?

[Paranoia]

But you can change the power supply? and the case?

[DeathByDribbling]

Looks like the graphics card memory is faulty - you can try underclocking it but tbh looks like time to buy a new card.

problem is on my dell pc i have a 350w power suply which really limits my options with good new cards, also the space in the case is really minimal so is this starting to look like a new pc jobby ?

Well a HD 3870 is hardly tiny or ultra low power, in fact I'm pretty sure they are meant to use psu's with more then 350W.  I would have thought a 5770 would be very similar in size and power consumption?

[Paranoia]

It's hard to diagnose these sorts of problems definitively, but it could just as easily be the PSU dieing as the GFX Card, imo.

[Chaos]

you could always try and do a furmark run overnight to see if that fails. Furmark won't stress the rest of your pc so much, meaning less overall power load on the PC!

If it fails, all signs point towards a GPU overheat or bad proc. Maybe some of the Caps are blown? I heard that happens on the 38xx series cards.. that'd suck though because you'd have to take out the card before it blows the entire PCI-e x16 lane!

[Chaos]

AHAHA

We were all wrong!

This has sweet FALL to do with the graphics card or the PSU! rofl!
 according to this website (computer hope is pretty good IIRC) it's caused by HARD DRIVES, NOT GRAPHICS CARDS.

Seeing as windows sees RAID setups as non standard IDE explains why this error is happening on this PC !

[Humbug]

UM... i doubt a hdd error will cause his corruption of display.. going from his screen-shot anyway.

spark don't mention what stop error if any occurs..  so going on what he has described... still sounds like gfx to me

[Chaos]

UM... i doubt a hdd error will cause his corruption of display.. going from his screen-shot anyway.

spark don't mention what stop error if any occurs..  so going on what he has described... still sounds like gfx to me

its not just games that's having this error. You'd be surprised what can mess with your graphics. My old wifi card used to cause my graphics card to spaz out! but I digress.. Either removing the software raid (which is a bit meh to begin with) and having 2 drives that's a lot easier to diagnose, or re-installing windows will most likely fix your headaches... doesn't hurt to re-install windows now and then anyway.. removes any bugs/reg errors/needless crap that gets built up over the months.. and any of those pesky reg errors you had in Vista would have been transferred when you went to 7

[Spark]

[qoute]re-installing windows will most likely fix your headaches... doesn't hurt to re-install windows now and then anyway.. removes any bugs/reg errors/needless crap that gets built up over the months.. and any of those pesky reg errors you had in Vista would have been transferred when you went to 7
[/quote]

meh since having the pc i've formatted vista twice and upgraded to 7 once and never has it fixed the problem.