Can I ask a stupid question?

Which part is broken on a computer when your screen suddenly decides to dispaly patches/stripes of various colours and your computer does.. exactly nothing?

How'd I get the effect? I dunno, I was in UW at the time, had spent about 2 hours down there.

Has it happened before? Yes, twice. At the time, I opened up the box and found a layer of dust over the fan which was supposed to cool down the video card... So, would this problem indicate that I did hurt the card too much, or is it something else which is easier to fix than spending a interesting amount of money on a new card?

Also, if it is the graphics card, what's a nice new one to get that doesn't cost the world?

Oh yeah, before I forget... below is what I have inside my comp atm

Athlon XP3000
1gig ram (2 x 512mb)
nvidia 5700fx card
Win2000
Old hd
No idea what type of motherboard, I think Nvidia though.

Typically artifacting like that happens when your GPU is starting to overheat. The fact that you found dust covering the fan only supports this. If it's only happened recently then your card should be fine, just make sure you clean out the dust from your case regularly since dust can cause all kinds of overheating issues.

Also, the only stupid question is the one that doesn't get asked.

Not a stupid question, but if there was dust on the fan, you should've cleaned it out.
It's the video card overheating - what you saw were artifacts. If you see them, bugger out of GW ASAP and start dusting out your computer.

At this point, I would get out my leaf blower and blam some air into the case. Woosh! Dust all gone!

gah, I mis-explained it.

The video card HAD dust on it last time this happend.. about a month ago. And I de-dusted it feeling somewhat stupid for letting it get to that stage in the first place. Since then, I've been running the system open with a fan blowing onto it, and it only re-occured over the weekend that one time.

Artifacts... uhh.. you couldn't log out of anything, there was nothing to see as such, other than something resembling modern art (lots of stripes and rectangles horizontally stacked). And it hit without warning. btw, what do artifacts look like?

Answer
Well, you pretty much answered it

LOL, so my lack of knowledge of computers in general is showing through nicely.. what should the temperature of the video card be while I'm playing btw?

Less than 90 C. The lower, the better. Ideally, you'll idle at around 30-45, and load at 45-60, but lower is better.

Hmm.. without GW, it's at about 34, the highest I've seen it was 70 (that was the point that I checked for dust) and currently, it's about 50-55 while playing.

Thanks for the info

I think I've had the same problem. Can you take a screenshot of it when it happens and then post it here?

if the card is still under warranty send in a trouble ticket to their tech support so you can have a record of problems before it goes out of warranty

they may simply send you a RMA to replace the card.

4$ PCI slot fan from newegg ftw?....

Not just for GPU, it is also possible for CPU overheating, or even PPU


Also, manufacturers claim their processor can withstand 140C. The truth is that your computer pretty much stop functioning at 70C

Thanks for the additional info.

As for a screen shot.. uhh.. short of having a camera next to me while playing and taking a photo, there's no way of getting a screen shot.. like I said, the screen goes modern-art on me, and I can't see anything anymore. Considering I actually have to reboot when it happens, I don't think I can get a screen shot, which is annoying considering that a screenshot would help identify the problem.

http://www.undergroundarts.co.uk/Eba...(400by300).jpg

That link comes about as close as I can find to what the comp looks like, just add more lines into it and the green/pink/white combination that screens tend to have.

And the warranty.. this is my first comp which has lasted over 2 years.. so.. no warranty anymore. (No, neither myself nor family members overclocked/played with the predecessors)

Just use prnt Screen.... on your keyboard

Yea, print screen saves it into your /guild wars/screens folder. Restart after that adn the screenie should be there.

be careful with this.. those slot coolers blow air out the case- your video card blows it into it's sink upside down.. usually have to mod the slot cooler to blow the other way.. after the mod take the bottom half of the cooler off too for even better results

I think they're talking about a PCI card that's parallel to the slot and blows up towards the video card, not any exhaust thing.

yeah this is what he's talking about..
http://www.newegg.com/product/Produc...se+cooling+fan

they blow out- I dunno why they even make these things really.. you have to mod em (cut the support out and glue the fan onto the other side- it's not that hard really but most new modders will just install it stock under thier video card- end up with 2 fans blowing opposite) you get better cooling by taking the bottom half of it off too for extra airflow- reversing the leads won't make the fan reverse- they have a regulator installed.. tried that before) get one that's least 35 cfm, mod it and you'll have really nice air cooling

Or the 8.99 Antec which is an exhaust