getting strange dots on the screen

[MiNxYyY]

was previously running vista 64 and dots started to appear every few seconds,now installed a fresh copy of XP,but still getting dots on the screen,i have the latest drivers installed but still the same,i have re-seated the card but still no change,tried monitor on another pc and all is fine.

could my graphics card be on its way out?

 

[Deleted member 61728]

Does 3dmark 06 run okay with or without screen probs ? any dust or overheating on the graphics card ?

 

[-Exodus-]

tried older drivers?

 

[LoadsaMoney]

Sounds like sparklies, which is a memory prob (memory on the card).

 

[MiNxYyY]

have been using driver 175 but rolled back to 169 but still have same problem,my screen freezes to quickly for me to do anything,im currently running in safe mode.

 

[-Exodus-]

Sounds like sparklies, which is a memory prob (memory on the card).

is that a heat issue or is it just mean the cards dying?

 

[rubin1961]

agreed with loadsa

 

[kylew]

You should post some pics of it if you can, it'll be a bit easier to source the problem. From what you've said though, I'd also guess it was a memory problem, that's usually the case when the graphics ram goes, you'll get patterns, a lot of the time like a checker board, and sparklies on the screen.

 

[z0mbi3]

Sounds like sparklies, which is a memory prob (memory on the card).

Sorry to hijack but, while we're on the subject of sparklies, I have an x1900 xt that sometimes has dodgy changing pixels usually where blacks should be. I could cure it by power cycling the monitor.

I had just thought it was the monitor, as it was a warranty replacement, however now that I've upgraded to an 3870 the problem has gone.

Could that be sparklies too? The card had been abused on clocks and voltage for awhile so it wouldn't surprise me if that's the case.