How to tell if my graphics card is broken?

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:13

I have a 6970, 2 weeks old and all of a sudden, it stops in a game and the game stutters, lags and crashes. Then, the fan goes to 100% and i have to end all my games in task manager. Also, in many of my games, if i walk into light, the whole screen lights up as if someone is shining a torch at me from inside the screen (don't know if that makes any sense) and these are problems i have NEVER had before. Is there any way to tell for CERTAIN as i don't want to be without my card for too long.

Thanks

twist3d0n3 · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:15

sounds like system instability/overheating to me...

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:15

so what exactly do i do?

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:16

I have a tJ07 and there is nothing restricting the airflow

varkanoid · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:19

Cleeecooo said:
so what exactly do i do?

troubleshoot it, process of elimination.

Have you a spare gfx card you can try in your pc ?
Can you try your 6970 in another PC, ie a friends ?

What temps is the card showing ? Use GPU-Z for instance ?

If you think its the card only one thing to do return it.

twist3d0n3 · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:22

try completely uninstalling the drivers, that would be my 1st port of call. then reinstall, check idle temps of the card, and if they're fine, see what the load temps are like. it could just be poor contact with the cards cooler.

do you overclock? if you are, check cpu temps, and if you're overclocking the gpu, downclock it as it might be a bit too much for the card to take.

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:22

OK. 60 degrees idle. give e a couple of mins and i'll have a look at in game temps. How exactly do i monitor the temps whilst gaming?

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:25

managed to et idle tems down by putting fans to 100% for a while but temps went straight up again

Sayso · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:32

sounds like the cooler isnt working as it should be, either reseat it yourself or RMA it.

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:34

removed all overclocks and drivers and am now getting new drivers off AMD site. Anything else i should be doing?

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:34

Won't reseating cooler void my warranty?

rolypolyman · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:44

Cleeecooo said:
Won't reseating cooler void my warranty?

Yes, rma it. Sorry.

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:47

How do i monitor my temps in games though? i want to be sure the card's faulty before RMA'ing it

rolypolyman · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:51

Cleeecooo said:
How do i monitor my temps in games though? i want to be sure the card's faulty before RMA'ing it

Have Msi Afterburner running in background while gaming or I think Gpu-z can monitor temps as well. 60c at idle is way too hot, my 470 doesen't reach that on the heaven benchmark at full load. :eek:

Granted I have an aftermarket cooler.

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:55

ok. downloading afterburner. will come back in 1 hr after testing all temps and doing some benchmarks

prosk · 3 Jan 2011 at 16:57

HW monitor will show the highest temperature reached from the moment you start the app onwards. MSI afterburner will also show max temp reached and also has an on-screen display for monitoring temps during games etc.

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 17:32

my findings so far:
HAWX: 74degrees
20-33 FPS

Flight sim X: 72 degrees
10-24FPS

What do you think. Any other games i should try? I will be back with some more data

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 18:02

Alien swarm
75-80 degrees
59-60FPS

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 18:18

unigine heaven:
Started at 65 degrees and kept climbing until it levelled off at 79 degrees.
7/8FPS but sometimes went to 20

Cleeecooo · 3 Jan 2011 at 18:37

3DMark 11 basic
80 degrees throughout
15FPS - then the program stopped working on the final GPU test