[Brandon.tozer]

Geforce GT240 graphics card approx 6 months old. Im having issues while online gaming with my graphics card. At first I was getting a consistent 60 frames per second. and that was stable. In recent weeks, i've had to lower resolution and video settings and am experiencing frame rate dips as low as 5 fps. Currently I am loading a game and immediately after load im getting less than 1 fps and then the game is freezing solid. Forcing a shutdown. Im trying to determine whether or not this is a videocard issue or a power supply issue.

It should be noted as well that the on board graphics card that originally came with my pc blew up. The gt240 is my current one. I've replaced the motherboard. I've run several defrags. malware/spyware/virus scans. i've reinstalled and reformatted windows 7 multiple times. I cant find a resolution to this issue. Any advice?

[nut]

Could you provide more information about how your last video card died and anything that has changed in the recent with your GT240? Can you use a temperature monitoring program and see if the card is overheating (if you don't want to crack open your case and touch it). Also, are you reinstalling the same site of drivers everytime? It seems like your best bet might be to try a different video card and see if you can isolate the issue. (Perhaps you can borrow one from a friend)

[Brandon.tozer]

nut, on 30 June 2011 - 01:58 PM, said:

Could you provide more information about how your last video card died and anything that has changed in the recent with your GT240? Can you use a temperature monitoring program and see if the card is overheating (if you don't want to crack open your case and touch it). Also, are you reinstalling the same site of drivers everytime? It seems like your best bet might be to try a different video card and see if you can isolate the issue. (Perhaps you can borrow one from a friend)

Absolutely as a matter of fact I just had a friend borrow me his power supply and no changes are noticable. It is 200 watt higher and the framerate spiking is still happening. My next step is to borrow a videocard and try it. Essentially while playing World of Warcraft I experienced a power surge in my pc. shutting off all power source on the pc. MY videocard literally smelt like it was burning and it fried my motherboard completely. I was not able to restart or turn on my pc until I had replaced the motherboard. at which point I purchased the gt240. There have been no changes to my videocard since that time. The videocard was consistent and worked wonderfully for a considerable about of time. I have the side case open and my videocard is definitely hot. I can hold my hand on it without scalding it. however i do not run a temperature program (any suggestions?) I am reinstalling the same drivers each time. Perhaps i'll try that now just to double check. Thanks!

[Brandon.tozer]

nut, on 30 June 2011 - 01:58 PM, said:

Could you provide more information about how your last video card died and anything that has changed in the recent with your GT240? Can you use a temperature monitoring program and see if the card is overheating (if you don't want to crack open your case and touch it). Also, are you reinstalling the same site of drivers everytime? It seems like your best bet might be to try a different video card and see if you can isolate the issue. (Perhaps you can borrow one from a friend)

Also. an additional note: I tried plugging a hdmi cable from pc to tv and resulted in a windows error (blue screen) which resulted to a reboot which then resulted to windows only loading my desktop background. No taskbar. nothing else. Alt+Ctrl+Del and still nothing appeared on screen. After removing this hdmi cord and restarting - everything was again back to normal. Relatively speaking. I'm still trying to determine whether my graphics d is faulty. or what else could be wrong.

[nut]

What set of drivers are you using? Are they the ones from NVidia.com?

Also, try using CPUID Hardware Monitor. It provides a plethora of information.

http://www.cpuid.com/

[dktechguy112]

Brandon.tozer, on 29 June 2011 - 03:11 PM, said:

Geforce GT240 graphics card approx 6 months old. Im having issues while online gaming with my graphics card. At first I was getting a consistent 60 frames per second. and that was stable. In recent weeks, i've had to lower resolution and video settings and am experiencing frame rate dips as low as 5 fps. Currently I am loading a game and immediately after load im getting less than 1 fps and then the game is freezing solid. Forcing a shutdown. Im trying to determine whether or not this is a videocard issue or a power supply issue.

It should be noted as well that the on board graphics card that originally came with my pc blew up. The gt240 is my current one. I've replaced the motherboard. I've run several defrags. malware/spyware/virus scans. i've reinstalled and reformatted windows 7 multiple times. I cant find a resolution to this issue. Any advice?

What lead to the onboard graphics blowing up?
Did the power supply deliever to much power to motherboard?
Are you still using any of the components from the system with the blown up onboard graphics?

[Brandon.tozer]

nut, on 30 June 2011 - 03:10 PM, said:

What set of drivers are you using? Are they the ones from NVidia.com?

Also, try using CPUID Hardware Monitor. It provides a plethora of information.

http://www.cpuid.com/

Im using the graphics driver from Nvidia you are correct. its version 275.33. The most recent available. I've installed the CPUID hardware monitor. I dont see anything fluctuating or out of the ordinary but Im not entirely sure what would be considered normal or out of the ordinary. The temp value of my graphics card is at value 59-65 degrees celsius and it is spiking constantly. Max at 65 degrees celsius.

[Brandon.tozer]

dktechguy112, on 30 June 2011 - 06:00 PM, said:

What lead to the onboard graphics blowing up?
Did the power supply deliever to much power to motherboard?
Are you still using any of the components from the system with the blown up onboard graphics?

I cant really say 100% for sure what caused the onboard graphics card to blow up. I was at the time playing World of Warcraft. There was no short circuit or power outtage or anything it was just my pc that was affected. IM also unsure as to whether or not the power supply at the time was delivering too much power or not enough it was just a presumption I had mad in my own prognosis of the issue. IM still using the same harddrive and was using the same power supply up until this past weekend when I replaced the power supply with a higher wattage one. When loading wow the old power supply would just stress so much that the game would freeze from dipping to such a low framerate. Its as if loading a high population area couldnt process and with the new power supply I was able to load the game and get a reasonable framerate standing still only in the game. While moving in the game the frames per second would go so low that the game would freeze solid from being <1 frames per second.

Now the weird part is and this is what I dont understand. In a non-populated area in-game. I experience almost no framerate issues. it stays at a consistent 60 fps. relatively speaking, i experience no real problems. Now, while in a high population area. My frames per second is almost always less than 3. literally unable to move. Even more odd is that cpuid monitor doesnt change much while under this stress test. However the graphics card temperature does heat up to 70 degrees celsius value at peak and will dip down to 60 degrees. and back. and etc.

At this point it seems the best resolution requires personal protective equipment and a sledgehammer.

[dktechguy112]

Brandon.tozer, on 01 July 2011 - 10:21 AM, said:

I cant really say 100% for sure what caused the onboard graphics card to blow up. I was at the time playing World of Warcraft. There was no short circuit or power outtage or anything it was just my pc that was affected. IM also unsure as to whether or not the power supply at the time was delivering too much power or not enough it was just a presumption I had mad in my own prognosis of the issue. IM still using the same harddrive and was using the same power supply up until this past weekend when I replaced the power supply with a higher wattage one. When loading wow the old power supply would just stress so much that the game would freeze from dipping to such a low framerate. Its as if loading a high population area couldnt process and with the new power supply I was able to load the game and get a reasonable framerate standing still only in the game. While moving in the game the frames per second would go so low that the game would freeze solid from being <1 frames per second.

Now the weird part is and this is what I dont understand. In a non-populated area in-game. I experience almost no framerate issues. it stays at a consistent 60 fps. relatively speaking, i experience no real problems. Now, while in a high population area. My frames per second is almost always less than 3. literally unable to move. Even more odd is that cpuid monitor doesnt change much while under this stress test. However the graphics card temperature does heat up to 70 degrees celsius value at peak and will dip down to 60 degrees. and back. and etc.

At this point it seems the best resolution requires personal protective equipment and a sledgehammer.

What is model number of the old PSU that you had in when the onboard graphics blew up? How long have you had it?
That PSU probably lead to the onboard graphics blowing up, and running that psu with the new system could have damaged the new system.
If you go into a populated area, the computer is probably using more ram, did you try running a program like memtest86+ to test the ram?

Thanks,
Devin

[Brandon.tozer]

dktechguy112, on 02 July 2011 - 10:02 AM, said:

What is model number of the old PSU that you had in when the onboard graphics blew up? How long have you had it?
That PSU probably lead to the onboard graphics blowing up, and running that psu with the new system could have damaged the new system.
If you go into a populated area, the computer is probably using more ram, did you try running a program like memtest86+ to test the ram?

Thanks,
Devin

I dont have the old model number but I will have to say there is also a probability that their is an issue with my memory I am just relatively unaware as to how to diagnose it, I have tried memtest but I have absolutely no idea how it works and I may seek a professional to look at it. You are right though because I noticed the world of warcraft memory usage is also spiking very much with my framerate as I move in-game and that is precisely what is causing the screen tearing. I experience up to 80 degrees celsius temperature spiking on my videocard while in game under stress. So Im starting to presume in my own prognosis that the memory over time perhaps has burnt out my videocard and perhaps is what caused my original on board graphics card to blow up. I just need help finding a way to figure this out definitely. what I can do to know for sure because im losing my sanity over this pc. Thanks for your time Devin, any advice is greatly appreciated.