Graphic Corruption, Is there a way to test the card?

[M]

My PC has developed a graphics display problem. This is while running any
program including Word, Internet Explorer, Firefox etc. It will frequently
display a series of horizontal dashes and the screen keeps flickering and
turning black and then turning back on again. It dashed get worse if the
scroll bar is used. The card is a Gainward NVIDIA GeForce 5700 Ultra and is
not overclocked. The monitor is OK as I have tried it with another PC. The
driver is not the problem as it no longer display the BIOS screen correctly
when it boots and does the same if booting a Linux live CD. It may be that
the card has gone bad but I would rather be sure before I buy another. Is
there a way that this can be tested?
Thanks.

 

[Paul]

My PC has developed a graphics display problem. This is while running any
program including Word, Internet Explorer, Firefox etc. It will frequently
display a series of horizontal dashes and the screen keeps flickering and
turning black and then turning back on again. It dashed get worse if the
scroll bar is used. The card is a Gainward NVIDIA GeForce 5700 Ultra and is
not overclocked. The monitor is OK as I have tried it with another PC. The
driver is not the problem as it no longer display the BIOS screen correctly
when it boots and does the same if booting a Linux live CD. It may be that
the card has gone bad but I would rather be sure before I buy another. Is
there a way that this can be tested?
Thanks.

The card could overheat if the fan has stopped turning. If distortion
is present at BIOS time, then there isn't a lot of software running
at that point. In which case you might suspect a problem with the
graphics card itself. On motherboards with integrated graphics, sometimes
bad system RAM can result in a corrupted BIOS displays.

Trying the card in another PC, just to see how it behaves in the
BIOS, might be another quick test.

Paul

 

[Brian A.]

My PC has developed a graphics display problem. This is while running any program
including Word, Internet Explorer, Firefox etc. It will frequently display a
series of horizontal dashes and the screen keeps flickering and turning black and
then turning back on again. It dashed get worse if the scroll bar is used. The
card is a Gainward NVIDIA GeForce 5700 Ultra and is not overclocked. The monitor
is OK as I have tried it with another PC. The driver is not the problem as it no
longer display the BIOS screen correctly when it boots and does the same if booting
a Linux live CD. It may be that the card has gone bad but I would rather be sure
before I buy another. Is there a way that this can be tested?
Thanks.

Install it in another machine and if the problem is present the card is bad.

--
Brian A. Sesko { MS MVP_Shell/User }
Conflicts start where information lacks.
http://basconotw.mvps.org/

Suggested posting do's/don'ts: http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm
How to ask a question: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375

 

[Bob I]

Maybe the card is bad and heat is "forcing" the problem to appear. Open
the case and see if it take longer to appear.