Is my graphics card defective, or is it something else?

NvddlmkmCurse

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Jul 6, 2013
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10,510
I recently built a new computer from scratch because I had the infamous Nvddlmkm.sys problem on my Toshiba Laptop even after I sent it back and they repaired it.

After day two of playing online games on my new computer such as WoW and Neverwinter (barely for 3-4 hours at a time), my screen turned white with horizontal gray lines and the graphics card stopped working. I just got a replacement card, and I am afraid to start gaming due to the continuous bad luck I had with GPU's. Would the system I built affect the card, or are just many GPU's defective?

The system I built is:
Corsair CX750M Power Supply
Motherboard: Z87-g41 PC Mate
Intel i5 4570k Processor
HIS HD iceQ 7870 2GB GDDR5
Extra Cpu cooling fan to replace the default
Toshiba 1TB HDD


I'm using an older VGA screen, but I doubt screens affect graphics cards, or do they?

I checked the temperatures, and it stayed well under 45C while gaming. It just suddenly stopped working after the screen turned blank and I couldn't do anything but turn off the pc.

I have several questions regarding possible reasons it might have happened.

-Could it have been the power supply that fried the graphics card?
-Can it take several days for a defective graphics card to show signs it is broken?
-Would downloading different games and different settings ever affect a graphics cards health? (not playing games it can't handle, but simply having different types with different settings without overheating the card)

I am getting really tired of graphic card problems, but I know I am not the only one. Sorry if it's a little bit of a ramble, but if anyone could help me a little bit, that would be awesome.
 

NvddlmkmCurse

Honorable
Jul 6, 2013
2
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10,510
At first I had the Turbo version which was factory overclocked and should actually handle it. So I am not sure if that was the issue. Unless the factory overclock was the reason it broke.

Also, I am using a program from HIS that monitors my replacement cards status:
GPU Clock: 1000MHz
Memory Clock: 1200MHz
VDDC: 1218MV

Fan Speed: 50%, 1773 RPM