XFX GeForce 7900 GS dies in 2 days

[untrob22]

System Specs:
AMD A64 3000+
Motherboard: ECS 755-A2 754
Ram: DDR 1GB PC3200 CORSAIR (1 stick)
XFX Geforce 7900 GS (AGP 8x) 256mb
Antec 500W power supply
Also 1 fan on the back of the case, 1 fan on the side of the case.

So I bought a XFX GF 7900 GS over Christmas and in the middle of playing Gears of War on the 2nd day after I installed the video card, the screen suddenly became checkered and my pc proceeds to lock up. So I turned my pc off and I thought maybe it had just overheated somehow.. So I left my pc off for roughly 10 minutes and turned it on. When I turned it back on I got nothing but black screen, so I took the 7900 out and put a 9500 in, windows booted fine etc.

So I returned the video card and got a replacement, but I have been afraid to install the new video card out of fear my PC somehow killed the card. Is this just a case of a faulty card or could there really be something wrong with my pc that killed it?

Note: Previoulsy had 6600 GT, performance seemed to decrease after running it for a week or so..
Also when I installed the 9500 before I bought the 7900 got perfectly reasonable performance, then a few hours later I noticed a very significant decrease in performance in games (This card was over a year old and had previoulsy been unlocked as a 9700 during that time).

What kind of PC problem could I be looking at here? Any opinions about Best Buy or Circiut City being able to remedy this for me or suggestions for another pc repair shop in the Lewisville/DFW, TX area?

Thanks

 

[pat]

your case don't have a good enough airflow to allow proper cooling of the device. you should have fresh air to get into the case to push out the hot air. If the airflow is bad, then it is always the same air that cool the video card, which get heated more and more until not cool enough to actually cool the thing down. This result in crash, bad performance...

 

[pchoi04]

It could be anything. Tell us more about your system. What kind of a power supply are you using?

 

[untrob22]

System Specs:
AMD A64 3000+
Motherboard: ECS 755-A2 754
Ram: DDR 1GB PC3200 CORSAIR (1 stick)
Antec 500W power supply
Also 1 fan on the back of the case, 1 fan on the side of the case.

~When I have run programs to check cpu temp etc everything seems within normal ranges.

Note: 1 thing to note I forgot about, one of my USB slots was somehow damaged in the past, and if I put a usb cord into that slot the PC will not boot until I straighten the pins back out in the slot. I am not sure if this has any relevance but thought I would mention it.

As stated before I have gotten below average performance with a 6600 GT setup with this system in all games after the card was a month or so old. Honestly the performance wasn't in the area I expected even when I upgraded to the 7900. I really feel like something is wrong my system (IE lag in games with current drivers etc...) but I am at a loss as to who to take it too. Since I have had 2 very bad experiences with 2 different cpu repair people in the town I previously came from).

Thanks for replies

 

[Evilonigiri]

Make sure the PCIe freq is locked on 100MHz and the PCIe voltage is set to auto.

 

[doubletake33]

untrob22, you have the exact card i have! xfx 7900gs agp right? well check this out. this card does run hot and you can't adjust the speed of the fan on the card. a week after i first got this card it was running so hot that it warped the fan on the card and the temp jumpt to 185 deg. so i was lucky that i actually saved the card.

now to tame the cards heat is what i did after XFX sent me a new heatsink/fan for the card: buy a cheap slot fan and place it next to the card and used arcticsilver5 compound for the gpu chip.

now with this card any case wont do so make sure you got plenty of air flow running through that case. something that's got 120mm fans in front and back. so it sounds like you might not be workin with a good case. head over to Fry's in Arlington or try the CompUSA in plano as Comp is going under and ya might find something dirt-cheap there.

oh, and i'm from Fort Worth my fellow Texan!

 

[untrob22]

Thanks alot for the suggestions I will definatly do that!!
=)