Do I need a new graphics card?

kenichi

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Sep 27, 2008
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I was playing COD and all of a sudden my computer froze with red squiggly lines covering the picture, CTRL ALT DEL wouldn't work either. The game was working in safe mode where the graphics are sht, but when I played with high graphics my computer kept freezing.

I thought it was the game so I went to play another one - my computer froze again in that game.

Now my whole display is screwed up with squiggly lines and other stuff and wont start up past the windows loading screen. I just want to make sure that it is actually the graphics card and not something else? I don't know much about computers so I didn't know if the CPU or harddrive could do this. I just figured it was the graphics card since the problem started in graphic-intense games.

Thanks for your help.
 

rajaawad23

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May 17, 2010
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hi, this could be the end of your GPU but can also be the PSU you are using is not powerful enough or is dieing or can be a drivers issue.

what is you GPU? PSU watts?
have you recntly updated any GPU related drivers?
 

kenichi

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Sep 27, 2008
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No, I haven't updated anything recently. Last update was probably a few months before crash. All the parts are coming up 3 years old.

GPU is a 8800 GT

PSU is a 600w

with 4 GB RAM and an E8500 Processor

I know the PSU is kind of small but it has been working fine all this time. If a new graphics card doesn't work should I try replacing the PSU after?

 
rajaawad is correct I believe. I think your 8800 GT is finally coming to an end. Do you usually clean the dust out of your computer? If so, how often. Dust may be the issue, that is a standard problem for Nvidia/AMD cards where dust is caught under the heatsink.

As for the PSU, what kind of PSU? It may be a 600w but what brand/model.