Graphics Card Failing ?!

[ak22]

Hi all over the past few days I keep getting the follow error:

Kernel Mode Driver Stopped Responding And Has Successfully Recovered

Also my screen goes fuzzy for few seconds then back to normal (sometimes the PC crashes).

Today before booting I received the "Over clock failed" message

I have tried the following: Updated the drivers, rolled back to my previous drivers, cleaned all old drivers, updated bios nothing seems to work could this be Hardware failure? seeing that my CPU overclock failed as well?

PC Spec:

Windows 7 64 bit Home
Intel Core i7 950 3.06GHz
MSI GeForce GTX 460 HAWK "Super-OC" 1024MB GDDR5
Asus Sabretooth X58
Corsair Dominator 6GB Ram

 

[ak22]

I have Ran CPU temps all is ok

 

[borisof007]

It's probably your video card. Download MSI Afterburner and check the GPU temperatures while you're doing whatever it is you're doing. If it's overheating, check to make sure that it's clean and clear of dust.

 

[ak22]

Yea must be the GPU, the temps are ok just seems to crash when on idel or when in games i have ran out of ideas.....

 

[ak22]

Here's a Picture

 

[DaveUK]

I may be wrong, but iirc those kinds of artifacts are usually due to an overclock that is too aggressive - which would imply heat is the issue. This is more likely as you have a factory OC card.

Try giving the card a good clean, and if it persists try dropping the memory and core clocks by 10% and see if it fixes the problem.

If it does, creep up the core in 2% increments until the problem reappears, and then drop back 2%. Then do the same for the memory.

If that ends up fixing it - and you find that the stable clock is lower than the factor OC level - then you're probably covered for a warranty replacement on that card, but you'd need to contact the retailer about that.

 

[RazberyBandit]

I agree with Dave. That kind of corruption is indicative of either an over-aggressive GPU OC or failure. Regardless of whether or not the artifacts clear up when the card's underclocked or not, it's faulty if it can't run at it's factory settings without corruption.

As for a cause, if you've been overclocking it in the past, it's a matter of the OC having simply worn something on the card out. Overclocking causes more wear and tear on devices, reducing their expected lifetime. MSI may cover it under warranty, but I can't speak for them.

 

[ak22]

I have cleaned the card but not sure how to lower the voltage manually, I have used the MSI afterburner software and reduced the clock speeds running ok atm, any idea what setting i should change them to on bios?

thanks for help guys

 

[DaveUK]

If you've identified the problem with clocks and MSI Afterburner is keeping them in check, I'm not sure why you'd want to do anything with the BIOS?

The power draw of the card and thermals will be less with lower clocks, so I don't see why you'd need to change the voltage from stock either. Unless you changed it in the first place which would explain why your card was starting to fry...