Since two days ago my computer's display randomly freezes, but not completely.
I'm familiar with GPU overheating issues, those made my computer freeze completely, but this time it seems to be different. Display is frozen, but everything else is still working. I can press keys, the hard disk is still making its usual noises.
When I power off the system by pressing-and-holding the power button and try to restart, startup is behaving erratically. I need to turn off the power supply for 10 seconds or so and turn it back on.
I tried booting a live system from CD. It went fine, but again after maybe 1-3 minutes the display stopped updating. Sometimes the display froze even during the first seconds after powering on the machine. I tried Memscan and it froze too, eventually, although one blinking cursor continued to blink, it was just the status update bar that stopped updating.
I think this may be an overheating issue of some kind, although it's not exactly the GPU. Rivatuner showed no signs of the GPU overheating. I'm still placing my bets on the graphics card. Or could it be related to the mainboard? (I hope not) Maybe you guys have some experience with that.
On a related matter, which graphics card would you recommend as a replacement for my GeForce 8800 GTS? I'd like it to be cheap, quiet, with low power usage and about the same performance as the 8800, in this order.
Thanks for any advice!
PS: System specs:
Intel Dual Core 6600
GeForce 8800 GTS
4GB Ram
Windows 7 64bit
I'm familiar with GPU overheating issues, those made my computer freeze completely, but this time it seems to be different. Display is frozen, but everything else is still working. I can press keys, the hard disk is still making its usual noises.
When I power off the system by pressing-and-holding the power button and try to restart, startup is behaving erratically. I need to turn off the power supply for 10 seconds or so and turn it back on.
I tried booting a live system from CD. It went fine, but again after maybe 1-3 minutes the display stopped updating. Sometimes the display froze even during the first seconds after powering on the machine. I tried Memscan and it froze too, eventually, although one blinking cursor continued to blink, it was just the status update bar that stopped updating.
I think this may be an overheating issue of some kind, although it's not exactly the GPU. Rivatuner showed no signs of the GPU overheating. I'm still placing my bets on the graphics card. Or could it be related to the mainboard? (I hope not) Maybe you guys have some experience with that.
On a related matter, which graphics card would you recommend as a replacement for my GeForce 8800 GTS? I'd like it to be cheap, quiet, with low power usage and about the same performance as the 8800, in this order.
Thanks for any advice!
PS: System specs:
Intel Dual Core 6600
GeForce 8800 GTS
4GB Ram
Windows 7 64bit
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2006
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