Windows 7 - Did Seven damage my 9800 GT..??

Hey guys,

So I got my computer 3 days ago, and it worked fine. Then I activated antialiasing in Doom 3 and I got a BSOD. A few hours later as I was watching a stupid video on Hulu I got another BSOD.. And ever since that problem I've got dots all over the BIOS screen, and Windows has been stuck in 800x600 (it doesn't recognize the card, and nVIDIA control panel doesn't either!). The PC is literally new, and I know a lot of people have been having issues with Seven and the 9800 GT. Do you think it can somehow damage the card..?? I kinda want to downgrade to Windows XP... when I get a new working graphics card uh..

Thanks,

Hi and welcome.
Sorry to hear about your video card but I assure you no operating system can damage hardware.
The video card went bad or the drivers could be the issue.
Can you give us any additional information?
Does it boot to Windows 7 or what?
What drivers versions are you using for the video card and motherboard.

I'm seeing the latest drivers for your video card is Version 196.21
Is that what you have installed?


Hope to hear back soon.

Yes it boots to Seven 64 bits.
The drivers I use for the motherboard are the drivers provided with the CD that comes with it.
The drivers I used for the graphics card are the latest drivers from nVIDIA's website (so yeah it's probably the version you mentioned).

But anyway I'm 100% positive the card itself is screwed, even when I unplug my hard drive it shows dots, and I even tried an Ubuntu live CD and the display keeps blinking. I have to plug my screen to the motherboard if I want the display to work fine (but obviously, I can't play)

It worked for 2 days without any problem though, so that's the weird part.. And it started going (very) bad right after I had this BSOD

How old is the nVidia 9800GT card, any warranty ?

It's supposed to be new but the guy that sold it to me on eBay says he doesn't have the warranty. The computer looks new though the inside's neat. I had him give me a refund of the card and I ordered the same online. I just don't know whether I should reinstall the same system or downgrade to Windows XP..

So is this the new card you ordered, or the old one the guy is refunding?

It's the old card, I haven't got the new card yet. But I dread having the exact same configuration and messing up the card again :/

Windows 7 OS is not messing up the video card. But something could be corrupting your video drivers.

But do you think this something could end up physically damaging the device?

Only by user error.

Ie rough handling during physical installation, running the temps too high for prolonoged amounts of time, using overclocking tools, voltage mods etc.

Drivers and what not will not damage the card