Upgrade: EVGA 450 GTS to EVGA 740 GT

I mentioned in another thread how I was getting random flickering green pixels on my screen, always in the same place, I was also getting 2 black dots trailing behind the mouse pointer. To try and resolve the issue I first uninstalled the pre-existing Nvidia drivers using DDU and CCleaner and then I installed the latest (December 14th) Nvidia drivers. Doing so got rid of the two black dots trailing behind the mouse pointer but not the intermittent green pixels. The intermittent green pixels do not show up in screenshots but anytime I'm on a dark screen I can see them flickering, there's about 3-4 on the right side and 4-5 on the left side.

After trying the driver issue I then ordered a new DVI cable which seemed to solve the issue, for like four days. Well that was a few months ago and I finally caved this week and ordered a new BenQ monitor, and I gotta say, I loved the picture quality but the intermittent green pixels were still there so I returned the monitor.

I posted my PSU voltage specs on the other thread if anyone wants to check them out, a few have already said they are within spec so all I can think of now is that it is the GPU. To be fair, I am noticing green and red lines on the left edge or top of the screen whenever I play TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan or Transformers: Devastation. I don't notice the issue with Skyrim but I play Skyrim in Windows mode with a mod that makes it look like full screen mode (I do this because I get C+ errors if I play the game in true full screen mode for whatever reason).

In short, I think its time for a new GPU but I'm on a super tight budget so I can't afford a 750 GTX but I can afford the EVGA 740 GT with 2 DDR5 gigs of ram. I'm just curious if its a significant upgrade from the 450 GTS or just a marginal upgrade. The 450 GTS only has one gig of DDR3 memory so memory wise it is an upgrade but when it comes to the other specs, lets just say I'm not a GPU expert. I'm not a hardcore gamer, like I said, I play Skyrim without the high def mod and games like TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan and Saints Row IV. I just want to still be able to be able to play those games still, get a slight upgrade, and get rid of those damn flickering green pixels.

This is the GPU I'm currently looking at..

EVGA GeForce GT 740 02G-P4-3747-KR 2GB 128-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Video Card - Newegg.com

I'm an EVGA guy since the current 450 GTS is an EVGA and it worked solid for 5 years without any issues until coincidentally, the plumber knocked out the power when running some pipe cleaner, think it may have spiked the GPU. Back in the day I used to go with PNY but their cards would last me a year before the fans started to go bad, and then I tried ASUS and MSI and they lasted about two years.

I have a little time to kill before ordering since I have to wait until the refund clears on the monitor before I can order the GPU so I figured I'd ask here, and I'll probably call the techs who built this PC five years back what they recommend as well. Any help would really be appreciated since like I said, I'm on an uber tight budget and still have car issues to fix. Plus, I'm hoping to build a new PC at the end of spring or summer so shelling out a lot for a pricey GPU wouldn't be worth it since if I do go that route, this PC will become the "backup" pc. I usually have a back up but the last back up died 2-3 years ago thanks to another PC shop forgetting to apply thermal paste to the CPU.

Mellon Head said:

It's a good step up from your current card with the larger number of CUDA cores and better GRAM. The 740 you linked should be a solid card.

That's good to hear, I just hope it fixes the issue I'm having with the blinking green pixels. As I said, I already wiped the nvidia drivers, tried a different dvi cable, tried a different dvi cable port, and tried another monitor, so I'd assume that just leaves the GPU.

As for the one you recommended, New Egg was the only retailer offering the card for cheap and they're out of stock, the other retailers want 30-40 more for the card.

I'm not too upset, I'm already kind of going over budget by spending 100 for the 740, if I decide to get the 740 this week. I still have to wait until my refund from Walmart goes back into my account. And like I said, my two biggest concerns would be getting rid of the flickering green pixels and having a GPU that runs the games I currently run. I'd say Saints Row IV is the most demanding game I play system wise, it tends to heat up my I5 to around 62c, while TMNT: Mutants in Manhattan tends to max out at around 45c and Skyrim is roughly the same.