Is this a sign of my graphics card failing?

[bartrulz]

I have absolutely no idea what is wrong with my pc. The main problem first started a couple days ago where my pc hung completely (by that I mean the audio loops and I cannot do anything besides power it off forcefully). I hard booted it back up and and it acted fine until the next day where it did the same thing but, it freed itself however, my screen was black. I hard rebooted and acted fine again. I booted it up for the first time today and about 10 minutes after it had booted it did it again, except I could see (no black screen) and move my mouse and the audio distorted every couple of seconds, however I could not bring up the task manager or anything. I have tested for ram issues and there are none. I did a clean reinstall of my Nvidia drivers and no fix. My windows is up to date. I also checked for viruses with both Norton (uninstalled after checking) and Kaspersky (what i'm now running) which showed no issues. Here are the computer specs:

Intel core i7 3770k
Onboard 7.1 surround
EVGA Nvidia GTX 560ti factory overclocked
Asus P8Z77-V LK Z77 (liquid cooled)
Windows 7 - 64 bit
8gigs DDR3 ram

Anybody have any ideas? My guess is my graphics card is failing but that doesn't explain the audio distortions.

If it helps any, the first time this issue happened I checked the windows event viewer and one of the errors was nvlddmkm could not found (which is a nvidia driver file). This had me think to reinstall the driver, and by reinstall I just ran the most up to date driver installer and checked the clean install box. The error is no longer being shown after doing that but it hasn't fixed the issue.

 

[archer]

Hey bartrulz! Welcome to sevenforums!

Did u get any BSOD? Because, I don't think that this is issue of your graphic card. Also, can you tell how did you uninstall and installed your old Nvidia drivers? did you use driversweeper to removed all the parts of your old driver and then install the new ones?

 

[bartrulz]

Hey bartrulz! Welcome to sevenforums!

Did u get any BSOD? Because, I don't think that this is issue of your graphic card. Also, can you tell how did you uninstall and installed your old Nvidia drivers? did you use driversweeper to removed all the parts of your old driver and then install the new ones?

Thanks, glad to be here! I did not BSOD which worries me. I actually did not fully uninstall the drivers. I only ticked the box to do a clean install in the Nvidia driver installer and reinstalled them. I am not familiar with that program.

 

[archer]

Guru3D - Driver Sweeper

go to the above link. Download driversweeper from there. Steps to use the program are also mentioned. Also, it is good if you did not get BSOD. Remove all the old bits of your old driver and then install the new latest drivers for your card.

 

[ganjiry]

Just to add to what Archer said. When installing your new Nvidia driver follow this guide Ultimate 2013 Nvidia Driver Guide by MANIAC-VVV-
there are also a number of people with issue's who have installed Geforce experience with the driver so unless you really want it then i would not install that. DO NOT install the drivers in safe mode.

 

[maxie]

Hi there .... I suppose you have tried the on-board Graphics .... To rule out any other issues you might have

 

[bobafetthotmail]

I have a sneaking suspicion. Can you post the name of your PSU? And its specs if possible?

 

[bartrulz]

I have a sneaking suspicion. Can you post the name of your PSU? And its specs if possible?

Ill have to crack open my tower and check I honestly don't know anything about it other than the fact that it is 800 watts. However I'm starting to suspect this not a hardware issue, I'm starting to think it is my antivirus (Kaspersky) since thats the only thing that has changed on my system the past couple of days. I'm gonna try running without it for a day or so and see if that clears anything up. Ill get back to you in a bit about what psu I have.

Hi there .... I suppose you have tried the on-board Graphics .... To rule out any other issues you might have

I have not I suppose I could try that. The only thing that bugs me though is last night I tried stress testing my system for a few hours to see if I could make some kind of error show, but I got no issues. I played very graphically intensive games and they ran like they used to perfectly fine.

 

[maxie]

Hum ... Strange .... As you have said let it run for a couple of days .... If the Card fails try the on board one .... Report back with any further issues

 

[bobafetthotmail]

I honestly don't know anything about it other than the fact that it is 800 watts.

Which isn't a good sign. A failing PSU is compatible with your issues.

 

[bartrulz]

I honestly don't know anything about it other than the fact that it is 800 watts.

Which isn't a good sign. A failing PSU is compatible with your issues.

It's an Extremegear 800 watt PSU. Is there any way to check if its faulty?

 

[maxie]

Hi there .... I think you mean Xtremegear 800 watt PSU ..... How has it been running ? Any crashes ..... You would need a power supply tester ... I am sure this is not some thing which that you would like to purchase ...

 

[maxie]

The link below will give you a general idea about PSU

Bad Power Supply (PSU) – How to Check If a Power Supply is Dead

 

[bartrulz]

Hi there .... I think you mean Xtremegear 800 watt PSU ..... How has it been running ? Any crashes ..... You would need a power supply tester ... I am sure this is not some thing which that you would like to purchase ...

Yeah, I have considered replacing it for a while now. I have heard of the failure rates for this one. However I've had it running for a year now with no problems.

 

[maxie]

It is true to say a lot of them have had problems .... You cant do much else ... Only wait and see what happens ... Keep us posted

 

[bartrulz]

It is true to say a lot of them have had problems .... You cant do much else ... Only wait and see what happens ... Keep us posted

Oh I will say that I have not had any of the problems today while heavy gaming and leaving my antivirus on if that helps any. I will update if anything happens or I make any progress. Or if someone has a suggestion / idea.

 

[bobafetthotmail]

Bad brand, bad reviews. PSUs can develop erratic behavior, and it is one of the possible modes of failure (they don't just go dead). I recommend to replace it with one with good reviews. Also, I doubt that you need more than 650W, check with this PSU calculator.
Checking if the current one is faulty requires expensive equipment as it needs to be tested under load (while actually providing 6-700 watts to devices, not at idle.
The PSU is the only component that can kill HDD, GPU and board at the same time with a power spike. Why gamble your PC for 50$ of "saved" money?

I still hope that it was a kaspersky issue, but I would not bet on it.
Keep us posted.

 

[iRazer]

Try Cleaning your CPU (INSIDE)
then try installing the nvidia latest version for your pc
or try to ask some expertise near you to check your pc problem.

 

[Solarstarshines]

Bad brand, bad reviews. PSUs can develop erratic behavior, and it is one of the possible modes of failure (they don't just go dead). I recommend to replace it with one with good reviews. Also, I doubt that you need more than 650W, check with this PSU calculator.
Checking if the current one is faulty requires expensive equipment as it needs to be tested under load (while actually providing 6-700 watts to devices, not at idle.
The PSU is the only component that can kill HDD, GPU and board at the same time with a power spike. Why gamble your PC for 50$ of "saved" money?

I still hope that it was a kaspersky issue, but I would not bet on it.
Keep us posted.

Do yourself a favor and replace the PSU

That was the first thing he asked and was dead on the PSU should have been a piece you spend a good chunk of money on to make sure you have the proper power going to your MB

That is the #1 PC killer

 

[bartrulz]

So far I have not had any issues for 2 days *knocks on wood*. What PSU would you recommend? I would like one that is at least 800 watts and has the same amount of connectors and such.