Is my graphics card fried?

Question

I have been having problems with overheating and my graphics card for over a year now. It for some reason seemed to get hot. Since i done a system restore, about 1 year and 2 months ago, it had these problems (artifacts, polygons and coloured polygons shooting out of stuff, flashing dots, funny patterns). I removed all dust from the system's fans and airvents, turned up fan speed, removed the case, blew a household fan into it, turned up fan speed, underclocked the card, and even bought an exhaust fan for a PCI slot. But overheating still occurs. Is my graphics card fried beyond repair?

Has the VRAM been permanently damaged? Should i just buy a new graphics card?

Answer 1

Are you sure your graphic card is overheating?

These issues could be related to driver errors. Download the most recent graphic card driver here: http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.asp...

And drivercleaner pro here: http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php...

Then after both are downloaded (preferably to your desktop):

1) install DriverCleaner Pro

2) Uninstall your current drivers (under add/remove programs)

3) Wipe drivers with DriverCleaner Pro

4) Restart

5) Install latest drivers

6) Restart

7) Enjoy

Also you can purchase an aftermarket gfx fan and heatsinks.

Answer 2

You may want to try and update the drivers or just reintall them. Ususally a system restore wouldn't cause an overheat. Normally it takes a lot to overheat a video card but you're doing a lot to keep it cool.

Give that a try before replacing.