Graphics error and crash, gaah!

[Sleigher103]

Hi, first time on forums so I hope im posting in the right place. Recently, i downloaded Empire: Total War from Steam and I was playing it when I alt-tabbed out to look something up online (firefox) when my computer froze and I got some weird "rain" effect with small white lines appearing horizontally down my screen. I forced a restart with the power button and everything loaded fine. I found that I can sit on my desktop and surf the web (like I am now) without incident but when i play a game, or load a youtube video, I get the same crash with blurry-fuzzy graphics and sometimes the pixel rain. Also, if its important, when i launch a game like E:TW, it happens almost immedietely but it'll take longer if I'm on youtube. Also, I updated my drivers to the latest version and I went to my device manager and it said that my graphics card is working properly. I checked event logs and each time it happened i got the error "The description for Event ID 14 from source nvlddmkm cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer."

My specs are
Intel i7-920 processor
2 NVIDIA 9800GT graphics cards
6gb DDR3 RAM


Thanks in advance!

 

[Yard Dog]

Welcome and Hello . Lets eliminate malware/virus issues , then go from there please. Use free of Malwarebytes, Here : How to use Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware to scan and remove malware from your computer
When confirmed clean from this, lets see what we need to do from that point. Please post back when done..

 

[townsbg]

I suggest that you try this: http://www.pchelpforum.com/hardware-tutorials/122104-how-do-clean-video-driver-install.html Also you might also try a slightly older version of the drivers but one thing at a time.

 

[Sleigher103]

Nope! My computers 100% clean. And thanks, I'll try that. Im also wondering if I just need a new graphics card because mine is broken? Im not really sure how to check.

 

[Yard Dog]

Try what Townsbg suggested and post back results please.

 

[Sleigher103]

No success.

 

[Yard Dog]

Here is a free diagnostic program > |MG| Fresh Diagnose 8.59 Download > See if this will tell anything on your graphics.

 

[Sleigher103]

What exactly am I looking for with it?

 

[Yard Dog]

I just installed it and nevermind, it just gives information on installed items, not quite what i wanted. Quite interesting tho. I will find a program for you to check your graphics card . Give me some time , unless someone else has it for you sooner, that is what i think we need to do. See how your graphics card is working. If it is failing, could very well be reasons for these issues.

 

[Sleigher103]

Great thanks, and yeah the benchmarking stuff doesn't even work even if it would show me what I needed. I appreciate the help.

 

[Yard Dog]

Ahh, here we go, test with this program. Follow directions closely. I am looking at it now, and if your graphics card is good , you should be able to get a good test. If not , you have a card issue and it will need to be replaced. Here: Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark - Windows 7 Forums

 

[Patonb]

Furmark needs to be done safely, it will fry your card. That is what its designed for.

Make sure you have good airflow and temps before running.

Do ou even know yur temperatures? Youre system sounds 3 yrs old SO THERES A GOOD POSSIBILITY YOU HAVEDUST BUILT UP, doh damn caps lock..

I like using gpu-z to monitor temps, as it logs to a text file, so if you crash, you can see the logged temps
GPU-Z Video card GPU Information Utility

I'd load that up and run it with logging and updating in background on the play your games.

As you have a cuda card, if you know abit of cmd line work, you can run memtestg80 on it.
Download MemtestG80 1.1 Free - Memory Tester for CUDA enabled GPUs - Softpedia

It will check your gpu's memory for errors.

I don't think your cards dead, just unhappy. I didnt notice... Whats your psu?

 

[townsbg]

I just remembered that I had a graphics card go bad and this is how I knew: Blown, Burst and Leaking Motherboard Capacitors - A Serious Problem? - PCSTATS.com

Please keep in mind that you must prevent static shock when working with hardware. I lost a floppy drive due to that which was thankfully all I lost. Anti-Static and Safety Precautions