video card senility, and a Kaleun's forced retirement
 

Ok so it's finally happened boys - my Radeon 9700 has full-blown alzheimer's. Just as I started to get really into GWX (patrol 3), I started getting blue-screen hard-reboot video memory failures on a regular basis. This happens after I've run her a while, using external cam or periscope, when I'm in convoys, or sporadically when i switch back into the command room (F2) and it has to load those graphics. Through the periscope I see brightly coloured artifact polygons, and ships flicker and become transparent. For some reason SH3 is more prone to causing the failure than other games, perhaps because of the high graphics memory demand. So...that's it boys - I'm beached until i can afford to buy a new rig.

:down:

Kb

Check if the GPU fan still works, if it doesn´t replace it, if it does, clean the fan and remove excessive dust from the rest of the card as well. If both doesn´t help try underclocking the GPU and/or the video RAM with ATI Tray Tools, that should be a cheap workaround:
http://www.guru3d.com/article/atitraytools/189/

If that also doesn´t help get a cheap AGP replacement card on ebay or a local computer shop. A used 9700 or 9800 probably doesn´t cost more than $30.

Ouch bad news
:nope:

Surely just a new card needed not a new rig :hmm:

Go with Gizzmoe. Clean up the card connections to the motherboard. Get canned air and blow out the dust. Go into device manager and check there are no conflicts with the card. It is worth a try:up:

Yea - dust is likely a factor. When I last checked it, the fan was caked with that crusty, permanent dust that one would need to scratch off with a blade. I might replace it i guess. I'm a little against spending a dollar more on this bucket of bolts. Underclocking is an interesting thought - i'll explore that.

Thx for the tips

Kb

That's the spirit! The only person I know that had a card failure is a mate of mine whos cat pissed on his computer:o.

Take off the fan and clean it up. Also worth a try. Save a buck or two. If you have some WD-40 light oil, give the brushes in the electric fan motor a bit.

Now that sounds like a 'Cat' astrophe:lol::lol::lol:

Ouch!!! It is funny, when we get on TS, me and the IL2 squad, we all start meowing...he just laughs it off:rotfl::rotfl:I told him to put the computer on it's side, remove the side cover and fill it with kitty litter.....makes pissing on it a lot easier for Mr Kitty Cat.