Video card issue?

[Thanos]

I've had issues with this new computer, ever since I got it. The latest is as follows:

After approximately 4 days of normal use, I quit out of "Morrowind" (3-year-old game) and my screen filled with sprite patterns. I shut down, restarted, and from the moment my POST messages appeared, my screen filled with sprite patterns again. It gets as far as the "Windows XP logo screen" (still completely filled with sprites). Then, about the time the screen usually darkens before opening to the user logon screen, it just goes black. The discs still move, as if loading windows, but nothing on-screen changes. If left long enough, sometimes, it will automaically reboot.

I've tried another monitor (I knew that probably wasn't the issue), but have no way of testing the video card. And since it begins at POST, drivers are not an issue.

Hopefully, you folks can give me some insight as to whether its my video card or MB. Or, maybe, one of the resident Jedi knights has a trick or two to resolve it...

Specs:

ABIT AG8 MB succesfully flashed BIOS to v19 (shipped with 15)
ABIT Radeon X700 pro
P4 3.4 Ghz processor
2 Western Digital Caviar SE 1600 (RAID0)
Samsung 710N 17" LCD monitor

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

Sounds like your card is artifacting, can you check the temperature of it?

 

[Thanos]

LOL "Artifact" - that's the word!

I wish I could. I can't do anything, now.

I did check everything in the uGuru utility, before everything went haywire. Everything was WELL below the default warnings. I don't see how the temperature could be an issue; I was only up and running for, maybe, 10 minutes. I was only in Morrowind for less than five, debugging an inventory problem (2 of something when there should only have been 1. It's a mod issue.)

 

[DJ-CHRIS]

Make sure the heatsink is attatched properly, and try reseating it with some artic silver 5

 

[Thanos]

Will do. If it doesn't work, I'll just RMA it.

Thank you for your help.