Video Display Problems w/ pics

[slvrstang]

Hello,

I have an ATI 9800XT video card in a 3200 amd 64 system. Recently when playing games, the screen would turn into complete nothing, just colors and boxes and squares. Completely unrecognizable. Just jittering colors. This would be fixed usually on the first restart. Then it started taking 2-3 restarts to fix it. Eventually, yesterday, no amount of restarts or letting it sit will fix it. I have an Arctic Silencer on the card. The card was NOT overheating, I checked it often with ATITool. I have tried reseating it many times, and even cleaned the entire card with a static free cloth, including the connectors.

The computer itself is fine, I currently threw in an old RIVA TNT2 Pro from my old system into it just to get it up and running.

I also tried using the DVI and S-Video ports to see if it was just the VGA port that was messed up....no go on that either, same distortion of colors and boxes.

Any advice? Possible memory chip failure? Is it worth fixing? I just purchased a 9800pro from newegg for 70$.


EDIT: Here are some pictures

 

[atomic tofu]

it's video card related...usually you can't fix yourself and depending one what you're getting ($), better to get a new card.

In my experience, what usually causes these failures is a shorting of paths/contact on the pcb. You know, parts get old, metals start to tarnish.

You could even wait until this is completely dead, depending on when this started and how long you keep your pc on. But once that happens, you can usually find the browned/burnt/scorched areas.

scary but exciting!

 

[slvrstang]

Nothing on the card looks abnormal, no scorched spots.

 

[The General]

What happens when you boot? Does it just get like that when your OS loads? Tried booting a live Linux CD?

 

[slvrstang]

What happens when you boot? Does it just get like that when your OS loads? Tried booting a live Linux CD?

That's the first and only thing I see on the display, even during BIOS loading.

 

[The General]

Tried a different monitor?

 

[slvrstang]

Tried a different monitor?

Yes, even tried it in a different computer with the exact same corrupted image.




EDIT: Here is a screenshot I took and saved with paint.
Took me a few tries to get the keystroke combo right to do this

As you can see there is some slight corruption on the buddy list on the right, but that might just be because it's running in like 16 color mode ( It has geforce drivers installed now, not ATI)

 

[The General]

lol that sucks but is funny at the same time. You need a new video card.

 

[j12]

wait a minute. you have geforce drivers installed for an ATI card. that cant be good. just get the newest ati drivers and go get yourself a new videocard.

 

[atomic tofu]

the scorching will only show up once it's completely dead

like a light bulb...works fine, looks fine...then the day it dies the filament gets freedom and you shake it around to hear that joyous jingle