Graphics card problems

I somewhat recently got a new graphics card for my old computer and it's been doing some weird stuff lately. The weird stuff then got into some severe stuff today so the couple people I asked have no idea what's wrong with my computer.

Problem: Graphics card seems to keep failing. When I play a mmo (it's only happened on Kitsu Saga and on the desktop so far), the screen blinks and says that the graphics driver has crashed and successfully recovered from a timeout or something. Other times, the screen gets distorted pixels and I am forced to manual restart my comp. On start up, it sometimes hangs on a black screen (right before the user selection screen). More severely, I even get BoSDs.

For a while, it doesn't seem like a problem but it's becoming more frequent (6 times in the past 2 hours!) compared to the occasional once a week or something.

The BoSD shows an error referring to nvlddmkm.sys.

Comp Specs:
HP Comp
Intel Dual Core
4 GB of RAM
Win7 32 bit
Nvidia GT 240
250 W, +12V Power supply.


I've already updated my graphics drivers to the latest. I've googled some stuff but I can't get a concrete answer. I'm worried right now that my card is simply incompatible with my motherboard. Someone please tell me what's going on here. =|

I had a similar problem a while ago and it ended up being the fan on the graphics card was not spinning properly (nor at all sometimes) causing it to overheat and mess everything up. Bought a cheap replacement and everything worked fine.

Problem becoming more frequent as time moves on usually points to a hardware problem. Take a can of compressed air (really cheap at Staples or a hardware store) and blow it into the fan on the graphics card. Your GT 240 is fully compatible with your system, and you should have enough power to run everything you have.

As of writing this, my computer has just crashed again. I don't think I can even keep it on longer than 30 minutes now. I really hope it's just a fan problem.

Wait, does this mean you think it's an overheating problem? I've had the case open since yesterday. When the comp crashed, I checked if the card was really hot but it was at a moderate temperature. Maybe that moderate temperature was actually hot, I don't even know at what point a computer is considered "hot".

Maybe it isn't getting enough juice, Nvidia recommends min 300w PSU.

I'm now completely unable to turn on my computer. Is there anything I can use under safe mode to check or am I just simply screwed out of using the video card. I tried blowing into the fan with the air can, no change. I've read elsewhere that the card would be able to withstand at least the 250 W PSU.

Power Supplies for modern systems need to be at least 500 Watts or better at times. Peripheral hardware used by many modern systems can use just about as much juice as a CPU does, if not more, by itself. A power supply with 250~350 watts isn't going to cut it anymore. What those "reports" say, often is wrong and doesn't accurately reflect the usage of the system. I'd recommend no less than a 500 watt PSU for any system, if not a 750 or better recommended.

Chances are Adept, you need to get a stronger power supply to compensate for the lack of power in the system. Lack of power can cause problems like freezing, power downs, and even system boot failures.

What I don't really understand is how I was able to play with this graphics card for about 2 months before these problems started becoming severe.

Fiel also said that my computer should be able to handle it. Is there a reason he might say that?

Fiel's right. Your hardware should be able to handle non game-intensive work. Most MMO's (such as the one you play) aren't exactly graphics intensive.

Sounds like the part just crapped out. The NVidia GT 240 and below line isn't exactly stellar by any means, and I'm betting you didn't fork over much cash for it either. Just get a replacement and call it in.


You said you can't turn on the computer....does that mean it doesn't even go into POST?

PSU weaken overtime, the more strain you put on it, the faster it ages. Remove the graphics card and use your old one and see if anything changes.

What's POST? The crash occurs after the windows logo (user selection) or on the desktop immediately after startup. My friend disabled the video card and now I'm back to running my old integrated card just fine.

XL talks about a weakened PSU; my comp is around 4 years old. In addition, during the time I was using this video card it had already started out being weird. If I leave the computer off for an extended period of time, such as overnight, it will crash the morning I turn it back on. After a reboot it will work fine. As I don't really know much about computers and I didn't want constant crashes, I left on my computer everyday. For extended periods of time upwards to a week without restarting (had no problems with anything). For Windows update and such though I would restart. Oddly enough, shutdowns and restarts under a short period of time wouldn't yield a crash.

Also, I've run games such as TF2 and BC2 with no problems. I play on a PS2 emulator everyday and nothing happens. I problem just seemed to start after playing the mmo.

????

What's POST? The crash occurs after the windows logo (user selection) or on the desktop immediately after startup. My friend disabled the video card and now I'm back to running my old integrated card just fine.

XL talks about a weakened PSU; my comp is around 4 years old. In addition, during the time I was using this video card it had already started out being weird. If I leave the computer off for an extended period of time, such as overnight, it will crash the morning I turn it back on. After a reboot it will work fine. As I don't really know much about computers and I didn't want constant crashes, I left on my computer everyday. For extended periods of time upwards to a week without restarting (had no problems with anything). For Windows update and such though I would restart. Oddly enough, shutdowns and restarts under a short period of time wouldn't yield a crash.

Also, I've run games such as TF2 and BC2 with no problems. I play on a PS2 emulator everyday and nothing happens. I problem just seemed to start after playing the mmo.

????

When in doubt reformat?

What's POST?
????

Power On Self Test

The GT240 isn't that well supported in terms of drivers. It may very well be you are updated to bad drivers. It is imperative to tell what integrated graphics you have. Please list as much information as possible. There may be driver conflict when you have the discrete GPU running.

So give me the model # of the HP computer, and the integrated graphics too.

Then I can tell you if there may or may not be a driver conflict. If that is the case you may have to disable the integrated graphics in the BIOS, and then grab some reliable drivers. You may need to install drivers that are before Nvidia driver 260.99. Guru 3D has a nice library of 'em.

The P.O.S.T. is that screen that pops up when you first turn on the PC and asks if you want to Enter the BIOS, and checks for RAM, CPU, etc. Some OEM computers display a Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, etc. logo screen.

Question when you power the PC on does it it beep, and if so, how many times?

The P.O.S.T. is that screen that pops up when you first turn on the PC and asks if you want to Enter the BIOS, and checks for RAM, CPU, etc. Some OEM computers display a Toshiba, Hewlett-Packard, etc. logo screen.

Question when you power the PC on does it it beep, and if so, how many times?

i don't wanna question your vast knowledge, my dear Jamie, but I don't know if the PC would boot into at least the logo of the OS if it beeped even once. The ONE beep i do know that occurs is when nothing is connected to the GPU's output (such as VGA/HDMI/DVI/etc). Correct me if i'm wrong.

Comp:
HP Pavillon a1740n (I think)
Old graphics card is this:


For the beeping thing. The computer doesn't beep at all. At this point it just simply crashes. I only recall one time that it beeped and it was beeping a number of times (didn't count). However that was in the middle of playing a game and nothing actually happened after the beeps either. There has been no other time where I've heard it beep.

I have also tried using an old driver. At least, the one that the card provided in the box. I haven't tried the driver just before 260.99.

Woah what, weird double post.

Comp:
HP Pavillon a1740n (I think)
Old graphics card is this:


For the beeping thing. The computer doesn't beep at all. At this point it just simply crashes. I only recall one time that it beeped and it was beeping a number of times (didn't count). However that was in the middle of playing a game and nothing actually happened after the beeps either. There has been no other time where I've heard it beep.

I have also tried using an old driver. At least, the one that the card provided in the box. I haven't tried the driver just before 260.99.

Could you post the print screen of the sensor page as well? (just to make sure the temperature and voltage is normal)
show validation as well if anything interesting there...

Put the NVidia card in, install older drivers, reboot.

Go into bios and see if you can disable the integrated graphics. Boot into Windows. Report back.