video card issues

[Gasman]

Since I built my new computer, it's been working fine, except for when I run games on it. Once a day every time I play planetside 2, the screen starts artifacting for a minute at a time before fixing itself. The game's menu isn't affected by the artifacting. Starcraft 2 was also stretching and tearing the order markers across the screen. When I took out the video card to clean it, I noticed that one of the pins on it is about 3/4 the size of the rest of them. After cleaning and reassembling, planetside 2 artifacted again for a minute last night.

My questions are:

Is it the video card, or can it be something else?

How can I repair it?

And, should I just send the card back to get a replacement?

[Didzo]

What graphics card do you have and what are the other systems components? It does sound like a graphisc card problem, but system details are good to have up when troubleshooting.

[Gasman]

My bad, at work

EVGA GeForce GTX660 Ti FTW Signature 2 2048MB GDDR5 192-Bit, Dual DVI-D, HDMI, DP and 3-Way SLI Ready GPU Graphics Cards 02G-P4-3664-KR
GIGABYTE GA-Z77X-UD3H LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel Core i5-3570K Quad-Core Processor 3.4 GHz 4 Core LGA 1155 - BX80637I53570K
Western Digital WD1002FAEX Caviar Black 1 TB SATA III 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache Internal Desktop 3.5" Hard Drive
Samsung 840 Series 2.5 inch 120GB SATA III internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7TD120BW
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power ATX12V V2.2 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
Windows 7 64-bit

Edit:
After taking a quick look at what the pci connector thingie is supposed to look like (so I don't know what it's called, sue me), the shorter bit is supposed to be like that. I did notice my computer was hot to the touch whenever it happened. Is there any way to monitor the internal temps while I play games?

[Elder]

if i had to guess i could be a problem related to your card overheating. Possible fix is to manually change you fan speed, which if you have current drivers should be in your nvidia control center. also the power supply may be overheating. Best bet is find software to monitor the temps of your components and see if anything is getting really hot. Best case it could just be a faulty card that you can get replaced for free.

[Gasman]

I  ran furmark for over an hour yesterday, and the card's temp stayed at 80º C with the fan running at 50 percent. I also noticed 3 of the case fans weren't running. The system detected they were there,  but I couldn't change their settings.

[Elder]

80 is a bit high in my opinion and could explain why you are having problems. And to clarify its not actually overheating, just running hot. If it overheated that could cause critical failure and would probably shut itself down to avoid damage.

otherwise i cant think of what could be wrong, being that im not an expert when it comes to computer diagnostics.

[Mission Difficult]

I had a gtx 260 that did similar things. Sounds like it's busted. Rma it.

[Gasman]

Unfortunately, rma is not an option, since a family member threw out the packaging for the video card. That leaves either me buying a new video card or finding a way to cool down the card. I'm going to tinker around in the computer to see if I can get the fans working. I couldn't find a way to change my video card fan speed using system settings; is there a program I can use to control all fan speeds?

I may have to get a liquid cooling system, if it comes to that. Can anyone recommend any?

[Mission Difficult]

Unfortunately, rma is not an option, since a family member threw out the packaging for the video card. That leaves either me buying a new video card or finding a way to cool down the card. I'm going to tinker around in the computer to see if I can get the fans working. I couldn't find a way to change my video card fan speed using system settings; is there a program I can use to control all fan speeds?

I may have to get a liquid cooling system, if it comes to that. Can anyone recommend any?

I got the most mileage out of underclocking my card rather than mess with alternative cooling solutions.

[Eightball]

[quote author=Gasman link=topic=6894.msg264801#msg264801 date=1365654677]
Unfortunately, rma is not an option, since a family member threw out the packaging for the video card. That leaves either me buying a new video card or finding a way to cool down the card. I'm going to tinker around in the computer to see if I can get the fans working. I couldn't find a way to change my video card fan speed using system settings; is there a program I can use to control all fan speeds?

I may have to get a liquid cooling system, if it comes to that. Can anyone recommend any?

I got the most mileage out of underclocking my card rather than mess with alternative cooling solutions.
[/quote]

Yeah, my old GtX 460s started overheating (would reach 105C then crash). Ended up opening the plastic casing, reapplying the thermal paste, underclocking a bit, and applied a frame cap on the games that still ran hot.

You can do the last of those with the nvidia control panel, I believe.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

[Gasman]

After getting the fans to work (it helps when you plug them into the right slots), my video card temps dropped 5 degrees celsius and Planetside 2 has had no artifacting issues over a few hours of play. Thanks for the help, all.