Does anyone know how to tell if graphic card is going bad

Question

I am wondering if anyone can help me figure out why my graphics card is going bad. I know this isn't the official help thread, I am just experiencing random crashing don't really see any artifacting, I do experience lag stuttering and than it comes back alive, well in the sims 4 anyways any other game it just crashes to desktop while making strange noise. I can't pinpoint what is going on to even ask on the ea help forum or any other game forum. I never seen this strange behavior in my life. I checked my power supply it all looks fine, the CPU isn't overheating. It doesn't kill the sims game though, but it kills all my other games, I think I like to thank Maxis for low impact of shotty code that is missing from the Sims compared to other games. Well It sounds like a insult but it really was a compliment, what I mean if the Sims 4 somewhat effectively on a gaming computer with a little disability that is saying something good about the Sims 4. Also I been trying to find videos of how to open the GTX 660 to see if there is a mountain of dust trapped inside, but because there is so many brands and variations its important I get the right one.

This is actually part of what I want to learn, how hardware problems impact data entry in this case computer games or the quality of data. The problem is if you got a bad graphics card it can spread crupt data to the proccessor and memory in the system, and than when cpu tries to read it you get an error code.

This is just informational because I have ran out of ideas of what it could be. :( I can't ask for help if I don't know what the problem is.

My computer is a 3rd gen i5 3570 quad core, got 16GB of Ram my video card is a GTX Geforce 660 SC. motherboard or mainboard is a Asus P8Z77-V LK My power supply is a sea sonic platinum edition, I think this is all the relevant information I could come up with.

This has been bothering me since November. I know my computer is 5 years old, this is the main reason I rather try to fix the existing graphics card than get a new one for a older computer, but if I have to get a new one for a older computer I need to know which one will run properly.

sid1701d9 · Answer

Update: I decided to do a final test to see if it was my graphic card or something else so I disabled my dedicated graphic card and loaded a game that I was experiencing crashing, I choose farming simulator 19 as the test mark game to use as it was built for the dedicated graphics card, I didn't think the Sims 4 was a decent test because to make the game playable for all the simmers they got to make sure it can run for the Intel intergraded graphics card.  I made it all the way around the map without a crash on the intel intergraded card.  Now I know the problem is with my dedicated card, I can't even get a whole field done without it crashing.  So if your afraid your graphic card is dying try playing a game meant for a dedicated card with a intergraded card if you can play the game better on the intergraded card than the dedicated card you found your problem.  Also its a good way to make sure your CPU isn't overheating and creating crashes similar to the graphics card crashes.  Man I am so clever.  Now I am going to open up the card and see why it is dying and if I can fix it.

pagoas · Answer

Per this article regarding stuttering... "malware, a dying hard drive and even RAM problems can all cause this same issue."Hope you find a solution.

sid1701d9 · Answer

Yeah, I know about malware and viruses impacting the computer and stuff, I cleaned out my computer after I got a nasty worm, not sure how it got in there, but I had that problem before I noticed the virus.  So I reset window with a  fresh install and the problem came back, usually if you reset windows with a  fresh install if it was a virus or malware it would be gone, but the problem came back as soon as I reset windows.  I removed the older memory chips from my computer because they where from a different company and could be causing problems with the new ones, plus I didn't like how the heat spreaders on the memory could cause the ones with a shorter heat spreader to not work as efficiently.  However, the problem presided.  My cpu has a lot of dust in the heat sink, at least on top but none I can see along the sides or in the middle.  My other computer had a heat sink that had dust caked on really bad on top and it still ran really good as long as there is a whole for air to move its not really a problem, because the CPU fan and heat sink is a pain in a put to take off and put on, and if I break it my cpu and computer is dead and there is no replacement parts for the cpu because its outdated.  My graphics card I can just buy a new one if I break it.  However, I rather try to fix it than buy a new component for a 5 year old computer that may or may not be able to use the graphics card.

catloverplayer · Answer

"Sid1701D9;c-16911783" wrote:Update: I decided to do a final test to see if it was my graphic card or something else so I disabled my dedicated graphic card and loaded a game that I was experiencing crashing, I choose farming simulator 19 as the test mark game to use as it was built for the dedicated graphics card, I didn't think the Sims 4 was a decent test because to make the game playable for all the simmers they got to make sure it can run for the Intel intergraded graphics card.  I made it all the way around the map without a crash on the intel intergraded card.  Now I know the problem is with my dedicated card, I can't even get a whole field done without it crashing.  So if your afraid your graphic card is dying try playing a game meant for a dedicated card with a intergraded card if you can play the game better on the intergraded card than the dedicated card you found your problem.  Also its a good way to make sure your CPU isn't overheating and creating crashes similar to the graphics card crashes.  Man I am so clever.  Now I am going to open up the card and see why it is dying and if I can fix it.If it's the card replace it.

sid1701d9 · Answer

I just ordered a Geforce GTX 1060 card for my gaming computer, I need to have a burial for my GTX 660 card like I was watching in one of the live streams.

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Does anyone know how to tell if graphic card is going bad

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