Computer Hanging up believed video issue

So I have had my lovely X800XT for about 2 years now, great card, etc, etc...

The problem is ever since about Feb/April when running 3d based anything my system will hang up and I will loose display.

Surfing the net, watching movies, writing documents are all just fine, but playing CSS or ETQW, even using ATiTool, it will hang up. It is not an instant thing either, when ever the computer feels like freezing up, it will. Though when its very cold in my house it doesnt do it.

The temps are fine (actually great), there is no over clocking on anything, I just degraded my video drivers (I have tried upgrading them too). The proc and all other zones, including hard drives are at amazingly cool temps as well.

At the moment I am unable to test another graphics card, so we can leave that option out. Also, I have tried reformating, it doesnt help.

That is all I can think of for now.

Thanks
-Goober (Sean)

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You registered for QuakeCon on April 30, 2008, 6:56 pm. You were # 366 to sign up for QuakeCon!

Is there any way you can go into the ATI tool and change the fan speeds on the chip to max and test that? Sometimes the temp diode goes bad and causes the fan to not oeprate at the speed that is necessary leading to over heating parts.

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I would, if I had the stock cooler on it, but I dont. I have a Zalman HSF on it, and its on the highest fan settings, but I will try getting the fan on its own 12v rail ( I have two ^_^) and see if it improves any.

Thanks for the relpy Fenis!

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You registered for QuakeCon on April 30, 2008, 6:56 pm. You were # 366 to sign up for QuakeCon!

So I tried placing my vid card on a separate rail on my psu, and its still having the same problem.

This is the recorded temp of my graphics card when my system hung last:
Temperature: GPU: 57.3°C GPU environment: 49.0°C

Both temps are as normal as system monitoring goes for gaming (while playing CSS)

Any other thoughts?

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You registered for QuakeCon on April 30, 2008, 6:56 pm. You were # 366 to sign up for QuakeCon!

This may be a long shot but try cleaning out any dust thats been collecting in the computer, especially on the video card's HSF.

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Spike

I've thought about that one, and have done it numerous times, atm my whole box is sterile.

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You registered for QuakeCon on April 30, 2008, 6:56 pm. You were # 366 to sign up for QuakeCon!

You mentioned that you have an aftermarket HSF on the card. Try reapplying the thermal compound. Maybe you didn't apply it good enough the first time. Perhaps a small air bubble might have been trapped.

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Spike

Update:

So I have isolated my problem down to my graphics card.

I've unplugged everything in my box except for one hard drive, the graphics card, CPU, and 4x512mb RAM.

I ran memtest for four passes and no errors came up.

I also ran CPU Burn-in without a problem.

Cleaned out ALL the dust in the case, cards, and fans

Here's the best part! I borrowed a friends graphics card (which so happens to be a X800XT AIW) ran a 3d app and it did not crash!

So I reapplied some thermalpaste onto my GPU, slamed it back into the case, and tried to run the same 3d app and in the matter of 10 seconds my pc crashes!

The part that gets the best of me is I can make my pc crash faster if I change some settings for DX:

If the following below are set to these specs it will crash in seconds:

AA: 2x
AF: 2x
Texture: High Performance
Mipmap Detail: High Performance
Vsync: Off

Now if I up the settings shown below it will be anywhere from 10 minutes to 3 hours:

AA: 6x
AF: 16x
Texture: High Quality
Mipmap Detail: High Quality
Vsync: Off

As much as I love to have my settings be that high, it does lag some games.

I do not feel that this problem is heat related because the second set of settings is able to become much hotter than the first.

Also, as I have said before (I know some of the above has been repeated but I wanted to make sure I got all my thoughts gathered before I set my pc up again and got online) I am able to watch movies, browse the web, even type this up without it crashing. I am assuming that my graphics card is just shot, and I need a new one.

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You registered for QuakeCon on April 30, 2008, 6:56 pm. You were # 366 to sign up for QuakeCon!

I am also assuming that your graphics card is shot.

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A wise man can learn more from a foolish question than a fool can learn from a wise answer. ~Bruce Lee

I just don't get why it wont crash for anything else other than 3d applications.

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You registered for QuakeCon on April 30, 2008, 6:56 pm. You were # 366 to sign up for QuakeCon!