I think, I need suggestions for a graphics card replacement.

[Top Floor]

The graphics card at least seems like the problem, but I'm not 100% sure that is the problem. So on certain games, after playing for a few minutes, the video will freeze (sometimes with what looks like video corruption going on screen - black blocks in kind of a regular pattern - it sort of reminds me of things I've seen when I had a video card die on me.) and that will pretty much crash the entire computer. Besides these - what I think are video crashes - the card seems to run perfectly fine the rest of the time and with other games.

So currently the list of games that seem to crash my video are (kind of in the order I encounter them): Borderlands(the first one), Sleeping Dogs, Tomb Raider(2013), and Brothers.

When it finally happened in Brothers, I decided I have to start looking at replacing hardware to fix this problem. The thing is this problem as far as I can tell isn't consistent to just being high end games causing the problem. I played through the entirety of FarCry 3 (twice) without running into this problem.

My current card is a GeForce GTX 285. I have an ASUS P6T motherboard with the card in a PCI-E 2.0 x16 port. My CPU is a Core i7 930 @ 2.8 GHz, and I have 4 Gigs of Ram. I'm running on a 64-bit OS (Windows 7).

So do you think replacing my video card will fix my problem? If I do need to replace my card - what is the best Nvidia card I can replace my card with, that is under $300?

(By the way, sorry for the long post.)

[_I_]

first try cleaning the card, take it out of the pc, use an aircompressor or cans of compressed air to blow out all of the vents and fan/fans

what driver are you using?
try going back to 314.22 for win7-64
http://www.geforce.com/drivers/results/59641

then try it again, if it still gives errors, look for a 760 or better, gtx285 was a very strong card at the time

[Cheechako]

If you need it, GTX 760. About $260 USD on Amazon. But make sure you have the right power connections and more than enough power too.

I'm partial to MSI: http://www.amazon.com/MSI-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-N760-2GD5/dp/B00DIH8OW8

[Top Floor]

As for drivers, I'm using the latest ones that GeForce Experience downloaded. (I believe it is 331.65.) I'll try the drivers and if that doesn't fix it, I'll try pulling the card out and dusting it. (Yeah, I've never pulled this card out to dust it before.) I'm going to have to get familiar with getting cards in and out of this thing anyway, so this is a good thing.

Thanks for letting me know I could use a 700 series card like that, I was worried my PCI-E 2.0 port or maybe my processor would be a problem.

[senseidongen]

引用自 Top Floor：

As for drivers, I'm using the latest ones that GeForce Experience downloaded. (I believe it is 331.65.) I'll try the drivers and if that doesn't fix it, I'll try pulling the card out and dusting it. (Yeah, I've never pulled this card out to dust it before.) I'm going to have to get familiar with getting cards in and out of this thing anyway, so this is a good thing.

Thanks for letting me know I could use a 700 series card like that, I was worried my PCI-E 2.0 port or maybe my processor would be a problem.

Haha that GPU came out in 2009 - probably is due for a dust by now!

Your CPU isn't the newest but even an old i7 should be able to hold it's own. Your PCI-E 2.0 port also won't be an issue as the bandwidth restriction is barely even a problem on high end crossfire/SLI setups (even then, far from a significant issue from what I've read)

[Top Floor]

I have been dusting out the inside of my computer. Just never took any components out to dust them. So usually I dust off what I can get to by just opening the side and blowing off the parts that I can get to while everything is still seated inside the case. The problem is my GPU's fan points down while inside my computer so I never get to blow on it directly. (Yeah, I bought my computer in 2010. If I never dusted the inside at all my card would have completly died by now. That's how I blew up the cards in the first two PCs I ever had. >_< )

Anyway, hopefully my current card isn't dieing or something, and can be saved.

[Beat]

Well if you do decide to upgrade, the saphire 7950 is 184$ right now

[Rumpelcrutchskin]

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/24AnU

[Top Floor]

Well I finally took the card out and blew out all the spaces I could get to. (The cover on my card petty much covers everything.) Then I tried Brothers again and it still isn't fixed, unfortunately. T_T I was starting to get my hopes up, but it only lasted about a minute before the video froze. I will say, of all the games that crash my video, Brothers is the most graceful crasher. :P The video just freezes without throwing up corruption on the screen. But all these video crashes make my system completely unstable and I have to reset the system to keep going, otherwise the whole system completely freezes a few minutes later if I try to go on.

By the way, don't know if most cards have this problem, but I noticed on the board side of the card, there were spots with some kind of substance on them where dust would stick to the card and blowing on it wouldn't really get the dust off. It's like that stuff was grabbing and holding onto the dust. Has anyone else noticed this kind of stuff on video cards before?

My current card is manufactured by Zotac. So are they good or bad in your experience? I hadn't heard of them before getting this computer. I'm leaning toward getting Cheechako's suggestion.

I'm going to test my memory with Win7's built in memory tester, just to eliminate any other possible causes of my problem. Then if that comes up clean, I guess I'll buy a replacement video card. That ATI card does look tempting considering the price. Though I really want do want to stick with Nvidia...for no good reason, admittedly. -_- ...Oh almost forgot, so if I wanted to, I could go from an Nvidia to an ATI video card? I don't need a different motherboard? How about CPUs, you do have to get a certain type of motherboard if you want to use a Intel or AMD CPU, right? Sorry, I'm not as informed about hardware stuff as I should be. >_<

[Cheechako]

引用自 Top Floor：

WThough I really want do want to stick with Nvidia...for no good reason, admittedly. -_-

I have an MSI GTX 660. I got if before the 760 was available. I'm happy with it and the suite of tools (capture, FPS display, GeForce Experiece, etc.).

In fact, if your budget is $300, for $10 more, you can get the 4GB version: http://www.amazon.com/MSI-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-N760-4GD5/dp/B00E4MQOE6

p.s. Motherboard might matter if you are looking at SLI vs Crossfire (multiple cards), but I think it is common even then for both to be supported. I could be wrong. But a PCI 3.0 card is a PCI 3.0 card. The only other issue is with slim cases or the like. Motherboard matters very much for CPUs, though - even certain Intels need motherboards that other Intels can't use, and the same with AMD.

[Top Floor]

I think I'll stick with the first card you suggested. I don't really want to spend any more than that $250 if I can help it, and I can upgrade to the latest series of card while, I'm having to get a replacement anyway. (My brother probably thinks I'm spending too much on a replacement card, at $250 anyway. >_<" )

Edit: Thanks for clearing that up. Thankfully, I've never felt the need so change or upgrade my CPU. But I believe this will be my 4th time having to replace a video card. T_T It's good to know video cards are more interchangeable. (I've never run a multi-card setup. From the anecdotes I've seen around, it sounds like a pain to work with anyway.)

[PowerHaus930]

You can get a 7950 for $200 that will outperform the GTX 660. There's no need for a 4GB card unless you're running multiple monitors.