Purple Vertical Lines on My Screen

[tmaclean]

On my windows machine, I will randomly start getting light green vertical lines and spots on my screen, then they'll turn to purple and be more defined and eventually the screen will just freeze up and I'll have to shut it off. Is this a video card problem?

[glc]

Most likely, yes - overheating or defective video ram. If it's onboard video, possible system ram issues.

[tmaclean]

Yeah it's a video card. It's pretty old. We got the computer for Christmas in '03 so about 5 and a half years is pretty good (maybe I have low standards haha). I think it's a GeForce FX 5200. Is there any place I can buy a new one or is it obsolete?

[glc]

How about some specs? Motherboard and power supply, specifically. If it's a name brand computer, brand and model.

[stump]

I had the same problem with the green spots on one of my computers a few years back. I installed a new power supply and that cured the problem.