Nvida vid card problem! (I think)

[weekend]

Hi everyone

I built a new pc a month ago. Memtest ran fine, prime95 several hours with 0 errors. Latest bios version, nvdia latest (july 09 drivers), latest audio drivers. My initial video card was EVGA 9800 gtx+.

About a week after the build, after 20minutes of video or gaming (glitch-free), the whole computer freezes. I RMA'd the card and got a 9800 gtx. EVGA dropped the ball but I decided to test the card anyway while I do a 2nd RMA. Same freezes occur, but this time the time to freezing became 50minutes...

If I DON'T play videos/games, the computer runs fine (I didn't do any crazy tests, but the comp ran 7+ hours with internet surfing and word processing).

The weird thing is, even if I play a video for a few seconds then exit, after 50 more minutes the computer freezes (ie, freezes w/o any video/game activity). The vid card temp never exceeds 60C. Freeze occurs whether I did auto or manual (50%) fan speed in Precision Tools.
So doesn't seem like a heat issue.

So I am totally stumped here. Seems to a video card problem, but what's the bloody odds of getting two straight vid cards with the same issue???? Any suggestions would be totally welcome! I've basically built a nice comp but can't do video or games on it, bummer!

Thanks in advance.

PS I've done gaming, XVID video, and online (flash movies). All lead to the same "50 min then freeze issue").


========================
xp pro 32-bit, sp3
realtek hd audio, latest driver
corsair 750w psu
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3R LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
OCZ Reaper HPC Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 800 (PC2 6400)
EVGA 512-P3-N871-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16

[mikeL]

Just to be sure it's not your RAM, I would run memtest86+, depending on your RAM configuration, run memtest on a single stick at a time, then run on any others individually.

www.memtest.org/

[Khalil]

Did you try running the machine in safe mode for a couple of hours to see if it locks up at the 50 minute mark? It it does not lock, I would go in regular mode and disable the sound chip and let it run for a while to see if it locks up. I doubt evga would send out a replacement card without testing it first.
If it does not lock up with the sound disabled then you either have bad drivers or that Gigabyte motherboard is shot.
Try this and let us know, before you RMA the card.

[weekend]

Thanks for your responses.

Earlier I disabled HD audio (system--> device manager) but the freeze still occurred. But will try the safe mode idea tonight. I ran memtest fine when I first built the computer, but only ran it like 1 hour. Will run it longer I guess.

And yes I'm sure evga QCs their cards, but then again they swapped my gtx+ (with its big "+" on the sticks/design) with a hotter and lower-clocked gtx...

[weekend]

The computer played video for a few hours in safemode. So I then rebooted in normal mode, disabling realtek audio. I get the 50minute then freeze issue again..

So does this now look like a driver issue, or mobo issue? Another thing was, when I hard-reset after the aforementioned freeze, then computer wouldn't turn on again (it went into acycle of powered up, then died to power up, then died, etc.). After manually shutting down and flipping the PSU switch on/off, the computer powered on nromally...

[weekend]

Just a followup, I swapped in a 9500 GTS and same issue (only it took only 10min til freeze on video). This happens with older and latest nvidia drivers. Also, now I'm always getting the power cycling issue mentioned above. Could this be a PSU problem?

Since it ran for several hours in safe mode I doubt PSU but you never know, I'm inclined to think its a driver conflict issue since in safe mode minimal drivers are loaded. You don't have an external hd connected do you?

[weekend]

Thanks, I don't have an external hd (2 internal HDs). I ran the computer overnight in safemode playing videos, the pc didn't crash.

So the eventual freezes occur when I play videos/games in normal mode, with or without sound enabled. This occurs with various nvidia driver versions.... I am really stuck!

Short of reformatting XP or installing Windows 7, is there anything more I can do?

[Khalil]

Did you check the Gigabyte website for newer chipset drivers for the motherboard? How about the Bios, is it the latest?

[weekend]

Thanks I recently installed the latest bios (F9), will recheck re the driver updates tonight.

[weekend]

Update!

I reinstalled XP sp3, then installed the nvidia latest (190.38) drivers, as well as the latest realtek audio and mobo chipset/lan drivers. Computer ran overnight playing videos without a hitch....
problem solved, I hope!

Thanks again for everyone's help!