Graphics card dying???

[Nic 0]

Hi allJust last week FS 2004 was fantastic, weekend just gone I was showing a friend the sim and to give him a good idea of what a complex sim we run I rotated through some AI aircraft approaching KFSO.It was when I was doing this I noticed that the A.C and scenery textures took a long time to come into focus and stabilize, remaining grey for a long period of time. Now usually when i install a new AI aircraft I do the same thing to take a look at it in flight etc and normally the textures redraw quickly even quicker if I use FS Autostart.I have not upgraded anything in FS 2004. I did a memory check all through last night with memtest nothing was picked up. I have reseated the graphics card and checked the molex connector all is fine I've run Spybot/Adaware and carried out a virus check with Norton. I have also defragged the drive 3 times with Windows XP defragger.I have no artifacts on the screen to suggest the card is dying.The only thing I've updated on the PC is a update to Zonealarm firewall which is disabled through Autostart. Can anyone suggest anything else I may try?My system specs:Windows XP SP22 Gig memoryAMD 64 Athlon 3800 VeniceGF 7600 gt AGP (162.18 Drivers, Nhancer)Creative Labs Audigy ZXLoads of harddrive space.

[Guest wayupthere]

Hello Nic,>>>I have also defragged the drive 3 times with Windows XP defragger.DO NOT do that, its not necessary, once a month or so is more than enough, even once every two should be fine, over-defragging is not healthy for your drives, contrary to what people think.As to your problem, what PSU do you have?.Regards,

[Nic 0]

Hi I am currently running a Bluestorm 500w PSU ( Fortron) which I bought when I upgraded to the GF 7600gt card. Had it in computer for about 10 months. Regards Nic

[Guest wayupthere]

Do those issues come up with any other games?And what temps, is your GPU getting under load lately?.Regards,

[Nic 0]

Hi I have changed drivers to 93.71 ensuring all traces of the 162.18 drivers were erased, in order to monitor temp levels on card. Flew FS9 around Seattle with LDS 767 in resonabley cloudy conditions for about 20 minutes. On start of sim temp of card was 41'C at the end of the test it was reading 53-54'C. On changing 767 views it took about 25-30 secs for the fuselage to fill in from the grey background and the ground remained blurry for up to a minute. On observing other A/C In my vicinity it appeared to be longer until the scenery and A/C were in sharp focus again. My FS9 CFG file has been like this for a few months with no problem until now:- TERRAIN_ERROR_FACTOR=100.000000TERRAIN_MIN_DEM_AREA=10.000000TERRAIN_MAX_DEM_AREA=100.000000TERRAIN_MAX_VERTEX_LEVEL=19TERRAIN_TEXTURE_SIZE_EXP=8TERRAIN_AUTOGEN_DENSITY=5TERRAIN_USE_GRADIENT_MAP=1TERRAIN_EXTENDED_TEXTURES=1TERRAIN_DEFAULT_RADIUS=4.500000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_RADIUS=9.500000TERRAIN_EXTENDED_LEVELS=3 The only other sim I have on the PC is Grand Prix Legends which runs OK. I'm only guessing but GPL Is nearly 10 years old so will it use as much graphics/ processor power as FS9. I'd like to thank oyu for all the help you are giving me on this matter.

[Guest baksteen33]

Hi, along these lines, perhaps make sure there isn't too much dust stopping the fans from what they should be doing? Kind regards Jaap

[Nic 0]

Hi Jaap Yes good point but already checked that all fans are turning and burning and all clear of dust. Regards

[Guest wayupthere]

Nic,Do you happen to have 3DMark there?, if not can you download it, run it and see if you can do a complete graphics run without errors?.Regards,

[Nic 0]

Hi Guys I have been away so sorry for not replying to your helpful suggestions. I think I have sorted the problem I decided to remove Norton Anti virus 2004 ( which took a while delving into the registry and other things to ensure I had got it all uninstalled)and now everything seems fine again with good updates of textures etc. In fact it seems better than it did previous to the sim acting up. At the moment I'm running AVG Freeware but will upgrade to the payware version shortly. Thanks once again for all your help and advice. Regards Nic

[Guest wayupthere]

Hi Gus,Glad its solved... urghh Norton.. good choice to stay away from it from, just bad an bloated software.Regards,

[BrzI 26]

You are better off patching your PC regularly and running no AV software than having Norton. It just sucks the life out of a PC.Of course, you need to be careful with e-mail and web sites that you go to.I run no AV software on my PC and in 7 years had one small infection (fixed by PCCilling freeware).If you absolutley need AV I suggest McAfee. Just make sure you know what your annual costs will be.2 cents.