GPU temp vs artifacts

jazz.be

Hi
I'll try to keep this story short.
It all started after a new World of Warcraft patch, my pc started to show artifacts (little vertical flashing lines) followed by a crash/lock up. I need to reboot my pc.
I started then doing some test with ATI TOOL (I'm using Omega drivers, acutally latest drivers, when I discovered the problem I was using a previous version).
The 3D image start giving weird things, I think it's called artifacts right. This happens at about 60° Celcius.
But there are already artifacts which are not visible at about 58° Celcius, you can scan for artifacts with that tool, and it finds pretty much.
So basicly <58° C all is fine, but >58° C it starts to freak out.

How is that possible? These kind of cards are supposed to handle even higher temps like 70 and 80 degrees celcius.
I noticed that the environment temp is always a little bit higher then GPU temp when stressing the system. Could that be the reason?
All though MB temp is in the 30's and my AMD 2800+ is around 56°C when stressed.
Even if that IS the reason, what the heck is causing that heat in my PC?
But my main question is: Why does my GPU freak out at such low temps?
BTW my MB BIOS settings are default for the moment, so are my GPU settings, are all default.

Thanks for any input, I have no clue. I've took out some fancy settings now in WoW so that the GPU don't have to work that much, and that helps, it stays at around 57°.
Cya

X800XL (AGP)
2800+
2G RAM

hackerx

well those are called artifacts.And they usually come with high temperatures.But 58C is not high by ATi's standards.Did u OC ur card?Cause pushing it too hard can cause artifacting and that raises temps as well!
And try some other games(i.e other than WOW).See if there are artifacts in that too.

jazz.be

First of all I did not OC the card, I didn't think it was needed. I played WoW at full settings without any problems for as long as I have this card, which is about one year.
I haven't tried any other games, but I'm sure it will start showing the artifacts when I reach the 58-59°C.
I was monitoring while playing WoW and it's always starting at 58-59, then it crashes at 60-61. Also monitoring while testing with the ATI Tool and same thing, it's really based on the temp of the GPU, that's already a fact.
Since I have this problem I don't see my temp raise above the 62, simply because it freeze/lock/crash, and I have to reboot then.

Should I start looking for the warranty documents?

kn00tcn

powersupply? my comp freezes when power reaches 53ish degrees... & also i cant OC the gpu past 30mhz without a freeze either

hackerx

it could be gpu temps.Or it could be a power supply that can't give enough amps.
Try blowing compressed air onto ur card,to keep the temps below 55 and try playing WOW.
If it still crashes its ur power supply,thats at fault.!!!

jazz.be

I confirm that I can play WoW as long as it stays under 58C. From the moment it hits 58 I start seeing artifacts. So now I'm playing at low settings to keep the temp <58C.
I could try to use another power connecter for the Graphic Card, maybe that cable is broken and the card is in need for power. But I doubt it will change something, I'm still pretty sure it's related to the temp, which is not normal! 58C is not much...
Yesterday I played all night WoW without any problem, just because it's at low settings and the temp isn't increasing above 57.
BTW the power supply is not that old, I recaintly changed it to a 500W

The way I see it is that there is a hardware problem in the card...but it could be a lot I guess, AGP slot, RAM, MB? I'll try a RAM test tonight as well.
I'm getting desperete on this matter, I hate using hardware at half performance.