# Video Card Woes - Considering Options **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [December 6, 2004, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-card-woes-considering-options/278408 "2004-12-06T19:49:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-card-woes-considering-options/278408/21 "2004-12-07T18:23:40Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > On the hardware side, you might try running your PC with the cover off, and visually inspecting all your fans, especially on the vidcard and CPU. Make sure the fan/heatsink on your videocard is still securely seated to the card. Does the Ti4x00 series need a separate power lead for the fan? I can’t remember off the top of my head, but if it doesn make sure it is plugged in. Did you use thermal paste between the heatsink and CPU when you reinstalled (don’t laugh - it’s been forgotten)? One other check would be to see if you have similar problems with other games. I do run the PC with the cover “open” - the side panel detached and just leaning against the main case. The fans all run - I feel the breeze from each. (nearly lost a fingertip to one of them the other day, but it didn’t seem to hurt it to any greater degree) - I’ll check the power lead. I didn’t install the CPU myself - the problem at the time was so baffling to me that I took it to professionals - who got me the new mobo and CPU. No similar problems with other games, but it’s worth noting that I haven’t played many other graphics-intensive games since the incident. Diablo II and Neverwinter Nights don’t exactly create the graphics demand of City of Heroes. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-card-woes-considering-options/278408/22 "2004-12-07T20:12:54Z")
> [@CandidGamera](#): > > I do run the PC with the cover “open” - the side panel detached and just leaning against the main case. The fans all run - I feel the breeze from each. (nearly lost a fingertip to one of them the other day, but it didn’t seem to hurt it to any greater degree) - I’ll check the power lead. > > I didn’t install the CPU myself - the problem at the time was so baffling to me that I took it to professionals - who got me the new mobo and CPU. > > No similar problems with other games, but it’s worth noting that I haven’t played many other graphics-intensive games since the incident. Diablo II and Neverwinter Nights don’t exactly create the graphics demand of City of Heroes. Did you specifically check the fan attached to the videocard? My Ti card has a factory heatsink and fan on it. Neverwinter Nights would be a better test than Diablo II, I think, especially some of the big fight scenes. At hi-res, it should tax your card almost as much as CoH. If memory serves, ours was the current generation of cards when NwN was new. It **could** be that CoH is referencing a fried memory address on the card that isn’t getting referenced by other games, but I couldn’t begin to tell you how to debug that. The 9600 Pro would likely give you marginally better performance than your current card and, if memory serves, it is a true DX9 card. It’s a shame though, because you have a good card, when it works properly. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-card-woes-considering-options/278408/23 "2004-12-07T20:15:52Z")
NCSoft Tech Support hopefully already asked you to do this, but have you done a thorough, time-consuming HD scan on your PC? This will check for bad disk sectors. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-card-woes-considering-options/278408/24 "2004-12-07T20:20:21Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > Did you specifically check the fan attached to the videocard? My Ti card has a factory heatsink and fan on it. > > Neverwinter Nights would be a better test than Diablo II, I think, especially some of the big fight scenes. At hi-res, it should tax your card almost as much as CoH. If memory serves, ours was the current generation of cards when NwN was new. It **could** be that CoH is referencing a fried memory address on the card that isn’t getting referenced by other games, but I couldn’t begin to tell you how to debug that. > > The 9600 Pro would likely give you marginally better performance than your current card and, if memory serves, it is a true DX9 card. It’s a shame though, because you have a good card, when it works properly. The fan on the card seems to be circulating air. NWN seems to run pretty darn well on my machine - I can even multitask with NWN. (It doesn’t like it much, but I’ve had a single crash while Alt-Tabbing, and that’s it) It is a shame - and I wish the problem were consistent each time. And it may be a confluence of problems, complicating the matter. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-card-woes-considering-options/278408/25 "2004-12-07T20:27:43Z")
> [@D\_Odds](#): > > NCSoft Tech Support hopefully already asked you to do this, but have you done a thorough, time-consuming HD scan on your PC? This will check for bad disk sectors. Nope, they didn’t. But I will tonight. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Odds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/d_odds/32/2882_2.png) [@D\_Odds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Odds)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2004, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-card-woes-considering-options/278408/26 "2004-12-07T20:46:33Z")
For you, or any other dopers reading this who may not know (in case you do and I’m repeating the obvious): Go to “My Computer” Right click on your hard drive (usually C:) Choose “Properties” Go to the “Tools” tab Under “Error Checking” choose “Check Now” Check off all options. I’m pretty sure with the options checked, it will prompt you to reboot and will run the scan before loading windows. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-card-woes-considering-options/278408/27 "2004-12-13T17:31:48Z")
Update : Problem _seems_ to have vanished. Solution : At the suggestion of a fellow SDMBer, I tweaked my BIOS - adjusting the AGP multiplier on the board from 4x to 2x. I get a little chop in heavily populated CoH areas, but apart from that, experienced two trouble-free hours. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/video-card-woes-considering-options/278408.md?page=1)