Yet another computer problem for you technophiles out there

[snarkeater]

I have a 6800GT that I've had for 3 years now. Recently, however, if I do anything graphically powerful (i.e. almost anything besides Firefox) I get lots and lots of snow, and I crash. I then got a small fan, took the case off of my computer, and tried again. Same result, only it took longer to crash. now, however, I have trouble booting up; this is the first time I've been able to in about a week or so. When I try, it starts the boot-up process with lines of snow going down the screen, then when it reaches the startup screen, it crashes. Any suggestions/advice?

[QuotidianTemerity]

Sounds like it's time for either a new computer, or a new motherboard and/or GPU.

[Tarron]

i say the gfx card has had iit, check the fan on it is working and that the gpu is not over heating. i'd say get a new card. does your motherboard have pci-e? or is it agp?

[Teknobry]

Agreed with tarron, sounds like your GPU is dying. Check that the fan/heatsinks aren't choked up with dust, clean them off. If you're lucky its just overheating, but if you've had that card 3 years its time for an upgrade anyway :D

[snarkeater]

Well, tried cleaning off the heatsinks, didn't work, and I though that's what it might be, but I wanted to check and make sure there wasn't anything I could do to save it. I have a Shuttle SN95G5 (FN95 V2.0) - AGP I'm 99% sure. Thanks for the feedback.