How To Test Video Card?

[Bathrone]

I would like to know please what the *definitive* test is for testing a DX9 video card?

I am having ongoing problems with the mmorpg LOTRO where I get:

1. Crash to Vista desktop in LOTRO
2. Vista reports video hardware error - typically this is where I'm running LOTRO where the VPU will restart without a stop error
3. Vista reports a stop error in the video driver - infinite loop - where Im running LOTRO and it blue sceens

I run 3dmark06, no problems. The support people for LOTRO basically said that I have done tests with 3dmark06, that "Although 3dmark is not causing any errors, your error appears to be with the GPU or with your video ram. 3dmark does not utilize all the features that your graphics card takes advantage of, and it seems like one process is causing a hang either due to improper data handling (bad ram sending bad information to the gpu) or gpu corruption (the gpu is getting correct data, but cannot process it properly)."

I have also tried running Atitool beta on Vista, and when I scan for artifacts it does not find any. When I go abort and show the 3d box, all is fine too.

I dont have the money to blow on guesses and I need to know for sure its a hardware problem and not something else. The problem is even worse as Im on AGP and that kinda puts me in a spot of needing a whole new PC.....How do I test my graphics card to be sure?

 

[soydios]

have you tried uninstalling your video drivers, running driver cleaner, and reinstalling the newest ones?

 

[Bathrone]

Yes, and thanks. Though that isnt what I asked

What I want to know is how to defintively test a DX9 video card.

 

[soydios]

is LOTRO the only game that crashes it? because 3Dmark06 should tax every single part of any DX9 graphics card

 

[Bathrone]

What you say is contradictory to what the Turbine support say - i.e. That 3dmark06 is or is not utilizing all the resources of my graphics card.

I can correctly run:

1. 3dmark06
2. X800 ruby demo
3. X800 crowd demo
4. ATI Tool beta artifact scan

 

[nullpointerus]

Unfortunately, I don't think there's an equivalent of memtest86 for the GPU and its memory. To test for heat problems, you could try taking the cover off your case and aiming a large fan at the video card. To test for power problems, you could take things off the PSU--is your AGP card 3.3V or 5.0V? Look up what else could be on those lines (drives, LED fans, or whatever) and disconnect what's not needed.

Generally, the LOTRO support people said the right thing. You will want to do stability testing on the CPU (prime95, orthos?) and RAM (memtest86) *before* testing the GPU. Verify each component before moving on to the next. There are CPU/RAM stability testing instructions in the overclocking forum as that's the main purpose of that forum.

One final thing to check would be doing an Internet search for LOTRO and your card/driver to see if there's a driver bug of some sort.

 

[rbV5]

Posting your system specifications helps troubleshoot issues. There is no definitive test that will show any dx9 card owner what their specific issue may be, you seem to have a specific issue, which is where your focus should be.

 

[tcsenter]

Originally posted by: nullpointerus
Unfortunately, I don't think there's an equivalent of memtest86 for the GPU and its memory.

Actually, memtest86 and other software-based memory diagnostic utilities are parallel to software 3D benchmarks in testing video cards.

No software-based diagnostic is "definitive". The only definitive diagnostic tool for memory is a hardware-based tester (major $$) that is not influenced by errors introduced by the chipset or CPU and can isolate faults right down to the offending RAM chip.

There is no similar commercially available hardware tester for graphics cards because GPUs are proprietary designs that only run in VGA mode without hardware-specific drivers. VGA mode probably exploits a couple million transistors at most, a fraction of a modern GPU's transistors, circuits, and logic. The nearest thing to hardware memory testers for a GPU is the custom stuff that chip makers build to test or validate their chips in-house.

You might get AMD/ATI to part with one for a few hundred thousand dollars, given its current financial situation.