my GPU died... yes, dead, kaput, finito... "code 43", a video cards last puff of able life....

now i get weird artifacts all over the screen from as soon as the case fans start spinning and the first LEDs on the mobo come alive....
it figures, this is no driver fault (otherwise it would be OS confined, not straight up even before POST) - the card is burnt like an old light bulb 

with that in mind, i´ve already proceeded into acquiring a replacement... and, as the saying goes: "since we're already in hell, might as well give old satan a hug" - so i went all out and got me a GTX580, which needless to say, ain't cheap


which brings me to the source of my worries... i expect the new GPU should offer a considerable performance boost (although i have my expectations held in place, since my CPU and RAM are still more on the dated side) - anyways...

my now defunct 8800 went down while i was trying a series of tweaks to FSX - which included (but not limited to) the ENBSeries bloom-and-HDR FX mod....

i understand that using this mod along with the bp=0 (buffer-pool hard override) tweak is known to cause graphics corruption... and although i was NOT employing such tweak at the time of the GPU's demise i can't help but to wonder


is my new GPU gonna be safe? - should i continue trying to improve FSX graphics with mods such as the ENBSeries pack? or would i put my new card at risk by doing so?

i always thought it should not be possible for non-driver software to cause any hardware destruction, is this a fact?
and could the above-mentioned mod impose any exception to that fact?

or is this all just a big coincidence, and what my tweaking efforts have little to nothing to do with the video cards fate?


note-worthy facts about my situation:

- i did NOT apply ANY type of overclocking to the CPU, RAM or the GPU itself
- i AM WAS using the latest drivers
- i run windows 7 x64
- i do have adequate power supply (750W) and proper case cooling for a card like the 8800
- there was no noticeable power surges, or any external abnormality prior to the fateful event
- other possibly relevant specs are: Core2duo CPU, 4gig's DDR 2-channel RAM, dual monitor setup
- other reports of "code 43" GPU meltdowns mention no specific user activity, other that general 3D gaming was, indeed in progress at the time
- there are no reports to be found whatsoever of ENBSeries mods ever causing hardware faults

my only real question is: is this failure related to my tweaking efforts? or am i just reading too much into an unfortunate coincidence? 


thankz

i am familiar with that method - and it's no myth either, i could hardly believe it when my brother pulled it off with his 8800 right in front of me (he almost didn't really believe it either)

it worked - but... a few months later and the card died out on him again... so i figure, specially now that we have DX11 and shader model 4 coming up, there's no point in delaying the inevitable fate that eventually befalls all hardware... if my 8800 is dead, i'll just get a new card and let "nature" run it's course


of course... if i do bake it, i get a free secondary card, which opens up for 2 more monitor  - if my girlfriend doesn't murder me for doing so first 

but what about the tweaking? was in just a coincidence that my card went down while i was testing new stuff?

- another note-worthy fact:
FSX DID start and ran for just under one minute with the newly installed tweaks before it all went south... i would expect that if the tweaks were in fact, the cause of the fault, it would have blown up right at the rendering of the first frame, no?

what do you think?

i first thought the 570 would cut it... but a brief search for prices online revealed little difference between offers on the two... so i went for power-happy   


well... i want a card that'll serve me as well and long as my derelict 8800... so even if the rest of my PC is pretty much over-the-hill in comparison, when it come the time to get my hands on an i7 or whatever comes next, the GPU will be ready to go with it 


and... i can't afford all at once... so this is the only way i can get a decent rig... one part at a time... 

It is possible that your 8800GTX had some defects that either were there from the start or accumulated over time from old age, and then the increased graphics load from the modifications caused it to die. Unless it causes a card to overheat, or a card had a pre-existing weakness (e.g. defect, old age), software shouldn't kill cards.


Your GTX 580 should be fine with the tweaks...

Also a Core 2 Duo is too slow to run the GTX 580 at its full potential. Get a Core i5 2500 or Core i7 2600 (or the 2500K or 2600K if you're overclocking), IMHO. Or you can wait a few months until the first new brand new processor design by AMD is released (for the first time since 2003) or some even faster intel processors later this year...

Quote:

A replacement to the slower versions of Core i7 was released on the 9th of January. The model is Core i7 2600. Slightly slower versions were released as Core i5 2500, 2400, and so on. It's probably the best processor around (some are faster but cost a fortune!!!) although it isn't significantly faster than the old versions of i7. These processors use socket LGA-1155. Review link:
http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i...
If you want to overclock these processors, make sure to get the K variant e.g. Core i7 2600K.

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The replacement to the high-end versions of Core i7 will come out in 3rd quarter this year, I don't exactly know what it will be called although we do know that it will use socket LGA-2011. Most people anticipate that it will be a beast.

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AMD Bulldozer also comes out in 2nd quarter, anticipated to be fairly competitive with Intel but probably better value. First completely new AMD design since 2003.

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2011 will be a big year in terms of new hardware. Most new processors also move to a new manufacturing process while changing to a more efficient design, hence I would expect the gains from Bulldozer and LGA-2011 to be large over current computers. (The 1st generation Core i7 only used a new design, but not a new manufacturing process for example).