GTX 260 freeze + crazy colours

ania · 11-25-11, 07:55 AM

My GTX 260 randomly freezes and displays crazy psychedelic colours, as in the attached picture.
The system doesn't react (can't go into console), and after a while shuts down.

Any ideas?

The fan speed seems to be stuck at 40% (PowerMizer changes the performance level, but fan speed is constant always), so I'm wondering if it could be some problem with overheating (but I can't check the temperature when it happens, because of the crazy system freeze).

Normal temperatures are between 40-45 C and I haven't noticed it rising much more (but I do not always watch it).

The card was bought in July 2009, I don't remember when the problems started but it's at least one year now, sometimes it runs fine for a month, sometimes it crashes frequently (yesterday 3 times, when I was using the graphics application Blender).

I'm on OpenSuse 12.1 and KDE 4.2.7 r5 now, but the same happened previously on Xubuntu/Xfce and OpenSuse/Gnome. I've read some posts about the same problem with the same card in Windows (includinig fan speed stuck at 40%) so I wonder if it's a hardware problem and not from the driver?

GPU: GeForce GTX 260 Sonic 216SP
Operating System: Linux-x86_64
NVIDIA Driver Version: 285.05.09

AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor (4x 3200 MHz)
RAM 2x DIMM 4 GB DDR2-800 Kit (4096 MB) ICIEM0
PSU StealthXStream 700W (700 Watt)
Mainboard GA-MA790X-UD3P (AMD 790X) GEEG27

dukenukemz · 11-25-11, 12:18 PM

Download MSI afterburner and set the fan speeds yourself then try playing games for a while and see if it locks up. The screen on the left looks like a memory error on the GPU itself but this may be cause by overheating if your GPU's fan only sits at 40%. I have a GTX 570 and my fan sits at 70% fan / 70 Degrees when im playing games but my card does run very hot.

ania · 11-25-11, 06:12 PM

MSI afterburner is for Windows, right? I'm on linux, is there a similar tool?

btw. I don't even play, sometimes it crashed when I had only webbrowser and skype opened.

11-25-11, 07:55 AM	#1
ania Registered User Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 2	GTX 260 freeze + crazy colours My GTX 260 randomly freezes and displays crazy psychedelic colours, as in the attached picture. The system doesn't react (can't go into console), and after a while shuts down. Any ideas? The fan speed seems to be stuck at 40% (PowerMizer changes the performance level, but fan speed is constant always), so I'm wondering if it could be some problem with overheating (but I can't check the temperature when it happens, because of the crazy system freeze). Normal temperatures are between 40-45 C and I haven't noticed it rising much more (but I do not always watch it). The card was bought in July 2009, I don't remember when the problems started but it's at least one year now, sometimes it runs fine for a month, sometimes it crashes frequently (yesterday 3 times, when I was using the graphics application Blender). I'm on OpenSuse 12.1 and KDE 4.2.7 r5 now, but the same happened previously on Xubuntu/Xfce and OpenSuse/Gnome. I've read some posts about the same problem with the same card in Windows (includinig fan speed stuck at 40%) so I wonder if it's a hardware problem and not from the driver? GPU: GeForce GTX 260 Sonic 216SP Operating System: Linux-x86_64 NVIDIA Driver Version: 285.05.09 AMD Phenom(tm) II X4 955 Processor (4x 3200 MHz) RAM 2x DIMM 4 GB DDR2-800 Kit (4096 MB) ICIEM0 PSU StealthXStream 700W (700 Watt) Mainboard GA-MA790X-UD3P (AMD 790X) GEEG27 Attached Thumbnails

11-25-11, 12:18 PM	#2
dukenukemz duKe_+ Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: Alberta, Canada Posts: 38	Re: GTX 260 freeze + crazy colours Download MSI afterburner and set the fan speeds yourself then try playing games for a while and see if it locks up. The screen on the left looks like a memory error on the GPU itself but this may be cause by overheating if your GPU's fan only sits at 40%. I have a GTX 570 and my fan sits at 70% fan / 70 Degrees when im playing games but my card does run very hot. __________________ CPU - I7 2600K 4.5 GHZ RAM - 8 GB DDR3 1600mhz GPU - GTX 570 Classified

11-25-11, 06:12 PM	#3
ania Registered User Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 2	Re: GTX 260 freeze + crazy colours MSI afterburner is for Windows, right? I'm on linux, is there a similar tool? btw. I don't even play, sometimes it crashed when I had only webbrowser and skype opened.