Vid card damaged? Need help

Okay, first of all, I want to mention that this post is taken from another forum.
Yes, I wrote it. I'm posting here as I'm looking for more opinions.

Now to the actual problem:

My PC:
C2D E4300 stock
2GB DDR2 800
Geforce 8600GTS

I've been suggested to use 169 nvidia drivers. Apparently everything seems to be working fine now, BUT I mean, the vid card should be working fine without problems with the newest drivers. That's what the manufacturer guarantees, right?
So what now? Should I keep my card and just never update my drivers?
This is somewhat silly and I don't intend to be forever bound to one specific driver version. Vid cards are supposed to be compatible with all driver versions (including the newest).
My question is: RMA it or not? Is it worth the effort?

Thanks

Ok ok hold up.

Not all drivers work, there is NO GUARANTEE that they will be compatible ever.

You use what works, if it isn't broke, don't fix it. I use 169 drivers for my 8800GTS and 8600GT and both work flawlessly on all games, there's no reason to get the new drivers. If they don't work, wait till the next ones come out, or some such.

Do not RMA your card, it is not worth the effort, lots of people experience problems like this and the simple answer is " If you updated your drivers, roll back, if you haven't updated, then update to newer ones. If neither works, try double rolling back."

It also is never the same for every person, and most of the time drivers do work, but nothing is perfect.

For example: We have Rig A and Rig B, they both have completely different hardware except the 8600GT, Rig A may run fine on the new drivers, Rig B may not.

Basically no ones experience is going to be the same 100% of the time, usually. Unless that driver is seriously defunct to the point of it messing up for all people.

This looks like what was happening to me. Try updating to the 177.89 drivers, they aren't on the nvidia site, but are here;

http://downloads.guru3d.com/GeForce-...load-2030.html

Just make sure you choose the right OS (ie, Vista 64bit, or XP 32bit, etc). It basically fixed the problems I was having, so might help you.

Video drivers are normally optimized for the newest (Latest & greatest) video cards. Having unified drivers (at least until the CUDA only drivers were released) is a fairly new thing.
I have used 169 on my system but it is a heavy (used too much memory for my tastes) driver, and there were features I wanted were not in it. To get those features I went back to the 91 series driver. Much lighter and faster yet it supports every game I play just fine and I don't have to install a bunch of other junk to access the features I wanted.
Going back to a previous version is not always a bad thing. Like Brianna said, if it is not broke, don't fix it. Often times new drivers are released to address poor programing on the part of a single but popular game or an error in the driver revieled by a single game. In these cases it is normally noted in the release notes.
As for sending the card back, most manufactures would have you install the driver that came with the card, did it work? If yes, you are done. No RMA because nothing is wrong. It works as provided. Personally, I would stick with 169, it is a great driver for most people.

Have you tried forcing GW to run in one core? (Search for ForceCore)

The freezing/sound loop problem doesn't usually result in a BSOD or graphic problems, but ForceCore is worth a try.

The damage is done. The card is shot. This isn't a driver error I am afraid.

Too much damage to the dielectrics (the silicon areas of the chip basically) You will need to RMA the card to have it replaced. Do that asap before your warrranty expires (if it does)

I'm with Rahja that first screenshot looks like what my GPU did before it died out on me. Probably due to overheating. You may want to check your temperatures. I strongly advice you to RMA it.

My 7600GT on my lappy was doing that for a couple days with FarCry (very similar looking screens) - I thought nothing of it and then it died totally and I now own a nice expensive paperweight (it's past the warranty). So, if I were you I'd either RMA it now, or wait abit and if it continues to do the same thing I'd assuredly RMA it. You don't want it to fry and possibly damage somethign else as well.

The same happend to me with my card. But i am sure its drivers fault. Some times ago i experienced some latency problems. A wrote an email to Anet Tech Support and they told me to update my graphic card drivers. So i did it. Downloaded drivers form nvidia.com, reisntaled older ones and installed those newest. After that i occured the same issues like those in first post.

I sent another not to Anet and they suggested to test my PC with 3dMark2006 to check it out. All was perfect, no problems after all. But every day i still get those graphical problems playing GW. I wrote one more note to Anet and I am waiting for the answer.

I was trying to install prervious drivers but dont remmeber which one was.

I have Intel Quad and GeForce 8600GTS so it maybe a reason - newest drivers for this card may cause some graphical problems in games like GW.

I am waiting for answer from Anet and for new version of drivers.

I dont supouse its a card damage fault.