Sudden Graphics Issues!

Okay I just built a computer about a week ago. Having graphics problems now. Either Emerald viewer or standard, doesn't matter. I'll be doing my thing, whatever in-world, and suddenly everything starts becoming pixelated and the colors go way off, and then everything freezes. I can run for hours if I'm not in SL, but 5 minutes into it and it happens. Here's my stats.

Intel DP45SG mobo
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200
Nvidia GeForce 8800 GTX
WinXPhome

Could this be a problem with my vid card? I already unchecked VBO at the login screen (where it started to crash again) I am running at 75% graphics (Custom) with zero lag issues. This only started happening last night, and like I said I've had the pc built for about a week now. Could this be Emerald related? I recently started using it, so I dunno.
Any help would be appreciated.

Your video card is probably dying.

Maybe the fan on it is not working?

Nope, fan is working. It's now doing it before I even log into SL. Did it right after boot-up a few minutes ago. I read online that it could be bad soldering connections on the card, or even improperly seated...who knows.

Seeing as you just built this I am going to say you got a bad graphics card, it happens.

RMA it, return it to the store, whatever applies to how you bought it.

well the graphics card isn't new, someone gave it to me when she upgraded to a 275 SLI setup.

There is a less-than-orthodox solution for fixing 8000 series solder problems. I can not be held responsible for any damages that might result, and this should only be viewed as a last-ditch effort to get a card working until it can be replaced.

See these two threads:

Being as that card is a used one the possibility of it being damaged is even greater. The 8800 card is a couple years old (which, in itself, is nothing) and it has a history of running quite a bit hotter than most other cards at that performance level.......so it if was used with SL extensively in the past and not monitored and maintained well I can see the very real possibility that it has over heated a few times. Heat does kill electronics.

Does your motherboard have an intergrated graphics chipset? You can connect your monitor to that device and remove the card to see if your problems continue. Of course you will have issues about quality with a lower performance GPU but those will be quite different than the issues you are experiencing now.

If you search the internet (specifically Newegg.com) you can find an nVidia 9800 for less than 100 USD. The 9800 has the same specs as the 8800 without such a heat problem. Of course you can always go higher if you choose since this is a brand new computer........but for the money sticking with the 9000 series is something to consider. You can always upgrade later when it's more convenient.

Well I'll tell you, I did try that "oven-baked" approach. Cause I was looking at cards on tigerdirect and realized I could probably get a decent bit of bang for my buck, so I thought "what the hell, nothing to lose" right? So I did 385 degrees for ten minutes.....and I'm back online. Now mind you, I've been on for about 5 minutes as I'm writing this, so who knows what the night holds. But thinking about it (I'm a TV repair tech), I thought it "could feasibly" be possible. So I took a shot, and so far so good! And to the other poster, no this board doesn't have onboard graphics, sadly. OH well, we'll play it by ear. If nothing else, I baked myself another day or two until I can pick up a video card on "black friday"....wish me luck!