Can SL corrupt a Video Card.

I am running ATI 9700 with updated drivers. I know that SL and ATI do not get along that well but I am baffled by how at times I run without issue and then just begin crashing, and not just crashing but the entire computer freezing.

First look seems to run it a little better but it too will lock up the entire computer.

I played SL for almost a year without any problems with this same card. So I dont know if the card is corrupt of if one of the SL updates hurt my performance with this card?

Can all these crashes corrupt a video card and is there anything else I might try in order to get SL more stable?

Thanks


Nighttown.

As far as I am aware, only a virus can corrupt a hard disc by altering the MBR or File Index Tables, or maybe even a bios chip that's an eprom type (flash upgradable firmware). I have used ATI cards for years in SL, only switched one of my 4 PC's used to play SL recently, to get SL to work with Vista (ditched that peice of cr*p real quick). Have no problems with either my NiVidia or ATI cards.

Have you tried uninstalling and reinstalling the client with a fresh copy, cold booting inbetween the unistall and install processes? Did you remember to unistall the catalyst software before installing any updated GC drivers? ATI do strongly recommend this.

Have you updated NetFramework, version 3 is now available, and DirectX ver 9.0c?

You could try these drivers a lot of people report them helping.

Also, make sure the PC is well ventilated.

Unless you've overheated and fried a component it's most likely a software issue. I like to reinstall Windows every six months to avoid just this type of problem.