Dead Graphics card?

Had a rude awakening today when I booted up my PC to be greeted with graphics that would resemble what many of us have experienced as a buttload of graphical oddities/scrambling, similar to playing an NES cartridge without blowing into the circuity for 10 minutes.

I don't really have any means of testing my hardware, and I'm unsure if this problem is because of my video card being on the way out, or if the mobo is dying?

It boots up slowly (ignoring the butchered screen display), then just does nothing the second it gets to the point where the screen resolution would change to what I had set in WinXP.

I tried reseating the graphics card (worked in the past on my TNT2, so figured why the hell not?), did nothing. The thing was a GF6800 GT which I pushed hard for a good 4 years, so perhaps it just reached the end of its lifespan?

I don't have another video card handy here, so that's not helping at the least to troubleshoot what's broken.

Could well be - or the graphics driver is corrupt.

Check the card's cooling system - is it working - also clean it.

Try getting into Safe Mode - see if it is still garbled.

Try to uninstall and reinstall the drivers.

If it is still garbled with no drivers installed then the card is probably on its last legs.

It's fried. Time for a new one.

Sounds like it.

Could try cleaning the contacts with an ear bob and some alcohol and make sure is sitting solid first.

It's garbled right from the boot-up.

Any suggestions for a new card at any rate? I'm sticking with nVidia since I know my way around their drivers.

Looked at an 8800GT the other day (which I think my PC took offense to that, hence my card dying the day after), and they're a bit out of my price range. Not too keen on spending much either with the 9xxx series on its way which may affect prices on existing cards when it hits its budget-model range, but I wouldn't mind something that could run any modern-day game respectably.
(or at least something faster than my MacBook's 8600m GT, as that bloody card runs circles around my rig's 6800GT)

AGP or PCI-X? I have an XFX8600 PCI-X looking for a home.

My mobo has both, although I'd prefer getting something local from a store as that's more convenient in my situation.
(and I'm assuming AGP is all but dead in this day and age)

It could indicate bad memory on the video card..

If your machine has been turned of for a while and you power it on, does it look horrible right from the beginning, or does it quickly degrade after it runs for a short while? If the latter, then it could be caused by overheating. e.g. your video card fan may not work properly.

Right from the very get go.

Either the gfx card or the psu.

Yep, dead graphics card.

Just picked up an 8800GT (figured I may as well get a decent one and upgrade my mobo/CPU next fall), and so far so good.

[EDIT] Awesome, can get back to enjoying BioShock without single-digit framerates.