Do red dots guarantee GPU damage?

After trying a new set of drivers, I'm getting splotches of red dots across my monitors. These dots disappear and move depending on things that I move around the screen, or if I open folders/windows, etc. It's random, no set pattern, and no dots are permanently "burned" into a place.

Does this mean that the card is definitely damaged and/or faulty?

I rolled back to the old drivers, and regretfully, the dots were there, but only for a minute, and now they've been completely gone for hours and subsequent reboots.

Is it possible that the dots could be purely software/driver related? My guess is that it guarantees that the card's memory and/or processor is bad (or going bad) And my OCD is going to have to make me warranty swap it, if that's the case... which will regretfully likely lose my reference board 6950 in exchange for the non-reference crap.

Heat is the most likely cause.

1. Is the fan spinning?
2. Is the heatsink full of gunk?
3. Is the card overclocked?

It's possible (though unlikely) that the new drivers overclocked slightly by default, or it could just be that they're putting a slightly higher load on the card. Combined with insufficient heat transfer (for whatever reason) this might be just enough to push you over a threshold where the card is not coping.

1. Fan is spinning
2. Shoot, I haven't opened the card case in a while to see. I should!
3. The card has shaders unlocked, and has been running overclocked (900mhz/1450mhz). But since the driver install, it has been left at stock, without any overclocks. And in subsequent reinstall of drivers, it's been left entirely at stock clocks (and not overclocked internally within BIOS, either).

The new drivers also haven't changed the clocks; they're the same as the last ones. Also, temps have been constant within normal, acceptable range.

With that being said, are red dots a guarantee of damage? Or can they just be an effect of temporary corruption, the card being unable to cope? With artifacts, I feel like they're just temporary software glitches. But with the red dots, I don't know why, but that feels to me like it's hardware damage. Maybe it's the intimidating, glowing red color that gives me that sense

Is there a way to know if the card has been damaged? If it was damaged, would the dots ever be able to disappear entirely?

Thanks for your insight

They are normally just temporary errors (typically in the memory) caused by overclocking/overheating, and not a sign of permanent damage. Dropping the clocks should take care of it.

Of course, it could be that the reason why it is now going bad is that the chip has been damaged by the overclocking, and so can no longer hold the same clocks it once did, but my vote is that it isn't permanent.

Great to hear; helps ease my OCD a bit

Thanks guys

It's just a reminder to please do the needful.

I'd disagree. If the temperatures are reasonable, then it's likely that permanent damage has already been done, especially if you're getting the problem when not gaming.

However, you might be lucky and never see them again.

Ahh shucks, that's what I've feared.

They had seemed to disappear, but when I opened up a movie and started playing it, I could see faint blue dots scattered across the blackness (before any titles or credits had come up). I can't see any dots while the movie is playing, but I imagine that could be just because they're lost inside the picture. Although, if they were red dots like the ones I've seen, I'm sure I'd be able to see those.

Out of curiosity, what kind of damage could have been done? I know it's likely beyond the scope of any personal repair, I'm just curious as to what physically would likely be damaged (i.e., burned memory module, blow capacitors/transistors, etc). How would a video card only "slightly" damage and still be able to run? I would think that any damage anywhere would be a pretty strong cease-function of the unit (but of course, I'm not an engineer).

Sounds like its time to bake it in the oven. Samething happened to my 9800gt. Put it in the oven and all was well again.

Isn't baking just for reflowing bad solder joints?

I'm not seeing how my (likely) overclocking damage would have damaged/broken a solder joint?

Are the dots like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFSkFSBwcK8

Coldblackice said:

Isn't baking just for reflowing bad solder joints?

I'm not seeing how my (likely) overclocking damage would have damaged/broken a solder joint?

Click to expand...

When you overclock, you stress the card by heating it up more than usual, and as the card goes through cooling and heating cycles, solder joints can start to crack.

rUmX said:

Are the dots like this?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFSkFSBwcK8

Click to expand...

Size wise, I guess they are. But mine are more like dead-pixels -- bright red, and only a single pixel, scattered about. They also don't actively move and flash about as much as that video did, which looks like static.

Mine pretty much stay in place, until I move something around the screen, and then they'll shift into random new positions. But there really isn't ever "rolling" static of them.