Hello.
Ive had a reoccurring problem recently, basically the issue is after about an hour or so of the PC being on (im not certain but it seems to come quicker when gaming). The screen starts to flicker, slowly at first but then it gets worse. After about 10-15 minutes of flickering there are performance issues. Games slow down, images burn on screen for a few seconds then carries on 3 seconds later in the game. At this point we usually turn the PC off and give it a 30-60 minute 'cool down' period. I feel, and im pretty sure most people will agree, is a heat issue.
I don't feel it is the monitor, since when the screen is flickering on the desktop, i can switch my monitor to 'warm up' mode and it doesn't flicker at all. So i figured it was more then likely a video card issue (i am running an nvidia 6600 turbo cache). My original guess is that since ive recently been playing games that require advanced post processing effect, maybe my graphics card cannot keep up with it and overheats?
So far this is what ive tried and been suggested to try, Ive opened up the case and dusted out all the fans so they're running a lot cleaner now, ive done a thorough virus scan (1 virus) ive run a spyware scanner (1 again), ive disk defragged, ive run a registry cleaner (200 invalid registry's).
Let me know what you think. Id like to know what the problem could be before i spend $120 on a new(er) graphics card (i was thinking along the lines of an Nvidia 7600 series).
Thank you for at least reading this far :)
FlashmanUK
(Note - i have also been advised it may be one of my memory sticks.)