Does my gfx card need replacing ?

MannyFagnet

Hello, I've been having crashes on my system for over a year now and lately I think I've narrowed the problem down to my gfx card.

My gfx card is a Club 3d HD4870 Overclocked 1024MB.

Pc Specs :

RAM - 4096MB-KIT Corsair XMS2 PC8500,CL5
PSU - Corsair TX650W 650 Watt
Mobo - Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P, Intel P45, ATX, DDR2
CPU - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600
OS - Windows 7 64bit Home Premium

So the problem is I am frequently getting system crashes where the screen will freeze, display multi-coloured artifacts (mostly shaped as squares) in a mosaic-like pattern, often give a loud constant buzzing noise, followed by a pc restart after around 10 seconds.

A BSOD is usually displayed upon restart giving a message that the display driver atikmpag.sys crashed.
Lately I've discovered that if I control alt delete just when the artifacts appear I can avoid the system restart.
However, when I do that it will usually continue to cause trouble until the pc restarts.

When the screen freezes I can usually move only the mouse for around 2 seconds before the whole screen locks, turns black, then restarts.

The system usually crashes whilst running demanding programmes such as games and oftentimes youtube or any videos.

I have had the crash whilst playing BF3, counter strike, dirt 3, arma 2 etc.... I could solve the Dirt 3 and arma 2 crashes by putting the graphics settings on lowest which indicates that its the higher stress processes that cause the crashes. I was once capable of playing Arma2 on medium to high graphics without ever having crashes so I think my gfx card is slowly failing.

I have completely uninstalled and reinstalled display drivers using the recommended techniques (driver sweeper etc..) countless times.

I have researched the atikmpag.sys error aswell as other errors I thought may be connected to this issue for over a year now with no success in fixing this problem.

I bought this custom build pc from hardwareversand in november 2008 and it has'nt had many problems with it since then other than this. So whilst im considering getting a refund for the card, I think it may be over its warranty deadline. Still have to confirm.

So, do you think my graphics card is failing and any solutions ?

Thanks.

http://i42.tinypic.com/207asn9.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/2pzi2qt.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/30vznr5.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/9horvr.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/30l32qa.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/qzhc34.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/2i1fvnk.jpg
http://i43.tinypic.com/novcqv.jpg

Also heres a link to symtoms of a failing gfx card which seem to be similar to mine:
http://www.ehow.com/about_5410687_signs-dying-graphics-card.html