Is my video card bad?

[Medellon]

I have a GeForce4 4200 video card and I think it may be bad. All of a sudden while playing 3D games, the screen goes blank and my monitor appears to go into sleep mode with the monitor power light blinking. I tried rebooting my computer but now I get no picture at all, not even the bios post message. My monitor says that it is good and to check the video cables or computer because it is not getting a video signal. I replaced this card with an old Geforce 256 and the computer boots normally now and I get a normal picture. Is my new video card bad and how can I test it? Thanks.

 

[scottrico]

If you replaced the video card and it booted fine then place the gf4 back in your box and it had same problem,

Then yes the card is dead!

sorry

 

[Insidious]

since it works for a bit, then fails, that sounds heat related.

Chips/boards failing when heated is very frequently a first step towards total failure
with continued use.

You might try lifting the cooler on the Gi4200 and re-apply thermal compound and also
make sure the fan is functioning properly (does it spin when the board is installed)

Some lower quality video card vendors use a thermal pad which tends to "crystalize" if it
gets too hot once and then the heat transfer path is broken and the GPU overheats
very easily from that point on.

If as above, the card doesn't work on the re-install, or only works for a short time, it is probably
damaged.

-Sid

 

[Kuroyama]

Try resetting your BIOS and see if this helps. I've found that when something stops functioning then resetting the BIOS often solves the problem temporarily.

Also, if you have a VIA chipset then make sure you have the latest AGP driver installed. I had the same problem when I had an GeForce3Ti200, but once I installed a newer VIA AGP driver then everything started functioning properly. I don't think this makes sense, but for some reason the 4in1 didn't solve the problem, but the AGP driver (which is supposed to be in the 4in1) fixed things.

Anyways, sounds like the VidCard is dead. Mine died when the fan failed. Unfortunately it was a replacement cooler I had installed so the warranty was voided.