Video Card Problems Galore!

[alex1122]

Well, it all started when I had my trusty Evga GeForce Ti 4200 8X in my pc for about a year. Then one day I saw that my pc was very dusty and I pulled it apart to give it a good clean. All I took out was the PCI cards and the video card. After blowing all the dust out I put it back together and hooked it up, but I didn't have time to turn it on cause I had to leave for school. The next weekend I came home and turned on my pc and there was no video output whatsoever. I tried everything and realized it was dead, so I RMA'd it to Evga for a new FX 5700. I get the new card a couple days ago, put it in, and it worked. The next day, I came home from work, and turned on my pc. It booted to windows, and as soon as I started browsing the web, all these blocks started appearing on the the screen until it filled and the screen went blank. It never output any video again. So I was fed up, and I went to my local Circuit City and got a new built by ATI 9600XT for $150 after rebates. I brought it home,and installed it. It worked fine, I was really impressed at the 2d quality since I have an lcd monitor with dvi, and at the 3d performance. But....it too had a problem. From time to time, it would flicker red horizontal lines across the screen both in 2d and 3d. Then some other times, in games, it would change resolution to a blank screen, and nothing would bring the video back. So today, I brought it back, and got another of the same, and installed it. IT HAS THE SAME EXACT ISSUES! So this is where I am now. I don't think it can be my pc that at fault, since I tried an old Asus TNT2 ultra card and it works perfectly. I was actually using this card without a hitch for a couple weeks while waiting for the replacement from Evga. I have an older pc that I will try the Radeon in to see if its my pc. I will also take the card thats in the old pc, which is a GeForce 2 MX and try it in my pc for awhile. I will post the results of this later. Thanks in advance for any insight into this problem. Sorry about the long post.

 

[memories2002]

wow.
someone help him!

 

[Peter]

Well after three video cards you should have figured out that these are not the culprit. Power supply and cooling issues make gfx cards fail and eventually die.

 

[MichaelZ]

3 deaths already? sheeesh

 

[Keysplayr]

Either its the mobo or your PSU. When you cleaned it, did you make sure you didn't blow all of the dust into the AGP slot?

 

[Schadenfroh]

nothing wrong with the v/c its your mobo most likely

 

[Tab]

Originally posted by: Schadenfroh
nothing wrong with the v/c its your mobo most likely

Or maybe his moniter? Or both?

 

[rogue1979]

Sounds like your power supply is going out. Low power video card works OK, put in something that sucks up alot of juice and it quits working.

 

[Avalon]

Mobo or PSU...leaning towards mobo. Get a second computer to test this on.

 

[Pete]

Originally posted by: keysplayr2003
Either its the mobo or your PSU. When you cleaned it, did you make sure you didn't blow all of the dust into the AGP slot?

This was my first thought, too. I'd take apart your PC, turn your MB upside-down (AGP slot facing down), blow some compressed air into there, and leave it upside-down for a few mins to avoid any other dust settling on the contacts. Then make sure your video card's contacts are clean (compressed air), and plug it into the AGP slot as soon as you reinstall the MB into your case.

I don't know, is it OK to clean the video card contacts with a q-tip and some rubbing alcohol?

For all the money you spent on new video cards, you should have just bought a new motherboard or (less likely to be the culprit) monitor. It sounds like the real problem lies outside of your video card, given that you've had three go bad in short order after you decided to clean your MB.

In the future, I'd leave everything plugged in when you clean your case, to avoid getting dust into the slots. Just put your case on your table and use a can of compressed air and the plastic "straw" extension to reach into the nooks and crannies. Don't forget to blow clean the CPU HSF, too.

BTW, that 4200 -> 5700 replacement was a great upgrade. Props to PNY for not saddling you with a 5600.

 

[Gagabiji]

I was reading this and thinking MOBO, and then I saw OTHER people were thinking the same thing, YEAH! I actually know something about computers! BTW, good luck on fixing your computer!

 

[Insomniak]

I blame ATi's drivers and Nvidia's brilinear filtering.

 

[alex1122]

Ok, I cleaned out the agp slot thoroughly but I'm using the TNT2 again cause I returned the 9600XT for a refund. The TNT2 is working perfectly as it was before. See, the thing is, I can see the two Evga ones dying. The 4200 died after a year and the 5700 was pretty much DOA which could be just my luck. But, the two ATI cards both had the same problem. They didn't die but they were having display issues. I think this may have been some kind of strange compatibility issue I was facing, or something to do with my inexperience with ATI cards as it was my first. Anyways, I am now out the shipping I paid to replace the 4200, and a video card. What I will do now is wait for my friend to come home from school for the summer and try his Evga 5200 Ultra in my pc. If it works fine for awhile and I have no issues, then I will probably just RMA the 5700 and call it a day. If I have problems with his card also, I will then consider the mobo and possibly my power supply. My friend's pc is almost identical to mine, except for the power supply, mobo, and vid card.

 

[VIAN]

I think it might be your AGP slot. The TNT is 2x/4x, but all the others are 4x/8x. So, that's a thought. Try, if you still have one of the video cards that didn't work, try lower the AGP settings to see if that might be the problem. I don't think it's the PSU though, because the 4200-8X uses less power and it died compared to the ATI cards.