No display

Myrddin

Hi folks

I've an old gaming rig that developed a problem a while back. Basically, while copying files from a usb stick to the hdd, the graphics/display became garbled & the machine locked up. Upon restart, there was no display...no bios, no windows screen, nothing whatsoever on screen.. The machine still runs, I can hear the hdd loading away etc..I just can't see anything.

Is this likely the psu or the gfx card? The gfx card is an old Geforce 8800GTX, which needs the two psu connections

mordeith

EnterNow wrote: »

Hi folks

I've an old gaming rig that developed a problem a while back. Basically, while copying files from a usb stick to the hdd, the graphics/display became garbled & the machine locked up. Upon restart, there was no display...no bios, no windows screen, nothing whatsoever on screen.. The machine still runs, I can hear the hdd loading away etc..I just can't see anything.

Is this likely the psu or the gfx card? The gfx card is an old Geforce 8800GTX, which needs the two psu connections

Has the MB integrated graphics? If so you could remove the card and see if you get anything on reboot (assuming the integrated graphics would kick in with the abscence of the GeForce)

Myrddin

mordeith wrote: »

Has the MB integrated graphics? If so you could remove the card and see if you get anything on reboot (assuming the integrated graphics would kick in with the abscence of the GeForce)

No unfortunately not. I havn't got another psu with those extra gpu power connectors. And if I put in a spare, weaker, gpu, it won't test/tax the psu so I'm not really sure how to fault find without having like for like parts

mordeith

EnterNow wrote: »

No unfortunately not. I havn't got another psu with those extra gpu power connectors. And if I put in a spare, weaker, gpu, it won't test/tax the psu so I'm not really sure how to fault find without having like for like parts

You're talking about that little square shaped black connector right? Would seem stange that just something like that would go. You could alwyas try swapping the molex connector that's currently in the GeForce and putting it into the HD to see if it's still sending power through that. At least that would rule out one of the power connectors. Also (and I'm not being a dick here) I assume the monitor itself is okay?

yoyo

Those 8800 video cards all fail at some point, sounds very much like the video card has died and that's why your not getting anything displayed. Oddly though graphics corruption is usually what happens in this instance. If your spare GPU sorts the issue I would point the blame at the Nvidia card, for the simple reason this series are known for having a very high failure rate

Nick

Myrddin

yoyo wrote: »

Those 8800 video cards all fail at some point, sounds very much like the video card has died and that's why your not getting anything displayed. Oddly though graphics corruption is usually what happens in this instance. If your spare GPU sorts the issue I would point the blame at the Nvidia card, for the simple reason this series are known for having a very high failure rate

Nick

Well I did get graphical corruption just before it failed, so maybe thats it? If I put a spare GPU in its place, but a less powerful more basic one & it worked, that'd rule out the psu?

Cheers folks

yoyo

EnterNow wrote: »

Well I did get graphical corruption just before it failed, so maybe thats it? If I put a spare GPU in its place, but a less powerful more basic one & it worked, that'd rule out the psu?

Cheers folks

I would say GPU, 95% certain it is. Google Nvidia 8 series failure and you'll see that this is quite common with those cards. It's to do with the lead free solder they used on the GPU overheating, cracking so the connection between the chip and board is not complete, hence the failure, like the Xbox 360 RROD/PS3 YLOD etc.

Nick

Myrddin

yoyo wrote: »

I would say GPU, 95% certain it is. Google Nvidia 8 series failure and you'll see that this is quite common with those cards. It's to do with the lead free solder they used on the GPU overheating, cracking so the connection between the chip and board is not complete, hence the failure, like the Xbox 360 RROD/PS3 YLOD etc.

Nick

Ah, the Geforce version of the RROD/YLOD so Cool, at least I've some direction on it now. Just to evolve the thread somewhat, what would be considered a good bang-for-buck replacement?

The pc from memory, is running a Core2Quad 2.4Ghz, 4GB ram, & was built around 6 years ago. I don't wanna stick in something that'll bottleneck the system, just something that might bring it up to date for stuff like GTA4 etc?

Drexel

yoyo wrote: »

I would say GPU, 95% certain it is. Google Nvidia 8 series failure and you'll see that this is quite common with those cards. It's to do with the lead free solder they used on the GPU overheating, cracking so the connection between the chip and board is not complete, hence the failure, like the Xbox 360 RROD/PS3 YLOD etc.

Nick

i had two 8 cards fail on me. Id say its def the card.

I put one in the oven for a few minutes and it came back to life but only for a few weeks. Its supposed to remelt the solder and fix the cracks. Google it.

Myrddin

jonny666 wrote: »

i had two 8 cards fail on me. Id say its def the card.

I put one in the oven for a few minutes and it came back to life but only for a few weeks. Its supposed to remelt the solder and fix the cracks. Google it.

Cheers, yeah i've seen it touted as 'fixing' consoles too, it acts as an uncontrolled reflow. Usually does more damage than anything else, as it warps the mainboard making an actual reflow/reball impossible. Anyway, it would confirm the diagnosis, but you guys seem pretty sure its the card

Drexel

EnterNow wrote: »

Cheers, yeah i've seen it touted as 'fixing' consoles too, it acts as an uncontrolled reflow. Usually does more damage than anything else, as it warps the mainboard making an actual reflow/reball impossible. Anyway, it would confirm the diagnosis, but you guys seem pretty sure its the card

TBH its prob not worth doing. It only worked for maybe two weeks and broke again. Plus my kitchen stank for ages!:D

runawaybishop

EnterNow wrote: »

Hi folks

I've an old gaming rig that developed a problem a while back. Basically, while copying files from a usb stick to the hdd, the graphics/display became garbled & the machine locked up. Upon restart, there was no display...no bios, no windows screen, nothing whatsoever on screen.. The machine still runs, I can hear the hdd loading away etc..I just can't see anything.

Is this likely the psu or the gfx card? The gfx card is an old Geforce 8800GTX, which needs the two psu connections

I had the same issue with my 8800 - gfx corruption and then a dead card.

yoyo

Another victim of an 8800GTS card failing here . Think I paid nearly €300 for it as well back then, . Hardware prices have come down enormously since then thankfully...

Nick

Myrddin

I bought this card on release, fairly sure it was up around €600. Those days are gone