PC Problems

RobRoy · 16 Dec 2011 at 08:02

Hi All,

I was wondering if someone would be able to help me.

Today (The day i get starwars early access) i switch my PC on and the screen was all corrupt as the AI motherboard screen was shown. Other booted screens were also corrupt.

When the PC boot into vista it blue screened and then switched back off. I managed to catch the error but it was quick. Something about attempting to reset a display driver.

I booted up the PC to my XP partition and again the corruptions where displayed. This time windows booted up (it seemed to take a long time but a watched pot never boils so i dont know if i was just being paranoid) but the screen again was all corrupted.

I'm assuming its a graphics problem but before i go buy a new gfx card i wanted to check to see if it could be anything else.

Thanks all for your help.

Cheers
Kev

RJC · 16 Dec 2011 at 08:06

What's the spec of the pc?

Usually artifatcs during the boot process and failing to load windows does seem to point to a faulty gpu, is there a possibility of testing another graphics card in the pc.

RobRoy · 16 Dec 2011 at 08:45

Here is the spec of my pc

Quad Core Q6600
Nividia GForce 9800GTX
4 GB RAM
Asus P5K Pro motherboard.

I suppose i could take the gfx card out of my girlfriends PC but i dont really want to mess up hers lol

Any recomendations for a replacement gfx card? around £80-100

Thanks for your quick reply

Narj · 16 Dec 2011 at 08:54

Has the fan on your gpu stopped working? Sounds like overheating gpu, possibly...

Nightglow · 16 Dec 2011 at 09:02

Fan might be working, but there could be still a build up of crud hiding under the shroud restricting air flow.

Just had a mate with same issue, I removed his 4870, it was blocked solid with hidden crud.

RobRoy · 16 Dec 2011 at 09:20

The fan is working fine but the pc was very dusty. How would I check for hidden crud?

Nightglow · 16 Dec 2011 at 09:27

The shroud is attached to the heatsink , so you will need to re-apply TIM to the GPU & thermal pads.

But, here is a guide http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=567851

Might be easier to get a can of compressed air & see if you can blow any thing out, if your not confident taking the card apart.

RobRoy · 16 Dec 2011 at 10:33

Thanks for your replies. I'll try the compressed air and if that doesn't work I guess its a new gfx card. Which would give best bang for my cash?

RJC · 16 Dec 2011 at 10:36

Possibly the gpu below:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-174-OK&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1866

RobRoy · 16 Dec 2011 at 13:52

Thanks for the suggestion. I've managed to borrow a gfx card of a guy at work so i'll try that out tonight and see if it is the problem.

I'll get that gfx card if all else fails but i'm guessing the rest of my system will be a bit of a bottleneck for it?