PROBLEM - Apparent dead GFX but syptoms unusual

GraemePaul · 13 Apr 2006 at 21:35

My PC had a bit of a hiccup today. I was playing planetside when my PC became unresponsive and then froze. I pressed reset and upon restart the machine posted but was making a clicking sound. Windows then entered the HDD diagnostic where it checks for bad sectors but skipped through the diagnostic without completing it and went into my desktop. The machine then made a beep beep beep sound countinously but the clicking had gone.

Now my first thought was that the HDD was dying (it was only 3 years old but had had a lot of use) so I went and brought a new one. upon replacing the HDD and turning the machine on for the first time it now made a single continous beep and according to the MSI diagnostic panel I had a problem with my processor. So I checked the processor and reseated it, same problem. I tested the memory in my brothers machine and that worked fine. I then checked the Graphics card and got the same problem. So bottom line my graphics card is borked.

Problem is the original error does not look like it was the graphics card as I had no graphical errors or artifacts (I had a 9800XT burn out on me so I know what a dying Graphics card can look like).

Also I dont think I can Return my 6800GT as I had replaced the heat sink with an Artic Cooler and so would have voided the warranty.

I am going to keep an eye on it for the time being but I need a replacement graphics card. I dont want to spend a huge amount as I am going away in 8 weeks to Thailand and will be there till next year. I do need a card that is capable of running planetside with some eyecandy. A 6600GT would be nice but I do not want to spend more than £100.

My intention when I return is to have some money left over and get a nice Conroe based system but I think I will be buying a complete system instead of building it so I have a warrenty to fall back on if it goes wrong.

for those of you trying to troubleshoot this my system is:

Motherboard: MSI K7N2 Delta ILSR NForce 2 Chipset
Processor: AMD Athlon 3200XP Barton Core
Graphics: MSI 9800GT 256DDR2 with a replacement Artic Cooler (now Dead)
Memory: Corsair PC3200 Low Latency Matched Pair 512MB (total 1GB)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.7 80GB Serial ATA HDD
PSU: Zalmans 400W Quiet PSU

My system is Windows XP home with SP2 and all patches.

Just as a quick edit I am using a back up GeForce FX GFX atm and the PC is running fine once more.

Indy500 · 13 Apr 2006 at 22:24

Didnt you keep the stock MSI cooler?

GraemePaul · 13 Apr 2006 at 22:32

I did but the sticker that goes over the top has been slightly torn in the area's where I had to expose the screw heads. I can replace it but it is obvious I have tampered with it (I did try and be careful for this purpose). Also I will have to get some normal thermal compound like they used as I replaced the compound with artic silver.

Scythe · 13 Apr 2006 at 22:35

TBH with all the things going wrong at once, it points to the mobo.

Indy500 · 13 Apr 2006 at 22:41

Scythe said:
TBH with all the things going wrong at once, it points to the mobo.

Could be, I had a slightly different version of the above board fail on me recently for no apparent reason. Cooked my CPU too.

kinggost · 13 Apr 2006 at 23:05

ive had the same problem with my dfi bord but it turned out 2 of my dimm slots broke :confused:

GraemePaul · 13 Apr 2006 at 23:22

Ive had the machine now for about 2 1/2 years. It was my first self build (my other PC was a 1.7Gig 1st gen P4 dell with the expensive RAMBUS memory, still going strong for my Mum!). The Graphics card was replaced about 7 months ago from a 9800XT which burnt out on me.

There is a shop where I live that had some K7N2 boards left. I might see if I can bag one for a bargain and try again. The Machine only has to last till June and then my brother is going to strip it for parts. When I come back Windows Vista and Conroe should be out and settled in so they were going to be the basis for my next system. However I think I may purchase a pre built system as I dont know if I really want the hassle of building and then fixing the bugs.

Indy500 · 13 Apr 2006 at 23:25

GraemePaul said:
However I think I may purchase a pre built system as I dont know if I really want the hassle of building and then fixing the bugs.

What bugs? If you want to spend more money for a poorer system, up to you, but the vast majority of parts dont ship with bugs...

GraemePaul · 14 Apr 2006 at 01:14

You misunderstand me. What I mean is ironing out compatibility problems. e.g. when I first built my system I brought Kingston memory which the motherboard did not like. As a result it would BSOD every few days. All was ok after I checked what memory my mb worked with and I got my corsair.

Or getting the cooling wrong and resulting in a system that has a tendency to overheat which is another problem I had, The fans were 80mm 2500rpm types and did not push enough air to cool the components (I think this was the reason my Radeon died)

Generally with a pre-built system all the testing has been done for you so all you need to do is switch it on and use it. Also if a component fails you can get it repaired under the warrenty for no extra cost.

Dont get me wrong, I have enjoyed this PC. Building it was a good learning experience and taught me a lot about how to fix simple problems which to be honest 90% of home users dont. OCUK have some nice pre built systems on their site. It will be interesting to see what is being offered when I buy in 12 months time.

Indy500 · 14 Apr 2006 at 01:28

GraemePaul said:
You misunderstand me. What I mean is ironing out compatibility problems. e.g. when I first built my system I brought Kingston memory which the motherboard did not like. As a result it would BSOD every few days. All was ok after I checked what memory my mb worked with and I got my corsair.

Kingston Value doesnt work with many Athlon 64 boards. Something I learned on another forum some months back.

GraemePaul said:
Or getting the cooling wrong and resulting in a system that has a tendency to overheat which is another problem I had, The fans were 80mm 2500rpm types and did not push enough air to cool the components (I think this was the reason my Radeon died)

All you need to do there is consider your choice of case, keep an eye on temperatures if you're running the system under heavy load - if theyre too high, invest in better cooling. I've found the Antec SLK3000B with 2 120mm fans works well. Was that Radeon an X800Pro\XT by any chance?

GraemePaul said:
Generally with a pre-built system all the testing has been done for you so all you need to do is switch it on and use it. Also if a component fails you can get it repaired under the warrenty for no extra cost.

The OEM 12 month warranty isnt long compared with the 3 years on most parts you can buy individually. You'd actually get a better warranty service as in most cases it'd be direct RMA to the manufacturer as opposed to the OEM.

GraemePaul said:
Dont get me wrong, I have enjoyed this PC. Building it was a good learning experience and taught me a lot about how to fix simple problems which to be honest 90% of home users dont.

Its that which allows companies to take advantage and charge high rates for simple software fixes.

GraemePaul · 14 Apr 2006 at 19:51

My old 9800XT was a Connect3D board. Turned on the PC one day and got loads of funny colours, lines, patches of screen with a crosshatch effect. I went out and brought a 6800GT to replace that and now the Nvidia card has died on me too.

I am quite lucky, picked up a second hand X800XT PE from a friend who had upgraded to a SLI rig. I have been looking on the net and it appears to be a very good card, similar performace to the 6800 so it will be good enough for the games I am playing.

Your point on the Kingston memory is a little off the mark as my machine is an Athlon XP system running on a Nforce 2 chipset. Very good system but as I have since learnt I should read the Motherboard documentation for what memory works with it.

Indy500 · 14 Apr 2006 at 19:54

GraemePaul said:
My old 9800XT was a Connect3D board. Turned on the PC one day and got loads of funny colours, lines, patches of screen with a crosshatch effect. I went out and brought a 6800GT to replace that and now the Nvidia card has died on me too.

I am quite lucky, picked up a second hand X800XT PE from a friend who had upgraded to a SLI rig. I have been looking on the net and it appears to be a very good card, similar performace to the 6800 so it will be good enough for the games I am playing.

Well the XTPE is generally the same performance as a 6800 Ultra.

GraemePaul said:
Your point on the Kingston memory is a little off the mark as my machine is an Athlon XP system running on a Nforce 2 chipset. Very good system but as I have since learnt I should read the Motherboard documentation for what memory works with it.

I said Athlon 64. Not XP.

turbotoaster · 14 Apr 2006 at 22:49

you say you put the card in another pc and got the same errors, try putting his card in your machine for a few hours and see if ya get any problems, if ya dont then you will know its definately not the board

GraemePaul · 15 Apr 2006 at 17:15

All seems to be fine now. The X800 XT PE is an awesome card. It appears to run cooler than my old 6800GT. Dont know how it will perform in shader 3 games like Obilvion. Guess I'll give it a go after work tonight.