Member Avatar for mjoe

For background, my computer first refused to start and the RAM had to be removed and put back in. http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread340069.html

The problem, now is that the video fades. At first, when working on getting it running last Thursday it faded in and out.

I went away for the weekend and finally started it from a cold start and it started just fine. Clear picture. Completely normal... Then halfway in to Windows loading it faded back to black.

After a forced shutdown and a restart, the screen came back on but this time it was fuzzy again. There is green fuzz all over the screen and reminds a bit of the the green numbers that run across the screen on the Matrix, but it is fuzz.

Is this a heat issue? All 3 fans turn on, (CPU, main fan, and power). Could it be a power supply issue? Dead motherboard?

Any help would be great, thanks.

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by barryt
Member Avatar for barryt

test your video cable with a know good one
also test your monitor with a known good one
test your power supply with a known good one
hope it helps

Member Avatar for jak0b

It might be heat related, but it might be connection related as well.

first do as barryt suggest.
Maybe try the other gfx connector if possible.

Then you can check if the gfx is over-heating with GPU-Z (download at the bottom of the page)
If you can get far enough with the boot, of cause.

If this is not possible, I think you should try with a dedicated gfx-card.

Member Avatar for mjoe

It is not the monitor. It is not the cable.

Is there a way to test the PSU without having another known working one on hand? I don't really have a bunch of spare parts sitting around.

I have thought that if it is heat related, would opening the case and blowing a larger fan onto the components work as a way of testing it?

Finally, let's say that it is the onboard gfx that is failed/failing... would a dedicated graphics card actually fix things or is that delaying the inevitable? To put it another way, if one part of the motherboard is bad then is it worth putting money into a new video card when the board could just continue to die on me? Or should I start by putting money into a new board, first?

Member Avatar for jak0b

If it is heat related - opening the case might give you more time to test it, before it goes black and fuzzy.

Also, gpu's usually generate a lot of heat, and if it is integrated in the chip set, along with improper cooling, it is possible to wear down your chip set a little faster.

If you installed a cheap dedicated gfx-card, and disabled the integrated one in the bios, you might be able to postpone the motherboard upgrade for a few years (if you want), but I can't give you a guarantee on that of cause. :)

Member Avatar for barryt

it is ALWAYS a good idea for any teccie to have a working extra powersupply, i would buy one and use that to test the system and if it is that you have it and if it is not that you will have that spare that you WILL need laters anyway :)

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