PC Help... graphics card fault?

[Xanthic]

On Tuesday night I was streaming Top Gear off iPlayer on full screen when my PC crashed, distorting the image and the audio sounding like a scratched CD where it jumps and repeats itself.

I couldn't do anything like open Task Manager or anything so I resetted the computer by holding down the power button then left it for a minute but when I switched it back on, it booted up to the log in screen, loaded half the page and froze again.

I unplugged the power cable, left it a few minutes then retried but this time nothing happened. The power light came on, the wireless key (plugged into a USB port) lit up but nothing. No fan noise, beeps or any of the normal sounds you hear when your computer boots up. Just the lights. So again, unplugged it and left it until the next morning and still nothing.

So now I call upon the people of Rohan... erm, I mean Cagewarriors... does this sound like a graphics card fault? My PC is 2 years old from brand new and I know of PCs where if there are hardware faults, the PC stops running altogether to avoid any further faults.

If it was the hard drive, it would still boot up right? Then tell me that there is a hard drive error? There is power going through the motherboard and lighting up the power button and wireless key so it cant be that.

Specs *copied and pasted*:
Packard Bell iXtreme X8530 Q6600
Intel Core 2 Quad 2.40GHz
3GB RAM, 720GB
HDD 7200 SATA
15 in 1 Card Reader
Dual Layer DVD+-RW
NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600GS 512MB
LAN 10/100
Vista Home Premium

[ShaolinSubz02]

Hold F12 (or F9 - cant remember which)down on boot up and run in safe mode. This should bypass your graphics card for one that might be present on yourmother board. If this does not work (AndI doubt it will) It sounds like quite a severe problem.

Try to isolate the problem. Is it the graphics card? Is it the hard drive with the boot partition? Is it the mother board or CPU or other such shit?

If you are not getting into boot its not the graphics card is the some other shit option and you should probably go Moat.

[Fangface]

Take the graphics card out and try booting the PC - if the PC gives a beep then it is sensing that there isn't a graphics card connected at it is possible that is your fault lies with the graphics card. If you get no beep then it could be something else - try disconnecting memory sticks to see if it will boot.. Look at your manual (or on the internet) to find the beep codes for specific faults.

If the Hard disk if fried then you should still be able to boot - it just wouldn't let you load windows - the first screen (the BIOS screen) is governed by the board itself and doesn't need a Hard Disk.

The other thing to try is clearing the CMOS - basically clearing the BIOS memory - it is unlikely to be the BIOS unless you have played around with the BIOS settings in the past. Still worth trying though.

Try also disconnecting any usb stuff that isn't essential to make sure that you are not drawing too much power at boot - a flaky power supply has caused the issues you describe for me in the past.

Try the above and post back if it doesn't work and we can see from there.

[Fangface]

Hold F12 (or F9 - cant remember which)down on boot up and run in safe mode. This should bypass your graphics card for one that might be present on yourmother board. If this does not work (AndI doubt it will) It sounds like quite a severe problem.

Try to isolate the problem. Is it the graphics card? Is it the hard drive with the boot partition? Is it the mother board or CPU or other such shit?

If you are not getting into boot its not the graphics card is the some other shit option and you should probably go Moat.

If the machine isn't beeping at the start and getting to the BIOS screen then safe mode won't be accessible - it sounds like either a hardware fault that is getting detected before boot or the BIOS is messed up and needs reset.

[Xanthic]

Hold F12 (or F9 - cant remember which)down on boot up and run in safe mode. This should bypass your graphics card for one that might be present on yourmother board. If this does not work (AndI doubt it will) It sounds like quite a severe problem.

It wont boot at all... that's the problem. When you press the power button the turn the PC on, it doesnt ACTUALLY come on. The lights come on but the machine doesnt boot at all - no fan, no nothing. Just lights.

[ShaolinSubz02]

FangFace knows his shit, i am just a guessing geek wannabe :D.

[Leesin]

If the power supply was fucked I'm guessing you wouldn't even get lights, so it could be your mother board or cpu. Though I wouldn't rule out the power supply just on that basis, but if it was fucked I don't see power getting through for the lights if it can't for anything else, considering they are governed by the motherboard.

If it was your graphics card your PC would give certain beeps which you can find out the meaning from your motherboard manual. If it doesn't beep even without gfx card then you have a bigger problem lol.

But I haven't experienced or witnessed this myself so I'm not sure.

EDIT: I'm also surprised because your PC is only 2 years old!

[Xanthic]

Fangface... wow. I guess it goes to show not all people who hang around on 'cagefighting' forums have no brains.


I'm also surprised because your PC is only 2 years old!

I knowwwww. That's most annoying thing about it. I'm sure I had a virus on my computer because it always sounded like it was working at a high rate and according to my Task Manager it was too but everytime I ran a virus scan it came back with nothing.

[Fangface]

Fangface... wow. I guess it goes to show not all people who hang around on 'cagefighting' forums have no brains.



I knowwwww. That's most annoying thing about it. I'm sure I had a virus on my computer because it always sounded like it was working at a high rate and according to my Task Manager it was too but everytime I ran a virus scan it came back with nothing.

:D - I just happen to like building PC's and watching guys knock the f**k out of each other in a cage - I thought it was a normal to like both ;)

The only reason I know a bit is from 10 years of breaking PC's myself - it would have cost me a fortune to get others to sort so I am pretty much self taught - I have broken quite a lot of shit in the process too :cool:

[Fangface]

If the power supply was fucked I'm guessing you wouldn't even get lights, so it could be your mother board or cpu. Though I wouldn't rule out the power supply just on that basis, but if it was fucked I don't see power getting through for the lights if it can't for anything else, considering they are governed by the motherboard.

If it was your graphics card your PC would give certain beeps which you can find out the meaning from your motherboard manual. If it doesn't beep even without gfx card then you have a bigger problem lol.

But I haven't experienced or witnessed this myself so I'm not sure.

EDIT: I'm also surprised because your PC is only 2 years old!

Quite often the PC will lock if the graphics card has a short on it or other hardware issue and it will be unresponsive. Clearing the CMOS gets rid of all the old info (clock settings etc) but can sometimes save the PC if the BIOS has got corrupted during the crash (pretty rare if you haven't been playing with the settings beforehand admittedly).

Power supply failures are quite common and an utter bitch because you have to strip out the old supply and link up the new one to all the old equipment. Not too tough if you are used to the inside of a PC but a bit like changing the oil in a car if you have no idea about cars - a nightmare of a job.

[bean]

If your motherboard LED is lighting up it just means the +5vlt standby rail is working, nothing else, the PSU could well be fucked.

Try and get a spare one from a geeky mate, s/he probably has plenty lying around.

That would be my first port of call, then as Fangface suggested trying the memory sticks -> graphics card -> cmos etc. Replacing the CPU or motherboard is probably going to be tricky business without just taking/sending the PC back to Acer/Packard Bell.

[Fangface]

I knowwwww. That's most annoying thing about it. I'm sure I had a virus on my computer because it always sounded like it was working at a high rate and according to my Task Manager it was too but everytime I ran a virus scan it came back with nothing.

Try downloading and running Malwarebytes Anti-Malware - its free and catches a lot of stuff other checkers miss I use it in conjunctions with Ad-Aware and Avast Anti Virus - all free for home PCs and between the 3 do a great job.

http://fileforum.betanews.com/detail/Malwarebytes-AntiMalware/1186760019/1

http://download.cnet.com/Avast-Free-Antivirus/3000-2239_4-10019223.html?part=dl-85737&subj=dl&tag=button

http://www.lavasoft.com/products/ad_aware_free.php

[ShaolinSubz02]

^^ Thats what I use. Those and Hijackthis if odd things keep reoccuring after virus removals

[Xanthic]

Take the graphics card out and try booting the PC - if the PC gives a beep then it is sensing that there isn't a graphics card connected at it is possible that is your fault lies with the graphics card. If you get no beep then it could be something else - try disconnecting memory sticks to see if it will boot.. Look at your manual (or on the internet) to find the beep codes for specific faults.

Try the above and post back if it doesn't work and we can see from there.

OK so I removed the graphics card and you're right, it beeps and tries to boot. The only problem being is I can't find my user manual and cant find one online. There isn't one on their website either. But at least I've kind of isolated the problem. I dont have an onboard graphics card so cant check to see if there are any other problems.

PS... I have a small cooling fan attached to my graphics card and the amount of CRAP stuck to it was horrible. I had to (gently) scrape it all off. I usually go through the computer with an air duster once a month but somehow overlooked the graphics card...

[Fangface]

OK so I removed the graphics card and you're right, it beeps and tries to boot. The only problem being is I can't find my user manual and cant find one online. There isn't one on their website either. But at least I've kind of isolated the problem. I dont have an onboard graphics card so cant check to see if there are any other problems.

PS... I have a small cooling fan attached to my graphics card and the amount of CRAP stuck to it was horrible. I had to (gently) scrape it all off. I usually go through the computer with an air duster once a month but somehow overlooked the graphics card...

If you have a kind hearted mate then borrow their graphics card and try it. The drivers may well be wrong but the PC will at least boot into windows. If the fan has got clogged it may be that it has overheated to critical point and died - if it was just a heat issue then trying to start from cold after an hour shutdown would at least get a post. It *might* be that the fan has died and the card has shutdown as it senses no fan operation - unfortunately its more likely the card has dies.

If the card is dead and a mates one works then get a new one - leave PC World the f**k alone - overpriced to the extreme. Have a look on eBuyer, Aria or Overclockers UK. Aria in particular have a "superspecials" page where you can get good stuff at a knock down price.

However, if you are not knowledgeable on PC drivers buy from the same range - hopefully its either an ATI or Nvidia card at present - if you get a different manufacturer you need to delete the old drivers before loading the new ones on after a reboot. Its not rocket science but not exactly a piece of piss if you are not used to it.

Hope this helps.

[Wiegieboard]

If there's no beep, shit bricks.
Alternatively, assume that there is a fault with your power supply.

[ShaolinSubz02]

OK so I removed the graphics card and you're right, it beeps and tries to boot. The only problem being is I can't find my user manual and cant find one online. There isn't one on their website either. But at least I've kind of isolated the problem. I dont have an onboard graphics card so cant check to see if there are any other problems.

PS... I have a small cooling fan attached to my graphics card and the amount of CRAP stuck to it was horrible. I had to (gently) scrape it all off. I usually go through the computer with an air duster once a month but somehow overlooked the graphics card...

Again listen to FangFace, but, you clearly smoke too much weed whilst watching porn andplaying video games :D

[Xanthic]

If you have a kind hearted mate then borrow their graphics card and try it. The drivers may well be wrong but the PC will at least boot into windows. If the fan has got clogged it may be that it has overheated to critical point and died - if it was just a heat issue then trying to start from cold after an hour shutdown would at least get a post. It *might* be that the fan has died and the card has shutdown as it senses no fan operation - unfortunately its more likely the card has dies.

If the card is dead and a mates one works then get a new one - leave PC World the f**k alone - overpriced to the extreme. Have a look on eBuyer, Aria or Overclockers UK. Aria in particular have a "superspecials" page where you can get good stuff at a knock down price.

However, if you are not knowledgeable on PC drivers buy from the same range - hopefully its either an ATI or Nvidia card at present - if you get a different manufacturer you need to delete the old drivers before loading the new ones on after a reboot. Its not rocket science but not exactly a piece of piss if you are not used to it.

Hope this helps.

It's an NVidia graphics card. I know to buy off eBuyer, Overclockers and (my personal preference) Micro Direct.. I phoned PC World, where I bought it from, and they quoted me £230 for a replacement :mad:

I've looked around for the graphics card and it looks like it's an OEM card which means I cant buy it standalone so I'll be looking for a replacement card compatible with my PC.

Cheers for this guys... lots of help!


Again listen to FangFace, but, you clearly smoke too much weed whilst watching porn andplaying video games :D

If it wasnt for the fact that you said "playing video games", you'd pretty much have me there. I think I have a porn/weed addiction. Cannaporn addict. Cannapornadict?

I didnt buy the PC to game even though it's a gaming PC (I tried CoD but got slaughtered online by 12 year old American kids so gave up), I wanted a PC that didnt break and since I've never owned a brand new PC before and I had the money - I treated myself. I didnt want the hassle of buying separate components and building my own - I just wanted to go into a shop, buy it and leave hence why I went to RipOff World.

[Fangface]

It's an NVidia graphics card. I know to buy off eBuyer, Overclockers and (my personal preference) Micro Direct.. I phoned PC World, where I bought it from, and they quoted me £230 for a replacement :mad:

I've looked around for the graphics card and it looks like it's an OEM card which means I cant buy it standalone so I'll be looking for a replacement card compatible with my PC.

Cheers for this guys... lots of help!



£230!!!! It doesn't surprise me especially since they will have likely added £50 for their expert installation service :rolleyes:

The easiest approach will be to get another Nvidia card - you may not even have to muck about with the drivers. Nvidia uses a unified set of drivers for all their cards so the drivers at present on the PC will be able to run the new card in all likelyhood. It wouldn't do any harm to update the drivers once you get a new card as you can sometimes get more stability / performance from newer drivers.

If you are not that fussed at gaming then just get something like a Nvidia GT220 which should only set you back about £60 delivered but have enough power to show films etc and let you game a bit if you want to in the future.

The other option is to do a search on ebay for the model of card you have - quite often people strip down "broken" PC's and flog the parts on ebay after convicing the poor mug that they need a totally new machine just because the dvd drive has packed in. What is the info you have on the existing card? Let me know and I will try and have a look for you when I get a chance.

[Leesin]

Erm.. if your graphics card is "NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600GS 512MB" as it states in your first post, it's worth about £30 at most. What is the £200 extra for that they are trying to swindle you out of? lol

EDIT: Those cards only seem to come with package PCs like you obviously bought, you will be able to find websites that sell you that one piece for £30 or less. Tell PC world to go fuck themself. Seeing as your motherboard is still pretty recent, you could probably get a pretty decent card within 150-200 if you really wanted to spend that much.

[Fangface]

If it is a 8600GS that came with the computer then your nearest model to buy would be the 8400GS from Overclockers http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-235-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=1833

It is the same clock speed, has the same amount of RAM and has a HDMI output like your previous card. It's only £30 + postage so might be a cheap way of solving your problem. Don't bother spending £150 + unless you want to do some serious gaming - its like having a 200 bhp car and only driving from your house to your work at 30 mph all the time.

[Xanthic]

OK update from when I last posted...

I checked the receipt for my computer which I had to root and scavenge around for and saw that I was covered for PC Performance which I am currently paying for (£6.50 a month according to my bank statements... always check your statements) so I took the PC back into PC World, told them what was wrong, what I wanted etc. Lo and behold the 'engineer' called me this morning and left a voicemail to tell me a new graphics card had been installed but I would need to "recover Windows" then he put the phone down... no name, contact number, nothing. Just a vague message.

I called the store back after calling PC World 0844 number to get the number and was greeted by a smart arse who I will most definitely paying a visit to just to punch in the face.

I asked him WHY Windows needed to be recovered as the graphics card is plug and play and even if it wasn't, they'll be able to get the drivers for it. Long story short he said it HAD to be done and none of the data off the Hard Drive could be saved (bollocks). I challenged him on it - insisted it COULD be saved and that he was taking the easy way out by wiping the drive and reinstalling Windows.

After asking whether I was covered (I dont know what that has to do with anything) he then disappeared for a couple of minutes, came back and told me it the data COULD be saved but it would take 2 weeks because my PC would be sent somewhere else where the Hard Drive would be hooked up to a (and I quote) "special machine".

I was pretty pissed off at this point so told them to not do ANYTHING with it... leave it and I'd be in touch.

FUCK PC WORLD.

[Fangface]

OK update from when I last posted...

I checked the receipt for my computer which I had to root and scavenge around for and saw that I was covered for PC Performance which I am currently paying for (£6.50 a month according to my bank statements... always check your statements) so I took the PC back into PC World, told them what was wrong, what I wanted etc. Lo and behold the 'engineer' called me this morning and left a voicemail to tell me a new graphics card had been installed but I would need to "recover Windows" then he put the phone down... no name, contact number, nothing. Just a vague message.

I called the store back after calling PC World 0844 number to get the number and was greeted by a smart arse who I will most definitely paying a visit to just to punch in the face.

I asked him WHY Windows needed to be recovered as the graphics card is plug and play and even if it wasn't, they'll be able to get the drivers for it. Long story short he said it HAD to be done and none of the data off the Hard Drive could be saved (bollocks). I challenged him on it - insisted it COULD be saved and that he was taking the easy way out by wiping the drive and reinstalling Windows.

After asking whether I was covered (I dont know what that has to do with anything) he then disappeared for a couple of minutes, came back and told me it the data COULD be saved but it would take 2 weeks because my PC would be sent somewhere else where the Hard Drive would be hooked up to a (and I quote) "special machine".

I was pretty pissed off at this point so told them to not do ANYTHING with it... leave it and I'd be in touch.

FUCK PC WORLD.

What utter cunts :mad:

I suspect what they are going to do is just bang in any graphics card they have available and to ensure they have no driver conflicts go and erase the whole lot.

Personally I would ask them for the PC back and to give you the card that they were going to install and do it yourself. You sound like you have a good grasp on the basics and now realise the hardware side of things is a piece of piss. The only thing I would recomend you get is an anti-static wristband so that you don't fry any components when you are fiddling around inside the computer.

If you get the PC back and need any help with drivers etc then just give me a shout and I will talk you through it.

Once again, just for clarity, PC World are cunts!!!!!!

[Xanthic]

PC World are actually a fcking joke and try to patronise you at the same time.

I went into the store last night after work after I got fed up of speaking to that idiot I mentioned before who happens to be the Manager of the store.

I got in there and basically told them that Windows shouldnt need recovering etc and asked what had happened. The manager tried fobbing me off and tried telling me it was MY fault and that it had come in like that which is bollocks because before the graphics card went - I never had any problems.

I demanded to speak to the technician who told me that he truthfully thinks it's the mothercard and that the PC had been overheating (WTF?!?!). He advised the best thing to do was to send it off (which they had already booked in for Thursday) and get the PC reset to factory settings as well as replace the motherboard which could take 2 weeks.

I told him I didnt have 2 weeks, explained I work on my PC and 2 weeks wasn't good enough as well as "it isnt my fault and truthfully I think you bollocksed it up, I came in here to get a graphics card changed and now you're sending it off for 2 weeks to get everything wiped and a new motherboard".

I asked them to give me my hard drive back, Im going to take it to a friend's and copy all my stuff over... this is fucking bollocks.

[Xanthic]

OK so after much fcking around, I called Tech Guys today and found out my PC had been 'fixed' and delivered to the store 2 days ago... I got no phone call to tell me.

I called the store and asked them to tell me which parts they had replaced and what make and model the parts were.

They've replaced my graphics card, motherboard and hard drive.

Graphics card: NVidia GeForce 320 GT 1GB
Motherboard: Foxcom PT 80907 MD
Hard drive: Seagate 500GB

So for all the messing about, they've given me a newer graphics card and a bigger primary hard drive. Not worth it cos they probably did that cos they couldnt find the older one.

I'm supposed to be picking it up tonight. I wont hold my breath on whether it will work or not... it turns on apparantly which I suppose is a good thing...

:mad:

[Xanthic]

Reviving an old thread after more problems stemming from the original problem...

Since getting my PC back from Bastard World the sound properties were shit at best. Whatever they did in regards to the motherboard/on board sound card has made the PC only recognise my on board soundcard occasionally.

Since I have a laptop and only ever use the PC as a 'main' it never bothered me much until now...

I installed Windows 7 as I needed a much needed refresh on my machine. I thought this would give the motherboard a kick up the arse and recgnise my on board soundcard again which it didnt - again it only recognised it every now and again so I went out and bought a cheap PCI sound card - Creative ES1371, ES1373 - to see if that would work.

It did. For about a day. Now my PC recognises there's a soundcard on my machine but it doesnt actually play any sound. When you 'test' the speakers via the sound properties - the volume bar moves but no sound.

When I first installed it with all the drivers my PC was picking up my on board soundcard more often but occasionally they would both be picked up and neither would work so I disabled the on board one via BIOS but I get NO sound.

Help help help.

Watching porn is difficult without sound.

*note I said "difficult" not "impossible"

And yes the sound card shows up, fully installed under Device Manager.

Yes I have uninstalled and reinstalled it as well as tried all the ports, plugged the speakers in and even changed to a different PCI slot.

Nothing.

Zilch.

Nada.

NOTHING.

HELP

SOS.

PORN NEEDED.

[PhilYHC]

click Start > Run then type in "services.msc" (without the quotes) and hit enter.

scroll down the list and see if "windows audio" is started, if not right click it, click properties, set it to automatic and click start.

if you cant see then run button (Win7) right click the start bar, click properties, then customise and enable it.

[Xanthic]

click Start > Run then type in "services.msc" (without the quotes) and hit enter.

scroll down the list and see if "windows audio" is started, if not right click it, click properties, set it to automatic and click start.

if you cant see then run button (Win7) right click the start bar, click properties, then customise and enable it.

Forgot to mention that I did that too and it's there.

ARGH!

[PhilYHC]

can you not just remove it and use the onboard one?

failing that, remove sound card, uninstall drivers, replace sound card and reboot, then re-install?

[Xanthic]

can you not just remove it and use the onboard one?

failing that, remove sound card, uninstall drivers, replace sound card and reboot, then re-install?

As I said before, my PC/motherboard has trouble consistently recognising there's an on board soundcard. I wouldn't know whether I have sound until the PC fully boots up. I get on board sound about 2/10 times.

There's no issue with the soundcard I have bought - my PC just doesnt kick out any sound but it shows as working on the Device Manager and whatnot.

[Fredjones]

In my pc some problems accrued some videos not open properly whay probem in my pc please help me...

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