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 .

[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.

- 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

[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.