Baffling graphics card problem

Daugher says her computer isn't working, LCD monitor displays nothing
not even during boot-up. I open up the box and notice that the fan on
the Nvidia 5900XT isn't running. So I suspect the graphics card. Take
the card and put it in another computer...it works fine. Put it back
in the original computer...nothing. So I change the PSU. Computer
fires up perfectly, close the box and give the computer back to my
daughter. She plugs it in and says it still isn't working. I open it
up, power it up and the same fault...the fan on the graphics card
isn't turning.

The LCD monitor I was using to test and get it working was not the
same as my daughter was using. My first thought was that her monitor
had blown the PSUs, since I had to change the PSU to get it working
again and the fault reappeared after plugging in her monitor. I check
all the voltages on the ATX connector, they are all correct. So on
the face of it the PSU is OK.

At this point I'm baffled. Id appreciate any ideas from you good folks
out there.

Look for the simple things first. Check to see if the reset
button on your daughters PC is stuck. If she pushed it
for some reason, and it jambed, you will see nothing.

Sounds intermittant on her machine. No fan on graphics
card sound like dust. Maybe a lot of dust. I use a leaf
blower to clean PCs of that. Some PCs won't boot if
the cpu fan is not turning ... again dust.

And maybe a stuck fan motor could pull the Psupply
down so it won't start ... again dust. Just moving it
around the house could briefly fix dust jambing ??

johns

On Thu, 16 Aug 2007 22:13:44 +0100, Steve Pearce thoughfully wrote:

> Daugher says her computer isn't working, LCD monitor displays nothing
> not even during boot-up. I open up the box and notice that the fan on
> the Nvidia 5900XT isn't running. So I suspect the graphics card. Take
> the card and put it in another computer...it works fine. Put it back in
> the original computer...nothing. So I change the PSU. Computer fires up
> perfectly, close the box and give the computer back to my daughter. She
> plugs it in and says it still isn't working. I open it up, power it up
> and the same fault...the fan on the graphics card isn't turning.
>
> The LCD monitor I was using to test and get it working was not the same
> as my daughter was using. My first thought was that her monitor had
> blown the PSUs, since I had to change the PSU to get it working again
> and the fault reappeared after plugging in her monitor. I check all the
> voltages on the ATX connector, they are all correct. So on the face of
> it the PSU is OK.
>
> At this point I'm baffled. Id appreciate any ideas from you good folks
> out there.

Maybe you should check your daughter's connections and atmosphere. If
her PC and monitor work in your home then it's her home where there's a
problem.

Sometime when a graphics card is dying it will work/not work until it
goes, try another graphics card in her pc to verify the psu still works.

Make sure her memory is still good sometimes memory problems look like
graphics problems.

Steve Pearce wrote:
> Daugher says her computer isn't working, LCD monitor displays nothing
> not even during boot-up. I open up the box and notice that the fan on
> the Nvidia 5900XT isn't running. So I suspect the graphics card. Take
> the card and put it in another computer...it works fine. Put it back
> in the original computer...nothing. So I change the PSU. Computer
> fires up perfectly, close the box and give the computer back to my
> daughter.
> At this point I'm baffled. Id appreciate any ideas from you good folks
> out there.

Most likely is a fault on one of the supply voltages to the graphics card.

--
Conor

The surprise isn't how often we make bad choices; the surprise is how
seldom they defeat us.