Follow-Up Question - Video Card or AGP slot gone bad...

I previously posted some questions around replacing my video card.
The reason I am thinking about replacing it is that my computer has
started booting up showing vertical yellowish lines and random square
color distortions. Even the startup text now will show fuzzy
letters. I did some tests and it is not the cable or the monitor. I
put in an old PCI card and eveything is working fine for now, but the
card is old and does not even support the same resolution as before.

My question is whether there a way to tell whether the problems I am
seeing relate to the card itself or to the AGP slot? Are the problems
I am describing common in a card gone bad? Are their standard
symptoms of one or the other failing? I have found a replacement card
but I'd hate to be out $130 only to find that this is a motherboard
issue!

Thanks!

On Jul 20, 12:39 pm, Ryan <ryan.d.remb...@kp.org> wrote:
> I previously posted some questions around replacing my video card.
> The reason I am thinking about replacing it is that my computer has
> started booting up showing vertical yellowish lines and random square
> color distortions. Even the startup text now will show fuzzy
> letters. I did some tests and it is not the cable or the monitor. I
> put in an old PCI card and eveything is working fine for now, but the
> card is old and does not even support the same resolution as before.
>
> My question is whether there a way to tell whether the problems I am
> seeing relate to the card itself or to the AGP slot? Are the problems
> I am describing common in a card gone bad? Are their standard
> symptoms of one or the other failing? I have found a replacement card
> but I'd hate to be out $130 only to find that this is a motherboard
> issue!
>
> Thanks!

I once had a similar problem. Get this, I went to the local recycling
centre and rooted through some old towers and got some parts. One of
those parts was an old geforce mmx-2 agp card that was still working.
I have used that card to check a couple of agp slots .It is suprising
what you can find there in the electronic"s area and the price is
right...FREE! . I have even managed to put together an old AMD Sempron
that runs great. This is the machine that I test the used parts on. If
you have a depot near you check it out you never know. You could also
take your pc to the local and have them test the agp slot, they should
do it for free if you're about to shell out $130 for a new gpu. -J