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I Think My Video Card May Be Eff'd...
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: RaXoR
So this is what my desktop looks like right now:
http://www.shadeadreams.com/recon/desk.jpg
I am pretty sure now that it is the video card going bad. I first noticed it when I came back from Spring Break. I had left my computer off for about 10 days and when I came back to turn it on, I saw the message "CMOS reset to default" or something of the like. So I went back in a set the BIOS values back to what they should be and proceeded to start Windows. The boot screen was distorted much like the desktop, except there weren't any thick vertical lines, just a checkerboard pattern.
So I shut down the computer, opened it up and blew a lot of dust out. This actually worked.. for a time. The display went back to being perfectly normal for a few hours. Then randomly the distortion bars suddenly appeared again and I haven't been able to get rid of them since. I also notice that if I tilt the monitor-to-video-card connection behind the computer, the distortion bars "flicker" on the screen, changing color, pattern and what not, so it seems to be a problem with the actual connector on the card. Also I've noticed some areas are unaffected by the distortions: some areas of the start bar as seen in the screenshot, title bars of windows, etc., however the thick vertical bars permeate everything.
Any and all help would be appreciated.
~ rax
Posted by: TwiztidJuggalo
are you using integrated video or do you have a separate video card?
I had a similar problem once, but mine was worse, turned out the motherboard went bad.
-matt
Posted by: goranpaa
Hi!
There are 2 ways to find out what's gone bad.
1. Try the videocard in another pc. Rules out the videocard if it works?
2. Try another videocard in your pc. To see if the mobo is faulty?
Edit. Have you tried both connectors on the card?
Posted by: TwiztidJuggalo
hehe apparently i cannot read and thanks to Mr Goranpaa I realized you have a separate card, but yes try what he said if you can and hope its a bad vid card
-matt
Posted by: RaXoR
I would've tried the above except:
1. I don't have an extra computer to test the card in, and
2. I don't have an extra card to test in my computer.
I'm thinking about getting a new card at a retail store here and swapping it in to see if it works, and if not I'll just return it.
2 things seem to contradict each other though:
The "CMOS reset to default" message I saw suggests that it's the motherboard failing, but then why would tampering with the card-to-monitor connector in the back cause more distortion?
Posted by: goranpaa
O.k.
The only valid "CMOS reset to default" error message, as far as I can see. May be if something have happend to the graphics slot itself?
Othervice, that's a strange message if just the card is faulty.
Posted by: P0nix
CMOS reset to default is the error message you get when your motherboard battery "CMOS Battery" is dead. That would make sense after ten days on batt power (if the machine was unplugged). I would grab a replacement mobo batt just to make sure. It does sound like the card is faulty though.
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