Video card problems

[Dwayne]

I have an Athlon XP 2000 motherboard (2.0) w/383 ddram and a very old nivida card. I recently bought a Gforce 3 with 64mb. I took the card and tower to a reputable pc repair shop in town and he called me back a day later to tell me the card was no good and that I should take it back. So I made the trip back to BestBuys and told them the story. I went in the back with 2 techs and they plugged it in 3 different test rigs and they all played great with great graphics. Hell I'm not against pulling my old car and putting the new one in right here. I have found updated drivers from Nivida.Does anybody have a suggestion or hints that I should be aware of before doing this........my OS is 98SE Thanks for the help.Dwayne

 

[jastrckl]

what happens when you personally try your new card in your machine? it sounds like the 'reputable' shop is trying to pull some sort of mickey thing, on first impressions.

 

[Dwayne]

let me give you the full rundown.......about 2 months ago my pc started acting up while playin' GTA3. then all of a sudden the screen went black and I couldn't do anything. I took it to this shop and explained the problem. A few days later, he calls to tell me the motherboard has burned up (pent.3......1.3) and wants to know what I want to do about it. I decide to upgrade the motherboard to the Athlon XP 2000 at his suggestion and I went out and bought the Gforce 3 card along with an additional 256 m ram.................now he tells me the card is no good so he puts in a SiS video card that he says will not play games but will get me going untill I do something with this new card. I get the feeling that I should have "greased up" before I went in there......

 

[jastrckl]

yup sounds like the new combo is fine. get the parts back and see how it goes. second opinion time.

 

[wiked87gn]

black screen hmmmm.

if your screen goes black it usually means overheating CPU or bad monitor, it has nothing to do with your card, but i might be wrong card problems usually make the display on the monitor jumpy or the colors start to fade, anyway good luck, i have an NVIDIA 64 megs DDR with all the brand new driver updates for the CHIP and never had any problems.. great cards.

 

[Dwayne]

can I go in and unistall the SiS program then remove the card and put my new card in and install the new software and the updated drivers without fear of burning something up?

 

[jastrckl]

if it smokes or smells funny, unplug it

 

[SinistrV6]

Is the screen black but game running in background? Can you hear the sound of the game but no pic?

 

[lp2]

Changing a video card is pretty easy, there are tons of sites online about how to do it, but this is what I would do if I was going to change mine this very second.

1) Uninstall the old video card drivers
2) Uninstall the video card in the hardware panel in windows
3) Turn off the computer
4) Unplug all the cables
5) Take the side of the case off, ground yourself
6) Unscrew the old video card, gently pull it out from the corners. If it's really stuck in there, sometimes applying a bit more force on the outside of the case where you connect the monitor to the card helps
7) Grab the new card, gently put it in the agp slot. If your really nervous about this part, maybe read your motherboard manual for extra little tips. You have to get seated well, but don't push too hard.
8) Screw it back in, make sure the video card fan has power (usually on the video card itself I think, not positive)
9) Put the case back together, plug everything in. Power it up. If it makes "normal" beeping noises and you see graphics, your golden.

If it makes unusual beeping noises, like 3 short beeps but doesn't boot and you don't see anything, the card could be shot or it could be seated poorly, so try to reseat it.

Find a local geek and get some help if you need it, I would definitely get a second opinion about the card.

 

[Dwayne]

I followed all the above steps and the screen went black....again. It didn't even try to boot up.......Now I'm stuck..I also tried to put the other card in with the old drivers and still nothing..prolly smoked the motherboard..........

 

[lp2]

No beeping at all? I'd get a local geek to come check it out, you could also try to put the video card in a different computer and see what happens.

 

[dinealone]

Here's a semi-quick lowdown on trouble-shooting that situation.

-If you turn the power on and the monitors stays in standby mode (amber light) with no beeps or hard drive activity sound (light might be unreliable at this point) it's the cpu. Very rarely is it the motherbopard in that case, but it's possible.

-If you turn it on and it beeps a few times in a row, it's either the memory or the video card. The beeps are the indicator. Your mobo manual will indicate what they are.

-If you turn it on and it beeps once and you still see nothing, make sure the light is green on the monitor and the brightness and contrast are up. Also check the pins on the Monitor cable to make sure they're not bent.

 

[TurboJim]

One of the guys I work with ust built a new PC and had a hell of a time getting his video to work. He had some new sort of motherboard who had some funky AGP slow. I dont recall the whole deal, but suffice to say he wound up buying some special video card. What does your mobo's manual say about video cards? Anything special?

Check out www.greatpcstuff.com or emial sales@greatpcstuff.com for info/suggestions and buy from him. He will set you straight. He's a board member named "supersix" and is the best PC guy I know.

 

[EyeTalk2Trees]

originally when you were playing and it went black, was it running fine then black? or did little dark shapes start to pop up randomly, usually different triangle shapes? you might have gotten your card too hot. or the fan on the card could have gone out. Video cards have to have good air flow and be cooled just like the CPU. Video cards are not that tuff, just look at it logically and check the points of contact..ie, cable, card-to-motherboard, memory, and CPU. also if you get it to start to boot up but it doesn't go into windows or even get that far, or have problems in windows, you might have to change some settings in your BIOS. all the info you need should be in your motherboard book.

Good luck, if you can workon a GN you should be able to knock out a PC easy!!!

 

[BoostedBug]

The AMD 2000 is only 1.67ghz speed. AMD list theres higher but it is not. I own a computer business and would be more than glad to help you out just shoot me an email over at turbobuick@bellsouth.net

 

[Dwayne]

I've got a new local guy working on the pc...........it was the cpu........it commited suicide...........thanks for the help

 

[Dwayne]

Turns out that the cpu was allright. The first lowlife I had work on the pc bent the agp socket. what was happening is that the video card would pop out after a few seconds and kill the pc. The new guy found this and took the motherboard out, repaired the socket and put it all back together. I'm back in business now. I just killed a cop and picked up a hooker in GTA3 and the speed and graphics are crowdrockn. Thanks for all the replies and suggestions.......Dwayne

 

[machinegun]

I have had this happen before. Usually though it is because the case manufacturers are not perfect. Kind of like a mid 80's GM car. Anyway good to hear that some one got it corrected for you. Have fun.