Graphic Card Failure ? HELP!

Ucbet

Hi guys,

My computer had been behaving strangely lately. It can't take any heavy load or it will froze

I played CS and most of the time my computer always completely locked up and it never happen until few months ago and I have own my PC for 2 years roughly. And noticeable before a complete lock-up the screen always go flickerish and then it lock up and theres no blue screen or whatsoever ! It just froze and only way to fix it is to restart the comp and turn it off and allow it to rest. Moreover, I can also sometiems smell burning smell somewhere from one of my computer component. Checked for any circuit leakage however I can't find anything so far.

I suspect it could be my Graphic Card ? Since before a lock up the graphic always flickerish and moreover when I go to my Catalyst control panel to adjust my Anti-Aliasing, MIPMAP etc2 it always show that death sign of flickerish so it mean I have to adjust it quickly and left the control panel or it will lock up. What the hell is wrong with my computer ? Is it a sign of graphic card failure ?

P.S not only running games but even opening Firefox in a lot of separate windows will do the job to kill my computer Sad

My Spec :

P4 2.8 GHz Intel HT, Asus P4P800E, Radeon 9600XT 128mb, 160gb HDD SATA, 1 GB memory DDR2 400 Mhz, Generic PSU and Generic casing.

jwellsy

Try to figure out what size that generic psu is.
You have a lot of computer there
and if you only have a 300w psu it would need upgraded.
If the psu can't maintain voltages under load
the lower the voltage gets the more amps a component will draw.
More amps means more heat.

Are all the small fans actually running?

Have you blown out all the dust?

FaLLeN

If its just 'flickering' it's probably not be the graphics card.
When a GFX is dying they start to make 'artifacts' appear on your screen, they are little white pixels and that means it is overheating.
But if it only flickers, id check your PSU as jwellsy said, then post the specs of it.

sush

Burning smell...? Doesn't that sound like overheat? Check your fans (and get new ones if needed).

I faced the same thing when I ended up buying RAM sticks with different timings (didnt buy em together). One was clocked at 2.5-3-3 and the other at 3-3-3. I used these mismatched-latency sticks in dual channel on my MSI RS480M2 and the same thing happened, infact applications would even refuse to start. Check.

Ucbet

Thx for the reply so far guys ! Smile

Actually my computer just froze again and I decided to open it.

My Power Supply was really really hot ! And I can smell the unpleasant smell of burning there, could it be the cause ? but the thing that confuse me is, if the IC in the PSU burns shouldn't I not be able to turn my computer on ?? And what does it do to make my computer frozen ? wouldnt it just turn off because the power supply that supply electricity isn't working anymore ?

Any Gurus here have any idea ? I'm lost and tired of all this Evil or Very Mad

P.S While I was checking my PSU, I touched all my graphic card, HDD to check for overheating and no they were all cool. Checked processor and Mobo chipset as well they are still normal temperature. Only my PSU is extermely HOT. Btw its 400W Generic Power Supply.

Ucbet

jwellsy

Are the fans in the psu running when you try to turn on the pc?
Blow compressed air through it.

You might try a simple psu tester that you can pick up for under $20 at Circuit City. They may not be real accurate but might give you some peace of mind that you've found the problem.

A sick psu can cause all kinds of crazy symptoms.

Ucbet

Thx for the reply.

Ok further step taken :

Remove my Sound card and replace my graphic card with other working graphic card from my other computer and the trouble is still there. So I think I can definetely rule out graphic card and sound card.

Now new suspect arised. When I do the Memtest program, I tried to do it many times and always failed. And the failure pattern was similar which is failure of test around 40% completed stage. The error however wasn't identified by the program but the program that test it always FROZE !!! And all the blue user interface always mashed up after. So is this the memory guys ?

Also when I can smell burnt, I check if it was my HDD, DVD-ROM, but it only come from PSU.

P.S I can't find any physical defect with the memory so I'm kinda confused now. Evil or Very Mad

Ucbet

Well problem fixed now ! Very Happy

It was the power supply. Buyed new PSU and never looking back now ! Thanks for all the help guys !

jwellsy

Glad you got it fixed
and for sharing how it turned out.