I think my graphics card is stuffed ...

S

sdd

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Last night my pc automatically rebooted itself and there was zeros and blue vertical lines all over the boot screen.

Now it starts only in safe mode but I can't see the video card in "Manage Computer"

I think my graphics card is fried... it is an old 8800GT card.

Can anyone suggest a replacement card please? I do not game anymore but would like to play the odd game now and then even on low resolution.

I mainly use my PC for video editing and rendering.

Thanks in advance.
 
sdd said:
like to play the odd game now and then even on low resolution.

I mainly use my PC for video editing and rendering.

Thanks in advance.
Click to expand...


for that , i would say get a ati 5450 / 5770 / 5670 , they are low on power usage and should be psu friendly if you were running a 8800gt.

if you got the cash , get a 5770 club3d

or
if you dont have enough , then 5670 should do <

if not that then go for a 5450 < its really low on power usage and cheap but not really nice for gaming , even for that odd game or two :whistle:
 
Last edited:
hey dude, that 8800gt might still work as physx card, could still be some use, if you can have tested as physx card :)
 
A budget is always worth mentioning.

HD6850 or HD5770.
 
Cool ... I will check out the options mentioned.

I dont know why, but I prefer nVidia.

Budget is around 1k. Hardly use the PC so don't want to spend too much.
 
Isn't the future of video processing power going to be held by GPU's?

I could be wrong, but I see here and there software taking advantage of the GPU to encode video faster.
 
Dude, I had myself a similar problem.

Check your RAM!

Also blue screen, wouldn't boot into Windowz, removed one stick, and found the culprit.
Boot and works fine.
 
It wasn't just a blue screen Franc, the key info is this:

there was zeros and blue vertical lines all over the boot screen.
Click to expand...

The zeros and blue lines indicate some kind of data corruption, which is most likely to come from the graphics card.
 
Just to be sure... I will check the ram modules. I seem to recall that it did not want to boot a while back and when i removed the ram and put it back it was ok.

When teh PC posts, I see a whole lot of zeros on the screen. On subsequent screen the writing is garbled with strange characters.

After several boots, it allows me to go into the windows safe mode. I can see all my icons and run programs - but is it all looks like windows XP instead of win 7.

I removed the graphics card and reseated it - same problem.
Will check the RAM tonight.
 
@Draconia : I am unfamiliar with ATi cards. Can you recommend a nVidia equivalent? The video software I use says that it uses something called CUDA (nVidia) to process faster. Will it do the same if I have a ATi card?
 
Try Baking the video card :) I did it on an old 8800gts last year around September, its still working :) Check this out...remember to add salt once its done for extra performance gains, oversalting is the way!!....disregard that last sentence :p
 
sdd said:
@Draconia : I am unfamiliar with ATi cards. Can you recommend a nVidia equivalent? The video software I use says that it uses something called CUDA (nVidia) to process faster. Will it do the same if I have a ATi card?
Click to expand...

Only Nvidia cards support/have CUDA. Like I said, look for the GTS450, but they are just over R1k. If you can't spend more than R1k, then maybe look at the GT430.
 
Those 0 and vertical lines you're seeing was exactly the same as I had with a friend of mine's Gigabyte 8800 GTX.
I just did a reflow by baking the card and then it worked 100% again :)

If you have a Prophecy Forum account, then you can see the images that I've uploaded of how it looked before I baked the card, and also afterwards
http://www.phforums.co.za/f14/baking-8800-gtx-preheated-oven-59500/index2.html#post793619

Rebeltech has the GTS 450 for like R1100.
Otherwise the GTS 250 / HD 5670 are good alternatives.
 
The whole baking thing seems plausable but it is way to much effort for me. LOL

I am inclined to go for the GTS 450 for now.

Thanks a mil guys and gals!
 
It's not only plausable, it's exactly how it was manufactured in the first place.

Okay, so the manufacturers oven was a tad more sophisticated than Pada's mothers oven without a glass door, but basically the same principle. But most normal peeps won't try this at home, plus the process window just got smaller with the lead-free solders they are currently using.
 
Update ...

Yes it is the graphics card.
PC RAM is still OK

Now I got to buy the GTS450 ... hope I get a good deal somewhere by this weekend.
 
kayvee said:
It's not only plausable, it's exactly how it was manufactured in the first place.

Okay, so the manufacturers oven was a tad more sophisticated than Pada's mothers oven without a glass door, but basically the same principle. But most normal peeps won't try this at home, plus the process window just got smaller with the lead-free solders they are currently using.
Click to expand...

I do a lot of consulting for Omnigo and Parsec here in PTA ... they use these huge reflow ovens in the PCB manufacturing process with the fancy temperature profiling and the works.
For me, my guess is that the video RAM is bust on the card ... I am also too lazy to disassemble the card.
 
There we go then :)

Just hook up with one of the junior techies on the line and give him a project for one lunchtime ;)

VRAM... naah, toss it.
 
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