Computer Help Needed

[Kapitan_Phillips]

Calling anyone with computer knowledge - Urgent Message


My monitor keeps flickering, the power stays on constantly, but it flickers between being on and showing nothing but a black screen and mouse pointer, to "No Signal". I doubt its anything to do with refresh rates, as I havent messed with those. I think it may be the card, but it doesnt explain why its sporadic, i.e I had screen flickering before, but it seemed to fix itself

Do you have any ideas, or do I have to shell out another <expletive> hundred or so quid for a new graphics card?

[Tchocky]

What kind of monitor? Age/Model?

[Konovalov]

Is the monitor old and what type? Can you borrow a spare video card from somewhere to determine if it is the card?

[Kapitan_Phillips]

I'm not actually sure which brand it is, but its an LCD, and has a label reading "TCO 99" on it, does that mean anything to you?

[Konovalov]

TCO99 is just an industry certification for monitors.

Are the connections between your video card and monitor ok/connected properly?

Have you just bought this card?

Have you installed drivers?

Please give more info and history such as the card type and so forth?

[Kapitan_Phillips]

Okay, I'll do it to the best of my knowledge:

The video card is about 2 years old, NVidia GeForce FX 5500 128 MB.

I had updated all the drivers, but I think that I tried the BETA ones. (However, they have been working fine till now)

The connections between computer and monitor are fine, (though I cant easily remove the plug due to those crappy damn screws that have plastic heads)

It blacked out when I was playing CoD2, and I suspect it may have overheated (which is why I'll try again tomorrow) as it slowed down first, then went poomf.

I have tried overclocking in the past, but had since RESET the values to default

[_Seth_]

Hi mate! Is there a patch on the back of the LCD with a name on (There has to be somewhere)?
IMHO, and due to my lack of LCD knowledge, could you try the monitor on another computer? If it dont work there, its the screen, and if it works, its the card.

[Kapitan_Phillips]

As I said, its going to be hard, but I'll follow your advice if it doesnt work in the morning. It has those stupidass plastic screws on the plug, that bend and deform when you try to undo them with a screwdriver -_-

[_Seth_]

As I said, its going to be hard, but I'll follow your advice if it doesnt work in the morning. It has those stupidass plastic screws on the plug, that bend and deform when you try to undo them with a screwdriver -_-
Make sure that the tiny metal pins inside the socket isnt bendt (if there are any)... I broke some of those some years ago, and man, that was a pain. :damn:

[Kapitan_Phillips]

So, the computer was taken in to the shop, and it'll have a few upgrades done to it. Chalk another one up to PC World :roll:

[danlisa]

So, the computer was taken in to the shop, and it'll have a few upgrades done to it. Chalk another one up to PC World :roll:
I stay away from PC World (like the plague) for things like Desktops/Laptops. All their systems have the bare minimum resources to cope with the hardware inside the 'box'.

I found this out when I upgraded my GFX a couple of years ago, PSU burnt out & capacitors on the mobo all popped etc. Partly my fault for assuming things are upgrade friendly. Now, I use custom design PC's or even Ebay, which is where my current PC came from.

Good Luck.

Have they told you what's wrong?

[Konovalov]

So, the computer was taken in to the shop, and it'll have a few upgrades done to it. Chalk another one up to PC World :roll:
Sorry that you haven't been able to resolve this problem. Curious to know what upgrades exactly they are going to do? :hmm:

Chalk another one up to PC World :roll:
PC World stinks. :damn: Before I was fully confident with what was under the hood of my pc I took my computer there for a repair. Never again.

Edit: Just read what Danilisa posted. Such stories sound familiar. :down:

[STEED]

Chalk another one up to PC World :roll:

PC World are you nuts. :huh: They have a poor track record.

Take some very good advice they are part of the Dixon's group and they suck. Never, never do business with them.

[Fish]

Philips, this prog should tell you what monitor you have. Works as a charm.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

[SUBMAN1]

If its not cable, then it sounds like a video card issue. I'd suspect monitor backlight was giving out, but you got the no signal onscreen. You need an x1950 Pro AGP anyway. I know two people that just bought the 512 MB Sapphire version and it made their AGP systems have some additional life. Costs about $250 if you can find it, but the card is so popular that it is frequently sold out.

-S

[ASWnut101]

just buy a new one....problem solved.

[Kapitan_Phillips]

just buy a new one....problem solved.


Yeah, we arent getting the upgrades from PC World - how does the saying go? "Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, you cant get fooled again"

My dad just gave the guy a budget to work with and said we needed a new graphics card and maybe some extra RAM.

Thank you all for your help though, you guys rock!