Computer problems
 

A couple of months ago I purchased a second hand video card (nvidea 6600GT) to replace my old FX5200. It all seemed to work fine but now and again the monitor goes black (no video signal) and I have to hit the reset button to get it going again. Sometimes the whole computer just turns off completely. My PSU is only 400 watt, could this be the problem or did i buy a dud second hand video card?.

Cheers

Unlikely your video as such, would cause the whole system to shut down, the first thing I would check, not being familiar with that card, is that the power connector to the card is properly inserted and what is more likely is that the card is seated in the slot properly. I would never buy a video card second hand in case the reason he got rid of it because it was causing problems, did you check that the card edge connector was clean as well as the slot before inserting? What brand is the PSU:hmmm:

Hmm... does this card stay cool, could overheating... like reece, I am not fimiliar with this card. (even tho I may have had one years ago, Im pretty sure that was a 6XXX card...)

Probably is going bad tho... how old is it I wounder.

I use to own a 6600GT the 6600 and 6800GT were top cards and still are for their age. But same thing happened to my card it was 2nd hand ran well for about 4 months then the restarts/black screens started happening so i thinking it was not getting the power from the psu changed to a 550 watt previous psu was 300watt. Still didn't matter card died not long after.

@ Kiwi_2005 and Task Force: Your avatar offends me!!:nope:

We are either getting common or a select group!!:hmmm:

Checked the plugs and the agp video seating last night, all seems ok. Heatsinks are pretty clean but a little bit of dust starting to collect on the leading edge of both cpu/video card fans. I gave the card a good clean when I installed it so I don't think its dirty connectors. The Brand of the PSU says Olympic (in other words its the cheapest they could buy from China).

One thing I did notice last night was the plug leads/looms. There appears to be two looms with three plugs on each (does this sound correct). One of the looms feeds just the DVD drive while the other loom feeds the HDD,FDD and the video card. Should I try to arrange this as to balance the loads up a bit.

Another thing perhaps I should mention is that its summer over here and the room temp is probably up around 26-28 degrees C. The PC stays turned on all day and it does not have any chassis fan either. I also admit that I have only seen it occur whilst my son or me are playing one of his games (sitting Ducks). This particular game is pretty buggy as and causes quite a few CTD's. I haven't played SH3 on the PC for a while so It may do it with any game.

Cheers

PS Hey Kiwi, which part of NZ are you from, I live in Hamiltron:rock:

I get the impression that the PSU is just a generic, I would consider, as kiwi_2005 said, updating this to a brand name around 500w or better, don't worry about "balancing the load" mine has 5 looms. A cheap all round good PSU I would recommend is the Vantec ION2+, note this PSU is for PCI-E video cards, now incase your system is overheating due to bad circulation try running computer with the sides covers off for awhile and see if the problem is still there!:hmmm:

I live in Paeroa :rock: :)

Paeroa, damn its a small world (I was born there but moved away before i had turned 1). Was hoping to head over that way last weekend for the Battle of the Streets but ended up going to work and doing some OT instead. Probably a good idea too as it looks like I could be in for a NEW PSU. I have had to purchase more ram (DDR 400) CPU (socket 754 single core) and the video card (AGP) just to get SH3 to run respectively. I bought it all s/h however because its not worth it for a MB that might die tomorrow and I can't justify a new rig. At least a decent PSU will be of use for a new rig if I ever get one. Thanks for all your guys help though:salute:

Battle of the streets didn't miss much but thats just me, i been here past 12 yrs before that lived in Karangahake gorge. I haven't gone to battle of the streets for years even though its a 10min walk from my house. Use to enjoy the side cars racing and triumph/Harley races but it kinda weared off where now i dont even bother to go see them race. About 8 yrs ago a mate of mine who spent 2 yrs building his harley davidson sportstar just got it on the road the day before Battle of the streets was on, so him and his gf went along parked his bike about 30 metres away from where they were watching the races 10 min later he turns around and notice his bikes missing. Stolen never got it back $26 grand down the drain. :damn: He even had the bike chained up to the powerpole.

Anyways good to see another kiwi here, were outnumbered by Americans and Aussie's :) Hope you get your pc back to normal.