[SOLVED]Video card problems

I’ve been having problems with my computer. The video card will work for anywhere from a few minutes to a few days, then all of a sudden it’ll stop sending a signal to the monitor. It also has a problem of giving odd artifacts on the screen, sometimes just a bunch of colored lines, sometimes other oddness. It’s definitely getting power, the fan spins up nicely. I’ve tried 3 different video cards now, and my monitor works fine on another computer.
Also, when I boot, sometimes the computer won’t post, just power up, and sometimes it won’t recognize the video card is there. That screams bad motherboard to me, but I could very well be wrong. I’ve disconnected everything inside the case, pulled the ram (it recognized there was no ram), and reconnected everything one by one.
Any ideas would be greatly welcome, and thank you for your time.
Answer #1
You tried 3 different cards..Did you try a different Power supply?
Answer #2
Not yet. Have to buy a new one first. Guess it’s back to the store tomorrow lol.
Answer #3
deadseason1 replied: Not yet. Have to buy a new one first. Guess it's back to the store tomorrow lol.
I’m sure you can borrow your friends/neigbours for it
Answer #4
vziera replied:
I'm sure you can borrow your friends/neigbours for it
I wish! The only person in the area I know that has a desktop is my uncle, and I already know his response. He uses his computer for audio mixing for his band and doesn’t let anyone near it lol.
Answer #5
bad capacitors on either the mobo or vid card might cause this
what a blown capacitor looks like
http://www.windows-help-central.com/windows-xp-shutdown-automatically.html
http://colinjong.com/2010/03/18/burst-capacitors-on-graphic-card/
the bad ones have the “split” top, seen some that ooze a brown material
Answer #6
Capacitors all look OK, no bulges that I could find. Going to get a new power supply soon, so I’ll let you know how that goes.
Answer #7
I can suggest trying one of those service power supplies in a computer shop.
Just say you want to test a theory and may buy a power supply if it is the culprit.
Answer #8
Swords To Plowshares replied: I can suggest trying one of those service power supplies in a computer shop.
Just say you want to test a theory and may buy a power supply if it is the culprit.
Was actually thinking the same thing. Figured I’d stop being cheap and just take it in to get looked at. Thanks for your help everyone, it’s greatly appreciated.
Answer #9
i think tha gpu is almost dead,nothing wrong with the power supply
Answer #10
I’ve tried two brand new video cards. I’m pretty sure it’s not the GPU. Thanks for the suggestion tho.
Answer #11
deadseason1 replied: I've tried two brand new video cards. I'm pretty sure it's not the GPU. Thanks for the suggestion tho.
Which card is this? does it have plugs for power on the card? if not it’s a very low spec card and shouldn’t cause any strain on your ps even if weak.
Answer #12
It’s a geforce 550ti. I’m going to be doing a complete rebuild in a few weeks, including the power supply, now that I’ve found a better paying job that I start tomorrow. Thank you everyone for your ideas and suggestions. Mods can lock the thread if they like.