The confusion hits!

[HJ-Pinnelipe]

Recent problem that's started up with my computer... I believe it has some sort of connection to the graphics card, which is faulty (RMAing doesn't help since ever card of the same type is faulty from MSI, 7900 GT for those interested in avoiding it) but it's all I got! So, the problem..

When my computer turns on, sometimes the connection to the card seem to turn right back off. Make that most of the time.. It did it five times in a row trying to restart it this morning. Anyhow, the actual computer seems to continue to work since it still did the beeps for startup. This isn't over heating, because it does it from when the thing's been off for five hours too. Over heating could be causing the problem, though. There is a warning message on start-up that a "cpu fan" is not running at the right speed, but after testing everY fan in the case, they're all running just fine and at the right speed.

 

[Gate]

I can't say anything about the rest of the problems, but I do know that my computer's fan monitor has never registered that my power supply fan works. Despite the fact that it turns merrily.

Do you have a monitoring program for temp/fan speed/power and such? My motherboard has a program that gives me all that info, not sure how to get it otherwise.

 

[HJ-Pinnelipe]

I do, but haven't beenable to figure it out quite yet. This is really my first home built computer. I know all the fans are working fine because I took it to my school's IT guy once for another problem (power supply blew up, also MSI, no longer being sold). He said it had that error message, he tested them all out, and everything was actually fine.

 

[HJ-Diviana]

Double check to see that your processor is locked down well and the heatsink has good contact.

Other than that I'm not sure. Luckily my computer usually doesn't have many problems (besides occasionally running a bit hot)

 

[Scaledfang]

if you have a can of air (compressed air)... take out your video card, and spray down the card port... also clean the contacts on your video card with alcohol and plug it back in... it may or may not help the situation, but its cheap and easy to do and works sometimes.

as for the fan error... if it was me i'd just shut the monitor off.... as long as i can see the fans turn, i'm happy... i dont need a computer program to tell me its only spinning at 1500revs instead of 1600 that its supposed to be at. also, if your heatsink/fan is the stock (comes with the processor) you have a life expectancy of about 6months... you'll notice the fan gradually getting louder.. they do this when they start to wear out... so if you can hear your cpu fan with the case shut, time to buy a new one. (15 bucks)

 

[HJ-Pinnelipe]

Well, if this says anything, it seems that as long as my monitor does not cut off connection from the card at any time the thing will keep running alright. This means I can have it always working if I keep my monitor on and never turn off my computer.

The question would then be which is worse.. Having to restart 3 to 5 times to reestablish the signal to the card, or keeping everything on constantly?

 

[HJ-Diviana]

Hm, I'd call the tech support for your video card.

And I've heard many times that it's much better for the computer if you leave it on all the time. I don't know how true it is, but I tend to usually do that. Unless it's really hot in the house.

 

[Gate]

I personally don't care how much better it is for the computer to leave it on. It's a horrible waste of energy and it puts out quite alot of heat in the summer. So long as you aren't flipping your computer on and off every 5 minutes, you aren't going to burn it out faster than you would replace it anyway. Both environmentally and economically, shutting it down at night just makes sense.

 

[HJ-Pinnelipe]

Alright, called the Tech support. They fed me some bull, but they're going to pay my shipping this time to RMA the card and do a benchmark test, whcih the guy says they probably didn't do the first time. *crosses fingers that she gets a good card this time*.

They did say normally they go up if a card is proving bad, but they wouldn't go up higher on me.. They insisted that the card line was not bad and it was taken off Newegg because it was too old (It's a PCI-e 7900GT).

 

[Luciro]

I personally don't care how much better it is for the computer to leave it on. It's a horrible waste of energy and it puts out quite alot of heat in the summer. So long as you aren't flipping your computer on and off every 5 minutes, you aren't going to burn it out faster than you would replace it anyway. Both environmentally and economically, shutting it down at night just makes sense.

Set up hibernate within an hour for your PC. It's the best of both worlds. Your PC doesn't take the start up hit it would otherwise plus you save energy. Also having the monitor just turn off rather than a screen saver run for 30 minutes helps energy and they're a lot more durable now a days than the irradiated CRTs of the past.
As for the topic, Penny ol' gal. The trouble I had with an ATI 9800 pretty much turned me against video cards on a whole now a days. Best of luck tho'. @};-

 

[HJ-Pinnelipe]

Set up hibernate within an hour for your PC. It's the best of both worlds. Your PC doesn't take the start up hit it would otherwise plus you save energy. Also having the monitor just turn off rather than a screen saver run for 30 minutes helps energy and they're a lot more durable now a days than the irradiated CRTs of the past.
As for the topic, Penny ol' gal. The trouble I had with an ATI 9800 pretty much turned me against video cards on a whole now a days. Best of luck tho'. @};-

...You don't honestly play these newer games without one, do you?

Sometime within the next week, I'll suddenly dissapear most of the time for about 2 1/2 weeks (10 days for the round trip shipping and 5 more for them replacing the card since they're slow).

 

[Luciro]

I hate ATI cards now. I've repaired PCs for a long time and the support or lack there of I got with that, I'm selling out and sticking with NVidia.
I'm still running a 6800 on 8x AGP for all of my gaming need. The card, the processor, and everything's over clocked and it's probably considered a fire hazard but I can run C&C 3 on decent settings and all MMOs I've ran across.

The 9800 did play HalfLife 2 well. Just nothing else.

 

[HJ-Pinnelipe]

Oh, my card's an Nvidia Geforce, 7900GT. Made by MSI.

 

[Luciro]

I stick with chaintech. They're hit or miss but I don't get any qualms just getting a defective one replaced. LoL Which always sets well with me.

 

[HJ-Pinnelipe]

Well, I'd care little about getting it replaced if it didn't take more than two weeks to do so and I wasn't in a college that required a lot of home work. I can't get to any computers with the right programs while my card is gone except three days a week. Gas prices are too high for me to be going so far otherwise when I'm not buying my gas.

Plus, they were lying to me over the phone and it makes me uneasy..

 

[Kuzzle]

Well, I'd care little about getting it replaced if it didn't take more than two weeks to do so and I wasn't in a college that required a lot of home work. I can't get to any computers with the right programs while my card is gone except three days a week. Gas prices are too high for me to be going so far otherwise when I'm not buying my gas.

Plus, they were lying to me over the phone and it makes me uneasy..

Ah, pooh. Well, I don't remember what you're talking about, but you sound kind of backed into a corner. We all know the solution to that, don't we? Bite, claw, and scratch until you see the whites of their eyes! ...Embedded under your fingernails. Yep. A bit gruesome, if you ask me, but hey; who am I to question tradition?

Also, being lied to over the phone sucks. Tell 'em "Hey, you! You, you... philanthropist, you! Uh, wait. I think I meant 'philanderer'... Or was it 'filibuster'? Anyway, it's something like that, and you're it! So there! Hmph." then hang up, and fell better about yourself for the day. Yeah, that's it.

 

[Luciro]

I think you mean "You, you.. Dr. Philwannabe!"

 

[HJ-Pinnelipe]

After much testing, I've decided to give the baddies at MSI a break since it seems like the card is still running well enough to pass things although I've seen a few, although sparingly, problems.

It seems my black screen problem is a common thing for when LCD monitors are going bad and can be fixed when I have the money. At least it means I don't need to give up my computer for three weeks! *dances*

 

[HJ-Diviana]

I only have a Geforce 6800 GS (although it's unlocked).. Someday I'll build a better computer, but this one's good for now.

Do you know anyone who can let you borrow a monitor to check?

 

[HJ-Pinnelipe]

As soon as I work up the energy to lug one of the huge things up two flights of stairs in the heat.

I want winter again!