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View Full Version : Having some Video Problems..

SirLuthor
06-17-2005, 03:08 PM
Hiya folks! I've been having a few problems with my computer lately. The deal is, my computer tends to freeze (once a day, maybe every other day if I'm lucky) when I'm doing GPU-Intensive things, such as playing games with the details all maxed out, and that sort of thing. Now, while this is indeed a problem, my real problem is, that when this happens, and I turn off the computer (holding down the power button, 8secs.) and turn it on again, the screen, without fail, doesn't come on. The green LED on the front flickers sometimes, and the screen makes a series of clicks and noises, but it won't come on. Most of the time, I can just turn it off (the screen), leave it off for a quarter of an hour, and turn it on again, and it works. But this is far from optimal. And I'm wondering if others have experienced this sort of problem and know why it might be occuring.

A few things of note, I'm afraid it might be the video card. It feels remarkably hot when I open it up after a freeze, but here's the kicker, only some of the time, this, I can't be certain that the heating is a problem. Note that I will be adding some more case fans in the near future. I updated my drivers about a week ago, so that shouldn't be a problem, and any way, this had happened occasionally before that as well. I'm fairly certain it's not the screen power cable, because I swapped it out for a good one when this started to no effect. Anyway, any and all help is really appreciated, because this is driving me up the wall!

PS. Everything but the video card is about 2 years old. It's the only thing I've upgraded. Also, does anyone happen to know what it means if the 'num-lock' button comes on while Windows is booting?

Thanks!
jcbray
06-17-2005, 03:13 PM
Like you said, I'd be suspicious of heat issues, it would explain why things such as game -long, gpu intensive program) would cause it to freze, and why when restarting after that, it doesn't work (has to have time to cool down). Install those new fans, but check the heatsink is seated properly as well.

Just feeling how hot somethign is isn't a great indication, does you gpu have a sensor you can check?
SirLuthor
06-17-2005, 03:27 PM
Regarding the heatsink, now that you mention it, there is something about it, because a lot of the time, it's really only the heatsink that gets smokin hot, as opposed to both the heatsink and the metal fan. Is there any way I could find out for sure whether it is well placed?

Oh, you could tell the difference here :) Especially since normally it runs about as warm as my hand, and when I consider it's hot, we're talking snatching your hand away when you graze it :D
lots
06-17-2005, 04:17 PM
That does sound hot.. Did you install this heatsink? Or was it the stock GPU cooler? What model video card?

If it really feels scorching hot, you probably have a problem with the cooling, however the stock cooling should be able to handle this, so perhaps something isn't quite right with the setup. Best way to test this is get a big room fan and point it right at the video card (side of the case off) and see if things get better...
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06-17-2005, 04:17 PM
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