It wasn't the video card...but.....

[hambone2]

...the video card slot.

I have an older ASUS A8N (or whatever, think I'm close) SLI- Deluxe.

I have older 6800GT eVGA video card....a couple of times my system would "lock up" when I'm browsing, then when I go to reboot....I'd here the Speaker go.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep -beep-beep.

I figured it was the video, for one, the monitor wasn't going on (no POST), just the Amber flashing light (instead of turning onto Green) on the monitor.

I thought it was my video card going out.

So I tried the Video card in the 2nd SLI Slot (Dual PCI Express slots)

Looks like it worked in THAT slot. Can anyone account for what happened here?

OTHER SLI Slot bad or something else? Perhaps it's too loose a fit (I have noticed that, because that bracket ont he end that's suppose to "snap" in broke off...been that way for a while...and after some time....it became a "looser" fit?

Reason I say this...also, is because when I slipped the video card into the other (never used slot) it fit rather snuggly

ALSO, the previous video card is a friggin MONSTER (a lot of weight) and of course, since the machine sits upright, perhaps the weight of the card started to wear it down?

Personally I think some vid cards are TOO friggin bulky

I recently got a 9400 GT 1 gig card (PNY) funny, a better card, but not HUGE Fan encasement like the other

A smaller brass/copper heat sink with a smaller transparent plastic fan on top.

[Steve R Jones]

I'd here the Speaker go.

Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep -beep-beep.

That is a BIOS beep code. You can look up what it means here: http://bioscentral.com/

Can anyone account for what happened here?

Nope. Slots can go bad. Sometimes it's simple corrosion that can be cleaned.

[Train]

Use a pencil erasure and clean the contacts on the card.
Insert and unpluging the card 3 or 4 times tends to clean the contacts.

We had a member use a peice of dowelling, cut to length, support his heavy card for years.

Get a tight beam light and a magnifying glass and check the socket for burn marks.

[hambone2]

Use a pencil erasure and clean the contacts on the card.
Insert and unpluging the card 3 or 4 times tends to clean the contacts.

We had a member use a piece of dowelling, cut to length, support his heavy card for years.

Get a tight beam light and a magnifying glass and check the socket for burn marks.

Think a pencil eraser will reach all the way INside the slot? Think it might just get the top part.

I used a regular flashlight to look in there, didn't really see anything out of the ordinary. It seems clean, but not sure.

Used canned air already.

Should I use alcohol or no?

[Train]

Use the erasure on the card, not the slot.

I use a mag lite [tighter the beam the better] and a magnifying glass and yes I have found badly burned contacts.

Achohol I found, does not clean up the corrosion on contacts.

I have found plug and unplugging 3 or 4 times to be the best answer.

If thqat does not work, like you did, time find a work around.

[alphanumeric]

Be careful with the eraser! There is only a thin layer of gold on the contacts, if you rub it off you are in for big problems. Cleaning with Isopropyl Alcohol may be a better option.