has my video card died?

[terryZ]

i am running a 2-year old gateway pc with xp media center (see specs below). i have an ati x1650 pro 512mb video card and a syncmaster wide-screen lcd monitor.

last night i was playing world of warcraft when the picture froze but the sound continued. after about a minute, i got a blue screen saying in effect that an ati driver got caught in a loop.

i shut down the machine. restarted and got the white on black text (i can never remember what that is called) prior to windows boot. however, no windows boot followed. after a few minuted, i shut down and restarted. this time i got nothing on the monitor.

i was original not sure if it was the monitor or the video card, so i disconnected the monitor from the card. the monitor immediately displayed a "no signal" message on the screen. so i assume the monitor is fine and it's the video card that has died.

my two questions ....

1. any agreement on my belief that it is the video card that has died and not something else in the pc? i have upgraded functioning video cards before (i went from an ati x1300 to this x1650 a year ago) but never had one die on me.

2. any suggestions for a replacement card? i haven't been looking so i don't know what's out there. know that i play WoW and second life on this machine regularly.

thanks in advance.

[ski]

The best way to determine if the monitor or video card is defective is to either swap out the video card or the monitor. You can also see if either one works on another system.
But based on your initial results, it appears that the video card is bad. And hopefully, you did not disconnect the monitor when the system was running.

WRT a replacement card if yours is bad, you can always replace it with the same card if you're satisfied with your current gaming performance. But if you want a more powerful card, then consider either the ATI 2600 XT or the GeForce 8600 GT. The 8600 GT is a slightly better performer if AA and AF are enabled.

[Train]

Video Locking up like that is usually caused by a overheating video card.

Pull the card and clean it and while your at it use a pencil erasure to gently clean the contacts before re-inserting it back into the motherboard.

[terryZ]

thanks ski & train.

unfortunately, i don't have another monitor or card (i can kick myself coz i donated my old x1300 to a boys club in the area last year .. don't think they'd appreciate me asking for it back ... lol) to test with.

as to the overheating card ... i did the give the system an hour and then tried again. but still with no video. wouldn't that have given the card time enough to cool down?

[Train]

Borrow a old monitor?

I was able to pick up a old 15 inch for testing purposes just for the taking.

If the computer will not even attempt to boot up, Probably the card is shot.

[terryZ]

yeah, i'm leaning towards a shot card. too bad i didn't notice if the fan on the card was working or not.

anyway, tonight i'll go to microcenter and look at the cards suggested by ati in the post earlier.

[terryZ]

hey guys. here's the update.

stopped at best buy on the way home last night. picked up a 8600. installed it. started the pc. nothing. no windows. no white text. nothing.

someone on another forum suggested i remove the card completely and start up. to see if i get .. and i quote ... "1 long beep followed by 2 short beeps from the pc speaker is the error code for video card. If you hear it then it means the cpu initialized and the motherboard bios has self tested, detected ram, and is now looking for the video card."

well, i get no beeps. nothing. silence. didn't seem like a good sign.

a rl friend suggesteda rl friend suggested it might be the power supply needs to be replaced. however, i don't want to go down that path. i don't have any "spare parts" i can try. and everything i "swap" will have to be purchased new.

this pc is slightly over 2 years old. i'm thinking more and more that i just need to bite the bullet and buy a new one. i think if i act fast i can still get one with xp installed. i only have 3 friends that have bought pc's recently with vista .. all 3 have had terrible problems. second life (one of the 2 games i play) can be very picky and i've heard of problems with vista. i also play WoW but not long enough to hear of any vista related problems.

so .. if there are not further suggestions for a quick and easy fix, i'll be shopping at dell, best buy and microcenter today to see what's available.

and .. thank you all for your time, energy and suggestions.

[terryZ]

final update ...

hopped over to best buy this afternoon and bought the gateway fx7024.

seems like a good replacement. intel quad core, nvidia 8800, 3 gigs ram, etc.

of course, none of my software or hardware will run in vista home premium ... but do i need all this stuff???

thanks again, all.