Hey, I was wondering if somebody could help with a computer problem that is making me frustrated..
Before I explain what happens, here are my specs:
PNY 8800GT 512mb,
Gigabyte EP-43 DS3L,
Intel Pentium dual core E2200,
Windows XP SP2,
Samsung SyncMaster 2232BW,
GSkill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ ram,
Enermax Liberty 500W PSU. (if you need any other specs, let me know).
My old PNY 8800gt stopped working back in December so I sent it in for warranty. I will quickly explain what happened to the older videocard: when the videocard was in, computer would only work in safemode. If I tried going into normal windows xp mode, the xp bars would load through and it would try going to the blue screen when you select login and type in password. Before that screen loaded, the monitor would stop receiving signal and started to blink.. I was able to uninstall drivers, etc. It worked fine without drivers. As soon as I installed the nvidia drivers, the monitor would start blinking again. Finally, I decided to try my old 6800GS, which worked fine without a problem.
I still decided to use the PNY warranty (here is the other thread that mentions the problem is slightly more depth if it makes any difference: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1474362 ). Anyways, I just got a replacement videocard (8800GT) today about 2 hours ago. I popped it in and computer loaded up fine. I installed the latest drivers (196.31 or something) and it asked me to restart pc. I go ahead and restart computer.
The next thing I know, computer freezes at the first screen (where it tells you the company, name and other information of the videocard itself). After many tries at restarting, I was finally able to go to the next screen where it shows a logo and has different options on the bottom (one of the options says to enter into BIOS). I enter bios and notice that all of the settings have reset in bios. I go through and put the settings back to the way they were and then restart computer through "Save and exit" option in bios. Computer restarts but it freezes again on the videocard screen. I restart manually a couple more times, and after a few tries, it goes to the logo screen. I went into bios again and select "Load optimized defaults."
After that, I check to see whether it has changed any of the settings. The first tab/option that I go into, the entire bios just freezes, forcing me to hard-boot. When I go to hardboot, nothing happens. I just notice the fans start to spin, moves about a couple millimeters before the fan stops moving. I notice a small spark near where the RAM is supposed to be. I have a link to a picture of the motherboard (The spark happens where it says "Phase 1, 2, 3, 4" directly in between where the ram is supposed to be. You should be able to see where it says Phase). I am not sure if it is supposed to spark there or not..
http://www.overclockers.com.ua/moth...intel-dp43tf/03-gigabyte-ga-ep43-ds3l-big.jpg
The few things I tried:
1) changing to other videocard that I had been using (6800GS); no effect. Fans start to spin, there is a little spark, nothing else..
2) tried running computer with all of the wires unplugged with just the monitor wire and PSU power wire. While trying that, I took 1 of the 2 ram sticks out, unplugged all the harddrives and dvd-burner. Only thing plugged in was the videocard, motherboard, cpu, 1 ram stick, psu obviously and that's it. I tried the new replacement videocard too. Fan starts to spin but only moves about 2mm but it just stops. If I try to hit power button again, nothing happens at all. The only way to see the fan move about 2mm is by turning off the main PSU switch behind it off and then hitting the power button.
I doubt that both videocard are dead... I also tried the single ram stick in a different RAM socket, did not help. My guess is that it could be the powersupply, but I don't know. Any ideas on what I should try next? Thx!
Before I explain what happens, here are my specs:
PNY 8800GT 512mb,
Gigabyte EP-43 DS3L,
Intel Pentium dual core E2200,
Windows XP SP2,
Samsung SyncMaster 2232BW,
GSkill F2-8000CL5D-4GBPQ ram,
Enermax Liberty 500W PSU. (if you need any other specs, let me know).
My old PNY 8800gt stopped working back in December so I sent it in for warranty. I will quickly explain what happened to the older videocard: when the videocard was in, computer would only work in safemode. If I tried going into normal windows xp mode, the xp bars would load through and it would try going to the blue screen when you select login and type in password. Before that screen loaded, the monitor would stop receiving signal and started to blink.. I was able to uninstall drivers, etc. It worked fine without drivers. As soon as I installed the nvidia drivers, the monitor would start blinking again. Finally, I decided to try my old 6800GS, which worked fine without a problem.
I still decided to use the PNY warranty (here is the other thread that mentions the problem is slightly more depth if it makes any difference: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1474362 ). Anyways, I just got a replacement videocard (8800GT) today about 2 hours ago. I popped it in and computer loaded up fine. I installed the latest drivers (196.31 or something) and it asked me to restart pc. I go ahead and restart computer.
The next thing I know, computer freezes at the first screen (where it tells you the company, name and other information of the videocard itself). After many tries at restarting, I was finally able to go to the next screen where it shows a logo and has different options on the bottom (one of the options says to enter into BIOS). I enter bios and notice that all of the settings have reset in bios. I go through and put the settings back to the way they were and then restart computer through "Save and exit" option in bios. Computer restarts but it freezes again on the videocard screen. I restart manually a couple more times, and after a few tries, it goes to the logo screen. I went into bios again and select "Load optimized defaults."
After that, I check to see whether it has changed any of the settings. The first tab/option that I go into, the entire bios just freezes, forcing me to hard-boot. When I go to hardboot, nothing happens. I just notice the fans start to spin, moves about a couple millimeters before the fan stops moving. I notice a small spark near where the RAM is supposed to be. I have a link to a picture of the motherboard (The spark happens where it says "Phase 1, 2, 3, 4" directly in between where the ram is supposed to be. You should be able to see where it says Phase). I am not sure if it is supposed to spark there or not..
http://www.overclockers.com.ua/moth...intel-dp43tf/03-gigabyte-ga-ep43-ds3l-big.jpg
The few things I tried:
1) changing to other videocard that I had been using (6800GS); no effect. Fans start to spin, there is a little spark, nothing else..
2) tried running computer with all of the wires unplugged with just the monitor wire and PSU power wire. While trying that, I took 1 of the 2 ram sticks out, unplugged all the harddrives and dvd-burner. Only thing plugged in was the videocard, motherboard, cpu, 1 ram stick, psu obviously and that's it. I tried the new replacement videocard too. Fan starts to spin but only moves about 2mm but it just stops. If I try to hit power button again, nothing happens at all. The only way to see the fan move about 2mm is by turning off the main PSU switch behind it off and then hitting the power button.
I doubt that both videocard are dead... I also tried the single ram stick in a different RAM socket, did not help. My guess is that it could be the powersupply, but I don't know. Any ideas on what I should try next? Thx!