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Hardware Trouble (video card related?) Hardware Trouble (video card related?)

07-02-2009 , 02:04 AM
So I was playing the Sims 3 the other day when my computer just shuts off mid-game.

When I reboot the system, windows fails to start, so I run it through System Recovery mode, reformatting it entirely, afterwards I re-download the drivers to my Geforce 8800 GT and everything works fine for a couple hours, reinstalled Bioshock and DX10 just to make sure everything was running alright (since Bioshock is probably one of the more graphically intense titles I own, despite its age).

Then it shuts off again, completely. This time on reboot, it displays nothing, I know the problem isn't the monitor since the monitor works fine on my girlfriend's PC, so I'm not really sure what's going on as I'm not spectacular with computers.

I open the case, take the precautions not to fry the system, reseat my ram, remove the video card and reset the system by replacing the battery on the motherboard. (Also, had to dust pretty thoroughly with compressed air as I'm a smoker, I own a cat, and the system was just caked with dust and muck).

Now it works fine, but the on-board graphics card is total garbage. Should I try reinstalling the old graphics card to see if the problem persists? This could be a really good excuse to just get a new one, but I don't really own any titles to warrant the purchase of a new graphics card. The 8800 GT seemed to run Bioshock, Portal, TF2, CoD4, WoW and the Sims 2 and 3 beautifully and has for over a year now.

More system specs:

HP Pavillion a6330f Desktop PC
3 GB RAM
AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5600+
(On-board) Geforce 6150 SE
(Self purchased and installed, but currently uninstalled) Geforce 8800 GT

More system history:

Has never had a problem before, but computer gets very dusty fairly quickly. Have read that the air intake and cooling system on the model sucks.

Main questions:

I haven't had a lot of experience with faulty hardware, could the system shutdown and forced reformat be viral or is it most likely a hardware issue? Since removal of the video card seems to have solved the problem, is the issue most likely a faulty video card?

How does a system act when the video card explodes?

Thanks in advance,

T.J.
Hardware Trouble (video card related?) Quote
07-02-2009 , 10:11 AM
sounds like a faulty video card, i'm guessing you have a big enough power supply to run all this hardware--might be worth checking that HP stock supply isn't 230w or something lowish like that.
Hardware Trouble (video card related?) Quote
07-02-2009 , 02:01 PM
I'd be willing to bet you're pushing your power supply to the edge.

Your problem could be from a inadequate power supply, faulty video card, or dust.

Check your PSU rating, clean the dust out of the 8800, and put it back in. If it continues to crash then RMA the 8800.
Hardware Trouble (video card related?) Quote
07-02-2009 , 03:56 PM
Make sure that you blow the power supply out as well as the rest of your computer. I use an air compressor that I restrict to 40-50 PSI.

If you don't have a compressor, use canned air.

I use a non-conductive stick to stop the fan in the power supply from turning when I clean it out. The airstream can cause a fan to turn so rapidly it can burn up the bearings unless you restrict the speed of the fan.
Hardware Trouble (video card related?) Quote
07-05-2009 , 01:38 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by funkyworms
I'd be willing to bet you're pushing your power supply to the edge.

Your problem could be from a inadequate power supply, faulty video card, or dust.

Check your PSU rating, clean the dust out of the 8800, and put it back in. If it continues to crash then RMA the 8800.
Problem was the power supply. Everything is back up and running smoothly.

Thanks for the help everybody.
Hardware Trouble (video card related?) Quote

      
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