Fried GPU? Or PSU?

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02-13-2009, 11:04 PM
srsinternets

Fried GPU? Or PSU?

I was playing Fallout 3 on my PC for about half an hour or so, when suddenly my screen flashed some pink and black static, and then my screen when completely black and read "No Input Detected". I tried restarting it to no avail. I opened my computer and checked out my video card and it looked fine. I took a can of air to everything and cleaned off what little dust was there, and hooked everything back up. After this, nothing powers on except the fans and lights. The mouse gets nothing, and still no video. I also hear no startup sounds which leads me to believe the mobo isn't getting power either since I'm running onboard sound. At first I had thought only my video card was gone from first hint of the pink and black screen, but now where I'm getting nothing, I think my PSU may have gone instead. Any tips or input?

Specs:
420w generic PSU
EVGA 8800GT
2x2GB GSkill RAM
320GB SATA HDD
Linksys Wireless N PCI Card
02-13-2009, 11:15 PM
ChedWick

If you are getting fan and LED light power then I can only assume its probably your video card. Any chance you or a friend has a spare video card or PSU to test with?
02-14-2009, 12:02 AM
linkinkampf19

Definitely a video card either fried or faulty from the get go. How old was the card, and the whole build if I mat ask? For now, find an old PCI or PCIe card to supplement your loss and save up for a new one.

Not that it would matter, but give it an overnight rest, and try to boot again tomorrow. I've had some things magically revive at times, just by giving them some time to cool down... could be a bad case of overheating or something in this case.

I would also suggest getting a real power supply while you are at it. I don't trust generics anymore.
02-14-2009, 01:11 AM
srsinternets

Do you guys really think its the card? I find it weird that I'm now getting no mobo/mouse/etc. power after reinstalling the GPU. But I do have another card I can test it with at my parents house, so I'll grab that tomorrow and try it. Luckily I just got my tax return back so I'll probably end up buying a 9800 GTX+ when this is all said and done, but I'll have to replace the PSU going that route anyway so I'll try that first.

The card itself is maybe 6-7 months old, and never caused an issue before. I've played Crysis on it at max with no problems. No overheating issues, power failures, anything. The entire computer itself is actually around the same age.
02-14-2009, 08:42 AM
ChedWick

Well if you really do have LED lights and fan power when you try and start up then I'm knocking out the PSU being the issue. With out video its hard to tell what you are or are not getting. I know with my set up my keyboard LED and mouse don't even fire up until after windows starts to load. Chances are you have an error that halts your machine from starting up in the POST.
02-14-2009, 11:22 AM
MrTroy

It could very well be the motherboard, especially if the mouse is not getting power from the USB or PS2 port. I assume this is a optical mouse with a red glowing light?
02-14-2009, 10:29 PM
srsinternets

Quote:

Originally Posted by MrTroy

It could very well be the motherboard, especially if the mouse is not getting power from the USB or PS2 port. I assume this is a optical mouse with a red glowing light?

I had thought of this just a couple minutes ago, so I opened my case and booted the computer, and sure enough no mobo activity. Everything that wasn't linked to the mobo was powering up no problem. I disconnected and reconnected every cable, with no luck. So while the computer was on, I messed with the cables and jiggled the bulk of them up near the PSU, and bam, power. So I guess I've got a bad, loose cable in my PSU. I'll be replacing this ASAP.

Problem solved!