Video card issues (radeon 9800 pro)

bwanie

So my boss brought his old desktop in today and complained about the screen going "all weird".

Indeed the picture is distorted and doing all kinds of weird stuff. After opening it up and re-inserting the video card, the picture is better, but it becomes worse over time or if the machine is moved (i mean just a light tap to the machine, not picking it up and moving it literally).

I've eliminated most causes (faulty cable, faulty cable-connectors) so it appears to be the videocard itself. I saw that the fan was missing a blade or 2, so it could be overheating.

But given the fact that even the slightest nudge to the machine or the cable results in immediate increase in distortion, regardless of how long it's been running, i'm thinking it must be something else.

Is is possible that the problem is on the AGP connector on the motherboard? because i'd hate to order a new videocard and experience the same problem. Unfortunately i have no other AGP cards the size of a radeon lying around to test that.

FYI it's a Dell dimension 8300 machine.

wasted pixels

While the "tap" bit is odd (and does imply a faulty connection), the other symptoms sound more like overheating than anything. Temporary visual distortion (especially escalating visual distortion) is almost always heat related. This is a bit of a shot in the dark, but it could be a poorly seated CPU fan I guess, that would explain why the problem gets worse when you bump it... but at the same time, that shouldn't result in an instantaneous deterioration, it should be gradual, even if just a few seconds.

Some more exotic possibilities include capacitor rot, or maybe heat damage to one of the ICs.

Whatever the hell it is, it's a pretty safe bet that the motherboard isn't at fault here, so I would feel pretty okay about ordering a replacement card.

bwanie

Thanks for replying!

Anywho, I already convinced the supplier to let me send it back if the problem is not fixed by a replacement card.

brandotheninjamaster

One thing you could try is to get some isopropyl alcohol and Q-tips and clean the bottom connectors of the video card (I forget what its actually called, but its where the video card plugs into the AGP/PCI slot). You could also try and clean the slot itself (just make sure the power is off and discharged etc).