What the eff is going on with my computer

Fandyien

I am beginning to suspect my video card on my desktop has burned out or something. Whenever I flip the machine on, about 70% of the time the startup screen fragments and goes crazy and then just never gets past that; after about a minute of said fragmenting, a little box appears on my monitor that says "Monitor going to sleep" and "DVI Input - Inactive" and then I'm fucked.

About 30% of the time, I can get the whole shebang to boot up and run programs and shit. This lasts for five minutes, tops. Then my shit freezes up and sometimes I see some weird colors and the monitor gives me the exact same message and I'm fucked again.

Then, finally, maybe 5% of the time, it turns and works like a charm. The monitor doesn't shut itself off. Nothing freezes. I can run old games fine, but after more then five minutes with something like fallout three or WoW everything freezes and the monitor turns off.

What the eff is going on? Does my video card not like my monitor? I have an HP w1907 and an x1600 pro. I've seen that "DVI Input - Inactive Message" probably over a thousand times the last month and I'm fucking fed up with it. I know it isn't a software problem because this started before I reformatted several times and after every reformat - even with fresh drivers - the errors persisted.

I'm at the end of my knowledge. Is my hardware boned? Should I lug my big-ass crt monitor back up from the basement and see if it's just this fancy flatscreen and it's gay dvi?

shadydentist

Does your motherboard have integrated graphics? Take out your video card and see if it works?

Madpanda

Try anything you can before spending money.

1. Try different monitors
2. Try different DVI inputs on the video card, also a different cable if you have one (possibly a vga with vga->dvi adapter)
3. Try reseating (taking it out and putting it back in) the video card.
4. Make sure all connections to it are secure, try a different power connector to the video card if it uses one.
5. Also figure out what kind of power supply you have and if it can indeed handle your video card. If you have an old 250w and are trying to run 4 drives and a video card, might be dicey.

Fandyien

I don't have an integrated card, and I do think I have an older power supply - the mobo and whatnot are about five years old, I've just upgraded the card/ram/added another hard drive since then.

I'll haul out my VGA cords and another monitor and see if that works. Just now I tried to turn it on, got to my desktop, and it started flashing blue and magnifying the center of the screen - it was very confusing. I've never seen errors like this and they seem to occur without rhyme or reason.

How do I try different DVI inputs? Can I adjust those in the catalyst control center?

Madpanda

If your video card looks like

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-x1600-pro,1267.html

You don't have multiple DVI, newer cards do and sometimes one can go bad.

OremLK

Was about to come in here and talk about your power supply and video card, but Madpanda covered everything nicely. I'll agree with trying different monitors/cables if you have them available (or can get a friend to bring one over), but failing that, sounds like it's time for some NewEgg.

My first recourse for stability problems, by the way, is this: When in doubt, check the power supply. So if you end up replacing something, don't forget that.

Fandyien

So I've occasionally gotten a BSOD in my attempts to get to that 5% and make my machine work for awhile; it says that "atidVg2 has gotten stuck in an infinite loop, this is indicative of a hardware error or driver error". I updated my drivers yesterday, so I assume this means my video card is failing.

OremLK

Again, it could just be not getting enough power, thereby causing errors; don't automatically assume it's the video card, although it could well be.

Madpanda

Fandyien - what steps have you taken so far? Another option could be picking up a cheap video card from a store that has a good return policy (no restocking fee, will take open hardware) and seeing if it works.

If you are still getting the issue with a different video card you should strip the system down to essentials (1 harddrive etc) and if its stable keep slowly re adding things until it breaks.

Dixon

Also see if you can smell any burning plastic or what not. Check the capicitors around the CPU/Heatsink to see if any of them are swelling.

How long ago did you do the upgrades and what sort of PSU are you using in terms of wattage and the 12 volt rail current?

Hopefully its just a simple problem like re-seating, check to see if the card is running hot also