computer freezes, "no signal"

[ModerateRepZero]

There are times after I turn on the computer and am on it for awhile that 1 of 2 things happen: either the screen freezes and I can't move my mouse, or some white spots start appearing near the top of the screen or there's some color streaks running thru my computer before the monitor goes dead with the message "no signal".

The only temporary fix I've found is to turn off the computer, wait about 45 seconds, and then restart....although in rare cases it freezes at startup.

I was thinking it might be the monitor or graphics card but it seems hard to say without swapping parts and testing. Quick google search said it could be any number of things, including hard drive or the power supply.

Thoughts?

 

[C1]

Graphics card or PSU (in that order). As a minimum, check that the GPU fan is working in good order. If I think that there is a heating problem/issue, I'll pull off the side cover and run a house fan full blast into the case innards while testing the system to determine if it still locks up. If it doesnt, then the assumption is that a component such as the GPU or even CPU or memory was over temping.

 

[Steltek]

Also, what GPU and power supply do you have? Have you checked to see if your PSU puts out enough wattage to support your graphics card with everything else installed in your system?

 

[ModerateRepZero]

Interesting (minor) update:

Went on a trip for about 2 weeks and when I came back it seems to have gotten worse; After an initial 14-16 minutes before freezing, it was working no more than 3-6 minutes. Will take the computer case to a family friend to look at tonight (Sun).

The real odd thing is that after a number of bootups where I've maybe an even number of freezes both after loading on normal (can't seem to get to safe mode), and freezes during or just after MB logo bootup, right now it's been going for I think 15+ minutes with no freeze *scratches head*. Still need to get it looked though....

Graphics card is a Nvidia 9400 GT. Not sure of PSU; it might be a stock from the Inspiron case.

 

[denis280]

After making sure the psu i up for the card.if it still doing it.i would suggest running a CHKDSK