computer is acting weird

ecaandrew

Member
Jul 19, 2004
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my computer seems to be acting weird, everytime i turn it on, my dual monitors get green hatch marks all over and freaks out, screen freezes up, and when you try to restart and turn back on it doesnt work it shows hatches again. but if i let it rest for 30 mins or more, it works just fine for about 2 mins and does the same thing. i have dual 1800+ mps , 64mb geforce gainward 4x card, 400watt powersupply, 30 and 60gb hdd's, cdrw and dvdrw, 512 ecc ram, about 6 fans and a cathode light, heatsing fan, tiger mp motherboard. i think it might be a video card or powersupply issue, but if anyone can post suggestions please help thanks.
 

pirred908

Senior member
Jul 1, 2004
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Its probably your video card? Is the GPU fan working? Sound like your GPU is overheating.
 

ecaandrew

Member
Jul 19, 2004
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and do you think 400 watts is enough for all that, dual cpus, tons of fans, light, etc... also when the screen freezes up , keyboard dont work.
 

ChineseGuy

Senior member
Aug 20, 2004
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Think you might have to RMA that video card :-\ I was working on a customer's machine. Same issue, "Glitch" on screen when turned on, then freezes. Test your video card on another computer (buddy's?) and see if the same thing happens there. Hope that helps. It won't hurt to take down all those lights just for testing purposes. And maybe get your system to boot up in the most basic format (ex: video,cpu,mobo,mem) and no data cable or anything that is "useless" at that moment...
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
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Originally posted by: ecaandrew
and do you think 400 watts is enough for all that, dual cpus, tons of fans, light, etc... also when the screen freezes up , keyboard dont work.
Is it a high-quality 400W PSU, or a cheap 400W?
 

pirred908

Senior member
Jul 1, 2004
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Originally posted by: ecaandrew
would it matter if i had a pci fan below the video card ?

If this is the case and the GPU is not properly being cooled, than no, a simple case fan will not due. You will need to buy a cooler specifically for the GPU.

Chances are you just got a dead card.
 

ecaandrew

Member
Jul 19, 2004
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the fan on the 3d card it self ( GPU ) seems to be working fine. the only way i have been able to fix this before has been to reformatt, and after about a week it always happens again, sometimes more than a week sometimes less. i have updated my motherboard bios and i have made sure i properly instaleed the most recent graphic drivers. should i go ahead and buy a new graphics card? or do you still think this is a graphics card issue?
 

ecaandrew

Member
Jul 19, 2004
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well the resolutions since its dual monitor are on both 1280 by 1024 and i cant work with em any less, and the refresh rates are at 60 hertz is that too high for a 64 meg gainward Geforce 4?
 

remagavon

Platinum Member
Jun 16, 2003
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If you get lines in the screen at bootup, I'd say it's definately the graphics card... the fact that it works fine when the pc is off for an extended period of time says that it's likely a heat issue- whether on the card itself or elsewhere.

Good luck
 

ecaandrew

Member
Jul 19, 2004
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well my comp gets those lines before it loads windows, once you get it started, but sometimes like now i can probably have it run all night and itll be fine. so it reallv varrys, like earlier today i couldnt have it on for more t han 5 min, and now i have had it runnign for about an hour, and i have been tryen to use alot of my resources and trying to get some good lagg-age going, but nope the screens wont freak out. and other ideas?
 

Anubis08

Senior member
Aug 24, 2004
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Originally posted by: ecaandrew
well the resolutions since its dual monitor are on both 1280 by 1024 and i cant work with em any less, and the refresh rates are at 60 hertz is that too high for a 64 meg gainward Geforce 4?

The best I can tell you is look in your manual for supported specs or get online with customer support
 

Sid59

Lifer
Sep 2, 2002
11,879
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Originally posted by: mechBgon
Originally posted by: ecaandrew
and do you think 400 watts is enough for all that, dual cpus, tons of fans, light, etc... also when the screen freezes up , keyboard dont work.
Is it a high-quality 400W PSU, or a cheap 400W?

just to bump this question. it's important.
 

stevty2889

Diamond Member
Dec 13, 2003
7,036
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There is a good chance it is the video card, but it could also be the power supply. If it is not a good name brand power supply I would be very suspicious of it. You can try the video card in another computer to test it, and you can also start unplugging some of those 6 fans to the cathode light, and one of the hard drives and see if it still does it to test out your power supply.
 

ecaandrew

Member
Jul 19, 2004
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dont have another computer to test video card in, and what about video card vga bios updates or whatever, what exactly is taht? would that do anything?
 

mechBgon

Super Moderator<br>Elite Member
Oct 31, 1999
30,699
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So it's a low-quality 400W then, I'm guessing? ;) If you have dual 1280 x 1024 displays, surely you can justify a good Antec TruePower430 :)