computer problem - black screen

[QueBert]

This is a friends PC who isn't local, they said the screen went white and then black and they had to do a hard reset. This was last night, tonight it did the same thing. Except when they reset it stayed black. No BIOS screen or anything, so it's not a Windows problem. They hooked up a different monitor and that didn't come on either. So I tried Teamviewer (remote access proggy) and was able to connect, but I got a black screen. Moving my mouse around chunks of the screen could would start to pop up as the cursor moved. Now when I saw this I was almost 100% going to tell them to order a MB, but I started to think about it since I've never seen this exact problem. I'm wondering could it be the video card? The PC's about 2 years old and here are the specs the best I can remember them

p43 MB with a C2D
4 gigs ddr2
ATI Raedon 4870
Thermaltake 550 Watt PSU (not sure the exact model)
Samsung SSD


I'm 100+ miles away and not sure what I should tell them to order, I can't see it being anything except the MB or possibly the video card. But the fact I can connect remotely is telling me it might not be the motherboard, since Windows is in fact loading normally. Well outside of no image on the screen lol. I'm unsure of anything I could tell them to try.

 

[TechAZ]

Did you ask your friend to take out the graphics card and see if the problem goes away?

 

[QueBert]

Did you ask your friend to take out the graphics card and see if the problem goes away?

No I didn't, I'm going there tonight will try it myself, they're not comfortable getting inside a computer.

 

[BoomerD]

If he takes out the graphics card, the computer won't even boot...and if he does, where will he connect his monitor? (unless he has some other type of graphics adapter...)

I agree that it sounds like the GPU, but it COULD also be a failing power supply.

 

[TechAZ]

If he takes out the graphics card, the computer won't even boot...and if he does, where will he connect his monitor? (unless he has some other type of graphics adapter...)

I agree that it sounds like the GPU, but it COULD also be a failing power supply.

Is this a joke, or have I been out of the tech business for so long that there are motherboards without on-board graphics with a monitor port?

 

[QueBert]

Is this a joke, or have I been out of the tech business for so long that there are motherboards without on-board graphics with a monitor port?

There are a lot of MB's without integrated graphics, there are a lot that do have them, but this is unfortunately one that doesn't. If she had intergrated graphics that would have been one of the 1st things I had told her to try.

 

[TechAZ]

There are a lot of MB's without integrated graphics, there are a lot that do have them, but this is unfortunately one that doesn't. If she had intergrated graphics that would have been one of the 1st things I had told her to try.

Oh man, I had no idea. Do you have a spare to try out?

 

[BoomerD]

Is this a joke, or have I been out of the tech business for so long that there are motherboards without on-board graphics with a monitor port?

I don't think I've owned a motherboard with on-board graphics in more than 15 years...except my laptop...nor do I want one.

 

[QueBert]

it's still doing it, less frequently, but it did it on me when I was away and it was copying some files to an external HD. The GPU fan spun up quite a bit and the red led on the back of the card came on. I left, still not sure if I need to tell them to order a PSU or a video card.