Could a bad power supply be the cause of my video problems?

[Medellon]

I have a GeForce4 4200 video card and I think it may be bad. All of a sudden while playing 3D games, the screen goes blank and my monitor appears to go into sleep mode with the monitor power light blinking. I tried rebooting my computer but now I get no picture at all, not even the bios post message. My monitor says that it is good and to check the video cables or computer because it is not getting a video signal. I replaced this card with an old Geforce 256 and the computer boots normally now and I get a normal picture. Is my new video card bad and how can I test it? I had someone say that a bad power supply could be the culprit but why would one card work and the other not work? Thanks.

 

[everman]

What brand of PSU and Wattage? I've run into a problem before where a pc could barely handle a geforce 4 because of the PSU not having enough power.

 

[Mem]

I had someone say that a bad power supply could be the culprit but why would one card work and the other not work? Thanks.

A GF4 will use more power then a Geforce 256 so it`s possible it could be a PSU problem,however I would try the GF4 card in another PC like a friends ,if your friends have a GF4 or good quality PSU so much the better.

 

[Medellon]

The power supply is a generic 300W unit I bought at CompUSA. Any other way to test a card besides sticking it in another computer?

 

[ScrapSilicon]

Originally posted by: Medellon
The power supply is a generic 300W unit I bought at CompUSA. Any other way to test a card besides sticking it in another computer?

pretty much that is it