So I go to turn on my computer yesterday morning and when finishes booting up, I get a Catalyst Control Center error and the machine bluescreens (says "Memory_Management" up top). This happens several more times so I figure it was my crappy 5850 (which has been giving me other problems for months now, such as a HUGE racket that sounds like a jet engine whenever it's on.) Swap in my brother's Gigabyte 5870 which he didn't need anymore after upgrading to a 580 and the computer gets as far as the "Starting Windows" screen before the screen just goes dark.
Okay, maybe something is seriously messed up, so I go into Safe Mode (this works perfectly), back up my files on to a flash disk, then decide to reboot and reinstall Windows 7. With either card, I get as far as the initial screen with the white installation bar on the bottom. Once there, the 5850 resets the computer while the 5870 just goes dark and requires a hard power off. I can't even reinstall Windows!
I've had most of this computer for ~6 years now, so I'm wondering what is actually broken. My brother did say his 5870 gave him a few problems (graphical glitches in 3 games) but nothing major, so it isn't a perfect card. Is the PSU getting too weak with age? Is the motherboard busted (I accidentally broke the little tab thing on the PCI-E slot but I've been trying on the other PCI-E slot with the same results)? Is my ballistix at fault?
Help, I need this computer operational for work because I work at home!
Okay, maybe something is seriously messed up, so I go into Safe Mode (this works perfectly), back up my files on to a flash disk, then decide to reboot and reinstall Windows 7. With either card, I get as far as the initial screen with the white installation bar on the bottom. Once there, the 5850 resets the computer while the 5870 just goes dark and requires a hard power off. I can't even reinstall Windows!
I've had most of this computer for ~6 years now, so I'm wondering what is actually broken. My brother did say his 5870 gave him a few problems (graphical glitches in 3 games) but nothing major, so it isn't a perfect card. Is the PSU getting too weak with age? Is the motherboard busted (I accidentally broke the little tab thing on the PCI-E slot but I've been trying on the other PCI-E slot with the same results)? Is my ballistix at fault?
Help, I need this computer operational for work because I work at home!
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