Possible video card or motherboard issue

[Paladin3]

I've got a P4 system with an ECS P4M800-pro (v1.0) motherboard running Win 7 Pro that has been having trouble with the graphics display. It will start up just fine and run well, but after running for a while (10minutes - several hours) it will scramble the display. My first thought was heat, but the system, cpu and video card are all running very cool.

Symptoms and troubleshooting steps:

-The issue only affects the display. When it scrambles the computer remains running and I can use ALT-F4 to shut the system down.

-Problem occurs weather I am idling, browsing the web, or doing something more graphic intense like gaming or running video.

-Replaced the X1600pro AGP video card with a known working X800 pro AGP video card and problem persists.

-Pulled video card and ran on integrated motherboard graphics and system ran with zero issues for several weeks.

-Unplugged DVD drive, extra HD and several fans to see if maybe 400w PSU was being overwhelmed, but problem still persisted.

-Tried increasing the AGP slot voltage slightly but didn't help.

-Used different cables from the power supply and bought a new adapter but didn't help.

I'm guessing it's either a motherboard issue or an issue with the AGP slot itself. How would I test that further?

Thanks for your help.

 

[denis280]

Is your bios up to date.and if you unplug hdd dvd.it will not make any change. am guessing it's a psu issue.

 

[Paladin3]

Is your bios up to date.and if you unplug hdd dvd.it will not make any change. am guessing it's a psu issue.

Yes, it has the latest bios, which was installed several years ago (ecs isn't updating it any longer.)

I unplugged the extra hdd, dvd and an extra slot fan to lower the pull on the psu. It made no difference.

Thanks for the input.

 

[denis280]

have you tried to go in bios. and see if integrated graphics is disable.when you put the other one in.I know it sounds weird.but i did get some gigabyte and ecs mobo acting this way.

 

[Paladin3]

have you tried to go in bios. and see if integrated graphics is disable.when you put the other one in.I know it sounds weird.but i did get some gigabyte and ecs mobo acting this way.

There is no setting to disable the integrated video in the bios, the system just ignores it if you have a video card installed. It's been running that way for several years without a problem until this started up in the last month.

I just flashed the bios to the latest version, which was the same it had before, to rule that out. I also deleted and reinstalled the latest catalyst drivers. No luck. I think I'll try to get my hands on a power supply to swap that out...or test mine with my multimeter if I can find a howto guide online.

Other than that I can only guess it's the motherboard and/or agp slot has gone bad, but funny how the system will run for weeks without a problem if I just take the video card out and go with integrated graphics.

 

[denis280]

Well with everything you done. there is something wrong with the mobo

 

[TemjinGold]

Have you tried a different video cable (from card to monitor)?

 

[BoomerD]

My first suspicion would be the ECS motherboard. They were always pretty flaky IMO, but I'd also suspect the PSU. You haven't told us what kind it is...nor how old.

 

[Paladin3]

My first suspicion would be the ECS motherboard. They were always pretty flaky IMO, but I'd also suspect the PSU. You haven't told us what kind it is...nor how old.

ECS has a bad reputation, but this MB has been rock solid for me for over 5 years. The PSU is 5 years old, too, and a no name 400w unit. When I look in bios all the voltage readings look normal and don't fluctuate, but I haven't tested with my multimeter to confirm that.

I think I've narrowed it pretty much down to the AGP slot on the motherboard. It could be the PSU, but neither one of the cards I've tried are really power hogs and disconnecting every unnecessary piece of hardware doesn't help.

I've also had it scramble the screen without even booting into Windows. I went into setup and after about 10 minutes it did it. So it's not Windows or a driver issue.

I've tried two monitors with two different cables and also tried using the DVI port with an adapter. No luck.

 

[BoomerD]

The last ECS motherboard I owned crapped the AGP socket...and my GT6800 video card at the same time.
Of course, I didn't know the board had gone until I replaced the video card...and things still were dark. Bought a new board, and Voila!
Had I known from the start that both were shot, I'd have upgraded from socket 478 to 775...It would have only been another couple hundred $$...and my P4 processor still had SOME value at the time.