The likely culprit?

[damocles]

Hi,

Currently when I am using my computer the monitor will periodically go black on me. This can occur infrequently or several times in a minute. The blackness only ever lasts about a second and then the screen returns to normal.

This occurs whether the PC is idle or I am playing games etc (so far playing games doesn't seem to make it any more likely to happen). Although it happens less when I leave the case open

I suspect it is a hardware issue and maybe heat related. I am running a dual core E6300 (default heat sink at the moment) and a Geforce 7900 with a Zalman orb cooler on it. My pc has performed flawlessly for months.

Anyone suggest how I can isolate what the problem is other than taking the whole machine to the shop?

Cheers

 

[hjo3]

I'd start off by swapping out your monitor (just because it's so easy, even though your results with the case open suggest it's not the problem), then your video card if the problem continues.

Also (and I'm not totally sure you can do this with the Geforce 7900; I assume you can), you might try routing the output through the 2nd DVI port (assuming you're only using one display).

This should narrow the suspects down a little.

 

[damocles]

Thanks,

I have now run the PC for ~ 12 hours with the case open with no flashing at all. When I put the cover back on the flash restarts. The cooler on the card is certainly working.

The video card is factory overclocked. I'll try dropping it to default speeds and seeing if that makes a difference