Monday, December 8, 2008

The day the PC died

I dropped off a bit suddenly on Sunday afternoon, something died in my PC, I think it is memory in my graphics card

symptom:
1. main monitor switched off
2. the bios loading screen is covered in '('
3. the window splash screen loads
4. the screen where you must select a user fails to show and switches off the monitor

things tried:
1. took off the second monitor
2. swapped the monitor leads (blue plug and white (DVI?) plugs)
3. started up in safe mode
4. ran the test programmes in the hidden hard disk partition
5. initial bunch of tests showed nothing wrong
6. individual tests on the graphics showed problems in the video memory

solution
1. ordered a newer bigger graphics card (GForce 8400) as the one I have atm (GForce6800) wasn't available.
2. the slot if right (PCI express)
3. not sure about the power load, the old card had a fan on it, the new one has a heat sink
4. can't find documention anywhere on the specification of my current power transformer

One way or another I'll plug it in when it arrives and wait for something to blow up. If it doesn't then I will hopefully be back in Northrend this week, if it doesn't, it is time for a new computer.