Computer error

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2006-10-25 07:14pm

Has anyone had a computer error come up where a problem with your display occurs. Basically your screen gets broken up into vertical lines? The problem would come from the graphics card.

It doesn't all that serious. It happened on sunday after I had disassembled the fan on my graphics card to clean the fan as well as put a drop of oil in the mechanism (because the fan was having problems of an annoying sort). To fix the problem, I unplugged the card and plugged it back into the slot. It's worked normally since then, up until just a moment ago when the screen flicked and the vertical lines came back. I simply restarted my computer and it's back to normal.

So it's a problem that doesn't seem to be catastrophic, but on the other hand it's a problem I'm not sure of the cause or the solution. I haven't tested the card by playing a graphics intensive game. But normal displays are working normally.

Jaepheth · Post by **Jaepheth** » 2006-10-25 07:27pm

just blow out the cartridge...
oh... videocard

Check connections, check temperature. make sure no oil leaked onto the board, and pray it wasn't ESD

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2006-10-25 07:46pm

Post by **Beowulf** » 2006-10-25 08:34pm

Stofsk wrote:ESD?

ElectroStatic Discharge

You zapped the card, basically. It = dead.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2006-10-25 08:39pm

If it was that... it wouldn't be working at all though, right?

Post by **Beowulf** » 2006-10-25 08:40pm

Stofsk wrote:If it was that... it wouldn't be working at all though, right?

It could be working, just not well. ESD is strange like that.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2006-10-25 08:50pm

I tested it by loading up a couple of games. The card seems to be working fine.

Is there any way to test the hardware? Temperature, diagnostics, ESD?

Post by **Beowulf** » 2006-10-25 08:54pm

There's essentially no way to test for ESD. It creates microscopic faults inside the ICs. Best to just stick it in, and hope it doesn't break. Make sure to ground yourself next time.

Stofsk · Post by **Stofsk** » 2006-10-25 08:58pm

So it could be working perfectly for awhile up until one day things just go fucking pear-shaped and I'm down one expensive graphics card? Assuming this was ESD? (is there any other possibility?)