Solved Is my PSU dying?

[EdHorny]

Hey folks,
I recently added a NIC card to my comp because the one on my motherboard wouldn't work preoperly. Everything was fine for a few days but then my graphics card began to play up. The top of the display was fine, but the bottom three quarters was a cross between grey and odd colours. I took the NIC card out thinking I had overloaded the graphics card, turned it on and all was fine. Then after 5 minutes it began to play up again, but only when I was burning a DVD. I think it's the PSU as it's 2 and a half years old, I don't think it's pumping out enough juice for everything. The problem is gradually getting worst.

Would you recomend a PSU change or do you know if it's something else. Your help is appreciated.

ED

 

[Dwarf]

Hi Ed and welcome to Vista Forums

It's possible, but unlikely. What has probably happened is that you have knocked your graphics card when inserting the NIC card, with the result that it is no longer seated correctly in its slot. What I suggest is that you remove the card, blow the slot out to remove any dust and then reinsert the card securely. If your motherboard has onboard graphics, you might also like to try using that prior to reinstalling the graphics card just in case the card is failing. If the graphics problem disappears when you use the onboard graphics but return when you use the card, then the card has most likely failed.

 

[EdHorny]

I've taken the card out, checked it and made sure it's seated correctly. It works fine until I come to do something like burn DVD's or save something and then after 5 minutes the monitor is back to normal. I have already brought a new graphics card. i'll drop that in and see if that's fine.

Cheers
ED

 

[EdHorny]

I feel like a clown. It was my Viewsonic 21 inch monitor dying. Now got a Samsung 20 inch widescreen.

ED

 

[Dwarf]

Me too. The following should really have woken the brain cell up:

The top of the display was fine, but the bottom three quarters was a cross between grey and odd colours.

Any how, pleased that you have resolved your problem. Sometimes, it's the obvious things that cause problems, but these are the things that are most often overlooked, particularly in your case where the problem coincidentally started to manifest itself at the same time as you adding a card in your system.