PAQ

[Julian]

So, the computer's been running a week. My girlfriend switches it on this morning, comes back to a Vista blue screen of death (Not that new, not that improved). On reboot, my vastly expensive GeForce 7900 is displaying graphical corruption. Horrible, unusable graphical corruption.

Is the card fried? Is there anything I can do bar send it back? Will I even get my money back now that I've thrown the packaging away? (The last one's probably more of a question for DABS than PaQ, but it's preying on my mind right now...) How on earth did it get fried in the first place?

[admin]

Hi Julian,


That does sound like a straight hardware failure, and the warrenty should not be dependant on keeping the packaging.


I'm assuming that this horrible corruption occurs even if you go into Bios setup or boot into DOS or Linux.

That would indicate a hardware failure. A bad connection could have that effect as well... but with the card screwed in to the Mobo Assembly that's not a likely cause.

A Mobo fault could also produce the same effect, but the Graphics card remains the prime suspect.

I'd beg borrow or steal a cheap replacement just to prove that the fault is hardware and does lie with the graphicas card... but if that's the case it is a RMA and return job, I'm afraid.


Peter

[Julian]

Yeah, the corruption is everywhere, even the BIOS boot screen.

Although it wasn't doing anything much at the time, is it possible it had overheated the previous night? It occurs to me that the standard motherboard design of sticking processor next to graphics card is a rather stupid design for heat management.

Any recommendations for a cheap card I can pick up at TCR tonight?

[admin]

Hi Julian,


I doubt it overheated. The PaQ case internal temperature is quite cool because the CPU heat is exhausted straight out of the case; plus and those cards are designed to run in a PC and the one you had also pushes its exhaust straight out of the back.


It depends on how cheap, and how fast. My favorite card is the Gigabyte 7300GS which costs just under ?40 (inc VAT ex Delivery) at Scan. and you can get cheaper 7300s under ?30.

But if you want a serious gaming card it's harder...



Peter

[Julian]

Well, this is more a stopgap card to allow the computer to be usable in the next two weeks, so a cheap and reliable card appeals. Lord knows what it's going to set me back up Tottenham Court Road, but you pays your money and takes your chances...