A grand hardware riddle: Why doesn't my computer work? - Hardware & Software

Here is a great brain teaser for you. Please solve it because I'm stumped. I'm on my laptop right now. This isn't just so I can lie on my bed. My desktop pc is absolutely buggered, and I have no idea why. This is the story. My computer works just fine. It has an Nvidia 8800GTS graphics card in it and runs fantastically. However, it's getting to be a bit slow, so I finally, after a year of my current card, install Windows 7. A few hours later, Windows 7 is installed, everything is fine and I'm playing Half-Life 2, just to check that everything is alright, which it is. The next day, I turn my computer on and play Half-Life 2... but a couple of minutes in, pieces of the game world disappear, and the game freezes with strange purple and blue dots all over the screen. I restart my computer and run Half-Life 2... a couple of minutes in, I have the same problem. All games have the same, or similar, problems. I even manage to get a few blue screens. Eventually I decide to take the graphics card from another computer, another Nvidia card, and stick it in my computer. It works absolutely fine with no hiccups. This leads me to believe that my old card has just reached the end of its life, and so I can just stick with this inferior card until my new Nvidia 9800 GT is delivered. It's monday and my new card arrives. I've even installed some more RAM to boost my pc from 2gb to 4gb. I install the new card and find, after loading windows, that there are lines down the screen, and areas are distorted. Perhaps this was a pre-drivers display issue? I install the drivers. I restart my computer... ...the computer is buggered. The black screen you get when loading, wherein it does hardware checks, telling you it has harddisks, etcetera? Instead of writing, there are large, white and distorted blocks, lines down the screen... absolutely unreadable. BIOS has the same issue, with a blue background and flickering, multicoloured blocks. I let it load Windows, and it crashes. Blue screen after a minute. I put the card into another computer. Same problem. I put it into a slightly better computer, or rather a computer with a better make of motherboard and processor, and the issue is much the same. Now, however, BIOS is just about readable and Windows loads. Confused? I know I am. So is my brand new card broken already? If so, was it the manufacturer's fault, or was it something in my computer? My motherboard, apparently, isn't much good, but it's done fine for the past two years. I install Windows 7 and my card breaks... which suggests that WIndows 7 has done something, right? Well then why did it work for a few hours before breaking? On the other hand, maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe my card was on its last legs and decided to give out, by chance, after installing Windows 7. Then I got a broken graphics card in the post. At any rate, if anyone has come across a similar problem, or knows what might be the problem, it'd be great if they could respond. I chose this forum because of its high activity... and because I'm already signed onto it. So can anyone shed any light on this? I'd rather know if there is indeed a seperate hardware issue which could potentially cause this problem, like a screwy power supply or something, before accidentally breaking another graphics card.

sounds like it's just a Dead on Arrival card, RMA it

Yeah, the card is broken.

Could be PSU, how many watts is it?

[quote]It has an Nvidia 8800GTS graphics card in it and runs fantastically. However, it's getting to be a bit slow, so I finally, after a year of my current card, install Windows 7.[/quote] But yeah, card's prolly dying or PSU's got problems. Could also check drivers, though I dunno if that could be the cause.

Apparently it can't be drivers, because even BIOS is screwed up, so it is most likely a hardware problem... probably the graphics card. I just find it a bit of a coincidence that one Nvidia card breaks, and then a new one breaks with... similar symptoms. I also can't imagine why I'd get a blue screen if it's just the graphics card. PSU is 550W.

Wait what, thought you had the same card. Gimme bad readings. :frown:

graphics card shouldn't affect the BIOS, try using the VGA/DVI out on your motherboard

Either: 1) Your PSU is failing, causing artefacts on your old and new cards. or 2) You're unlucky and your old card broke and your new card is DOA (well, not dead, but broken).

Yeah, I've come to that conclusion... it's the only one that explains why the graphics card stolen from the other computer works, while the other two (the new one and the old one) don't. I'm just a little concerned that something in my computer broke it... somehow. When the card re-arrives, as it were, I'm going to stick it in another computer, and then in my computer. Whether it works or breaks at any point will determine the problem... to an extent. I just hope that I can get a refund after having already sent it back once :P Here's hoping it was simply coincidence which caused the failings. And thankyou thus far for your help ;D

[QUOTE=JB91;24806395]Apparently it can't be drivers, because even BIOS is screwed up, so it is most likely a hardware problem... probably the graphics card. I just find it a bit of a coincidence that one Nvidia card breaks, and then a new one breaks with... similar symptoms. I also can't imagine why I'd get a blue screen if it's just the graphics card. PSU is 550W.[/QUOTE] My comp blue screen's when its a gfx card failure.