PC going blank randonmly HELP

[snake_eagle]

I have the following graphics card and system:

nvidia Geforce FX5200

P4 3.06GHz
Asus P4S8X-X Motherboard
80 Gig HArdrive
SOUNDMAX Soundcard

I seem to be having problems with my graphics card. While im working on the PC my monitor screen just suddenly goes blank
i can hear PC running via background noises etc. Initially i thought i was having problems with my monitor so i switched
it with a completely different monitor and am having the same problems.

That is when i realised it is a grahics card problem. I have opened my computer and made sure that the graphics card has been
placed in properly. Still i am having the same problem. All latest drivers have been installed and the problem still persists.
I have messed around with all the settings. i.e my power settings are all set to never and monitor refresh rate is set to its lowest
and yet the problem still exists. This is becoming really frustrating:mad: . I would like to know what measures i can take which i have
not yet taken which may help with this problem. Could this be because of a bug in the graphics card or any bios setting problems? all help will be greatly appreciated

regards

[snake_eagle]

oh and one more thing :
im running windows xp home; service pack 1 and the problem started as soon as i installed xp on the comp.

[Redshift]

Try this, completly remove the driver from device manager and then reboot your machine cancel any attempts by windows to install a driver. then get the latest drivers for your card and reinstall them. thats about all i can think of as you seem to have tried everything else.

[TallCool1]

I seem to be having problems with my graphics card. While im working on the PC my monitor screen just suddenly goes blank

I agree with Redshift, your problem is driver-based; the reason being that your nVidia card is much newer than the drivers supplied with Windows XP. Download the newest ones from nVidia. Since nVidia drivers are "unified" (one size fits all), they have to be new enough to include your exact graphics chip or trouble will ensue.

I do disagree with Redshift on one point, though. In this case, it's no longer necessary to uninstall the old drivers before installing the new ones, especially with Windows XP. The nVidia installer takes care of that for you. It certainly makes life easier!

[snake_eagle]

ok guys thnx for ur advice.

ive just installed the new driver from the nvidia website.i did the long the way round (red shifts way) just to be on the safe side. any way ive done that we'll see what goes on, because its random cant tell when the problem occurs.

It dosent happen when playing games which is confusing oh i dont know see what happens.
Thnx for the help though i really appreciate it. i'll keep u guys posted

[snake_eagle]

ok today i was just browsing around the web listening to music and it happened. The screen went blank on me. i could hear the music but could get the screen to come. only after a restart did i manage to get the screen back on. mm very puzzling dont know what to do :-|

hope u guys can help im stuck.

[Monte]

Your graphics card might have gone bad, the same thing happened with me with my Geforce 4 Ti 4200.

[Redshift]

Your graphics card might have gone bad, the same thing happened with me with my Geforce 4 Ti 4200.

I have to agree, however there is one more thing you can try. Run your computer with the case open for a while and see if the problem goes away if it does it's likely to be heat related. Do you have the option to try the card in another machine for a while to determine if the fault is on the card it'self or a Computer or O/S problem. What about putting you're original O/S back on the machine to see if the problem goes away or maybe re-install Windows XP. I know re-installing is a pain but it's better than buying a new card which you don't need.

Good Luck

[snake_eagle]

thnx for the advice will do that...

I was reading around and i did a memtest today on my computer and i got a lot of errors for my memory.
EEC Errors = 0
Errors = around 7420

could this be a problem which is making my comp screen go blank?? is there anyway i can recover my RAM or do i have to scrap it and get some new RAM.
Another thing is when i start the comp, i hear a loud fan noise is that like normal??
From looking at the BIOS my heating settings are:
MB Temperature : 27.5C/ 81.5F
CPU Temprature: 53C/ 127F

CPU Fan Speed : 3214RPM
Vcore Voltage : 1.58V

Are these temps normal if not how can i make them normal? im realy crap at this. thnx for all the help so far it is greatly appreciated.

[steven_s-h]

Those temps should be ok. The CPU temp is a bit hot (should really be < 50), but 53C shouldn't be a problem. I'd replace the RAM if I were you. Bad RAM can cause random window errors like that.

Maybe you should download a temparature monitor utility and see what the CPU temparature is like under load.

[TallCool1]

I was reading around and i did a memtest today on my computer and i got a lot of errors for my memory.
EEC Errors = 0
Errors = around 7420

could this be a problem which is making my comp screen go blank?
-------------------------------------
MB Temperature : 27.5C/ 81.5F
CPU Temprature: 53C/ 127F

Are these temps normal if not how can i make them normal? i'm realy crap at this. thnx for all the help so far it is greatly appreciated.

Bad RAM will absolutely cause the screen to go blank, especially if the bad RAM is in the range of the graphics buffer.

The RAM itself may not be bad, especially with that many errors. More likely, the DIMMs are poorly seated or have dirty contacts, or both. First, get a wrist grounding strap at a Radio Shack or electronics supply shop and ground yourself to the case. I would remove the DIMMs, clean the edge contacts with 90%-or-higher isopropyl alcohol and a cotton swab, then reinstall the DIMMs, making sure that they are fully tipped into the socket and that the latches snap into place. Rubbing alcohol is not pure enough -- you can get nearly-pure isopropanol by going to a discount store or auto supply and buying an isopropyl-alcohol "drygas" like ISO-Heet. One way to tell if it's isopropanol is to look at the back of the bottle -- it should say. If the bottle has a skull-and-crossbones and says Poison, then it's methyl alcohol. Isopropanol is toxic, but not particularly poisonous. Methanol is both a less-effective solvent and a less-effective gas dryer.

As to the temperatures, a 53C CPU is a bit high, unless you are overclocked. Since the MB temperature is basically normal, you might want to check that the CPU heatsink is of good quality and properly greased. You might even look into upgrading the heatsink; the cooler a CPU runs, the longer it lasts -- and with fewer soft errors.

[snake_eagle]

ok another thing happened which was different from usual and which might
narrow the reasons of my problems.

well i was playing music and the scrren went blank for a second and the screen came back on but the desktop image was distorted(as in the windows were fuzzy and yellow lines were going acrooss the screen) basically the image was normal. ok i carried on working and as i moved the cursor across the screen and the screen went blank again for a second and the image went worse only after a restart did this problem be sorted. what could this narrow down to ? any input will be greatly appreciated.

i will work on the RAM and get back to u with the results i really appreciate all the help

[snake_eagle]

ok ive taken out the ram cleaned the and replaced them making sure that they are tightly put into place. also i cleaned the graphics card and reset the mother board. hope this works gonna see if it happens again . But guys just would like to thank all of you for your help really appreciated this.

[snake_eagle]

ok the darn thing happened today this morning, it seem to happen when im maximising ordinary interent pages. wierd huh? well after cleaning out the RAM im thinking of totally getting rid of it and purchasing some new ones... anything else u guys suggest would be appreciated

[psychoman]

:) hi i'm new to this , but just to let you know that i have had similar problems and one thing that i have found is while tinkering with the bios i inadvertantly adjusted the frequency of the graphics card ( overclocked it i think) this caused me loads of problems right down to corupt graphics at boot up and in windows, but yes replace the memory with some well known makes and preferbly one with micron chips on it, and if that does not solve it then i think you need to change the graphics card.:)