Member Avatar for Newber

I have an old EVGA gaming machine that is about 3 yrs old. I am not sure if this thing was ever 100% even when it was brand new. I was always using the current drivers, dx9 ect…
1. For the first few months I would lose my resolution every once in a while and it would look like an old television with a rabbit ear antenna.
2. Then I eventually reinstalled windows and after that it seemed to work good for a little over a year.
3. Then starting about a year ago (only when in game) my graphics card would reset, pc would reboot or I would get a black screen and have to shut down my pc manually. This sort of thing started slowly then it got to be an every day event.

So I got a new graphics card 7800 GS with this I started to get a whole new list of problems.
1. Out of game my video card was resetting
2. Unable to use players or my resolution would crash to the point of manual shutdown.

Someone suggested a new power supply. So I got a 350 watt. This did not help still have the same problems.

I don’t think that I have a ram problem but I switched them around just for the hell of it and I still had the same problem. Then I pulled the ram out and after my pc wouldn’t start back up. It turns on but no graphics. I have seen this before and I know there is a way of starting my machine back up using an outside PS but I have forgotten how.

Any suggestions before I gut this pos and turn it into a web browsing machine?

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by jbennet

Dani AI

Generated

Short, practical plan to isolate the fault and get the machine powering again.

The starting point is to treat this as a three-way isolation: power delivery, graphics card hardware, or motherboard. and already pointed at the PSU side — that is sensible — but it is best to prove which subsystem is failing before buying parts. Perform a minimal bench boot and some quick visual checks first: unplug every nonessential drive and card, inspect the motherboard for bulging or leaking capacitors, confirm the GPU fan spins freely, and reseat the GPU and all power cables.

If a spare ATX PSU is available, use it to confirm the system can post. Safe repower steps:

  1. Power down and unplug the mains. Touch the case to discharge static.
  2. Swap the suspect PSU for a known-good unit. Connect the main 20/24‑pin ATX plug and the CPU 4/8‑pin EPS plug. Attach any PCIe GPU power leads if the card requires them.
  3. Connect only one stick of RAM and the GPU (or use onboard video if present). Leave HDDs and optical devices disconnected.
  4. Power on the PSU switch, then press the case power button. If no front-panel connector is present, short the motherboard power-switch pins briefly with a screwdriver.
  5. If you have no spare PSU and need to test a PSU by itself, only do the paperclip (PS_ON to ground) test with every component unplugged and with extreme caution.

If the spare PSU brings the system to life, the original PSU is the culprit. If the system still dies under load even with a good PSU, test the graphics card in another working PC (or try a different GPU in this board) to isolate the card vs. motherboard. Also check Windows Event Viewer for display-driver crashes and monitor GPU temperatures under load. Replace the failing component based on the isolation result; choose a high-quality replacement PSU with adequate 12V capacity and a reputable brand rather than buying the cheapest unit.

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Member Avatar for Freaktech

Depending on how many drives @ what rpms, how much RAM, and what other options on you system a 350 watt PS will not be enough. You should really be running at least a 500 watt. I would really suggest a 750.

Member Avatar for Newber

well if that is the case then i am going to put all the old components back in, take the 350W PS back and make this pc strickley for web browsing/dling. Then buy a barebones kit for my card and make a strickly gaming pc.

Well does anyone know how to repower my machine back up? This happened once before when i was massing around with my ram and a friend repowered it back up but i forgot how he did it. =P

Member Avatar for jbennet

350 watt isnt enough

your graphics card needs 450+

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