The chipset fan died on my computer and after awhile it shut itself down. I replaced the fan (bought one that was recommended, but ended up not having the holes on either side to pin it to the board... It just had a thin layer of double-sided tape that didn't hold worth crap, wtf were they thinking... I have another one on order with the pin holes, meanwhile running with the tower on its side so at least gravity is working with me), however when it boots now everything seems fine until it gets to where it display the desktop background. Slowly continues loading, however the graphics are... wonky... No totally screwed up like I've seen with a bad video card before, but not right.
Two thin lines, about 1-2 px is all (both horizontal, one near the center of the monitor, the other maybe 1/4" from the top), where it looks lie it just didn't render those spots right. Both lines are pink/purple and black, alternating across the screen.
Also, the screen will go black for a split second, then come back. Mouse and keyboard responsiveness is slow or non-existent. Graphics get slightly worse as it runs. Windows don't redraw correctly (or at all).
Now, I can boot into safe mode and all is well. I've tried reinstalling the chipset drivers and the video drivers, no changes.
The MB is an A8N-SLI (the more I look stuff up, the more I see the chipset fan failing is a common occurrence on them). The video card is a GeForce 7600GS.
Unfortunately, I don't have a spare PCI video card lying around to swap and try to cross one suspect off the list. One's on order though (btw, when did stores stop selling those cheap little PCI video cards in-store...?)
Any thoughts? Did I fry the chipset and essentially kill the MB? (not sure if that would allow it to work fine in safemode). Could the chipset overheating somehow kill the video card? (but then why the keyboard/mouse issues).
LF
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Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.
Don't you mean PCIe? I am not surprised you can't find PCI graphics cards, and I'm not even sure you can get a 7600 of any description for PCI (though I could be wrong).
You mentioned re-installing the video card drivers, but I would recommend this if you haven't tried it already:
First download Driver Cleaner, and the latest NVidia drivers for your card/OS.
1. Remove the drivers (use the Add/Remove CPL applet) - don't restart.
2. Delete the NVidia folder from the root of your system drive.
3. Restart in Safe Mode.
4. Run Driver Cleaner, selecting NVidia from the dropdown list - don't restart.
5. Shutdown your PC.
6. Remove the card - check it's free of dust, esp. around the contacts and socket (PCI/PCIe).
7. Re-insert the graphics card.
8. Boot into normal mode (should still be minimal VGA driver).
9. Install the latest drivers using the installer file, cancelling any Windows dialogues.
10. Restart as normal.
The next step would be to check that it's not the video card. If you can't get hold of a spare card, perhaps you could test the card in another PC? I would eliminate the graphics card before condemning the mainboard entirely.
Re-reading your post, it does sound like a chipset issue, but I would still want to get hold of a spare card to test with - PCIe or PCI. I would perhaps also cross my fingers and hope that it doesn't fry every card I test when it turns out the shipset is fried. Better to check that card on another machine.
No, I meant PCI. I'm not looking to replace the video card just yet (you're right though, it's PCIe x16), just find as basic of one as I could to see if it has the same problems. But I couldn't find squat as far as video cards are concerned at the stores I used to. I did find a few at one store ($70 - $270), but I just want basic, simple video card (something that supports both 640x480 and 800x600 ... And PCI because my other old tower doesn't have PCIe slots... Both old machines I have that I test hardware with and whatnot have AGP cards , but they have PCI slots as well... Although thinking about it now, I don't remember if I had problems trying to get a PCI video card to work in one of them before... Oh well, another problem for another day). I found one online for $9 though, so I have something to test with when I need it.
Good idea on removing the NVidia drivers completely. I'll give that a shot this afternoon or tomorrow.
Can't test the card in another PC (neither old tower I have has the PCIe slots), but I do want to rule out the video card for sure before trying to swap MBs.
I'm going to cross my fingers that it doesn't fry any video card I put in there, but that's why I wanted a $9 video card to test it with
Thanks WH, a couple more thinsg to test and cross off the list. We'll see how it goes.
LF
--
Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.
Dunno, cheapest PCIe card I saw (didn't look too hard though) was $40. I found 8 PCI cards for less than that, down to $9. Then also, if (when) I need to troubleshoot one of my other machines, I can use that same card again (neither of then have PCIe slots).
--
Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.
As it's an SLI board, have you tried using the second PCIex16 slot? This won't eliminate anything but that specific port, and will still fail if the card or the controller are buggered, but it's worth a try.
The problem with testing PCI is that if it works, you will only prove that either the PCIe card, or the PCIe controller (or channels to the specific port) are damaged. A PCI card may work even if the PCIe graphics card is fubar, or some PCIe specific component has failed.
If we weren't in different countries, I'd tell you come round for a cuppa' - I love resurrecting PCs and could test almost every component here at home.
Tried the 2nd PCIex16 slot, still busted (although now it looks like garbage and it only displays in 640x480 ).
... Going to get a jump on it and start looking for replacement MBs. I was hoping to keep the CPU and RAM and everything from this one, but it's a socket 939 and they're long gone it seems (replaced by the AM2 shortly after I put this box together).
Any recommendations on MBs? The RAM I have is DDR, but at this point I wouldn't be put off too much if a board only supported DDR2. I'd prefer to stay with AMD though.
--
Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.
Heehee - I would help you on that decision, but I doubt I'd be much more useful than a Google search - I made a horrible mistake with the mainboard/CPU combo in my PC that a little more research might have avoided.
Got the simple PCI video card. Saw the same issues as with the PCIe video card
Ordered the new MB, RAM, CPU (listed above), arrived yesterday. Spent the evening swapping out parts and got it running (using the integrated video on the MB).
Plugged in the old PCIe video card and didn't see POST go by, or any boot screens. Rebooted with the monitor plugged into the onboard, and found the setting in BIOS to have it use the PCIe video rather than onboard... Duh... Let it come up like that, and boom, same problems as the other MB/etc had
Swapped the cheap PCI video card in, set it to use PCI video in BIOS, and nothing... Black screen the whole way
Back to onboard video and it work fine.
So, if the northbridge did overheat, could it have fried the video card? I'm kind of at a loss because I can now see the same video issues on different setups:
- ASUS MB (fried?) + PCI video card
- eVGA MB (new) + PCIe video card
(and also - ASUS MB (fried?) + PCIe video card)
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Any sufficiently advanced bug is indistinguishable from a feature.
If the chipset was fried badly enough to damage the card, I doubt it was just an overheat. Sounds like a voltage problem.
I've a horrible feeling you might want to check your PSU. If it was my PC, I would be unhooking the PSU - don't want to go damaging your new components now!
What on earth happened?
Maybe we're barking up the wrong tree and everything (MB/PCIe card) is fine and the PSU is the issue. If that's the case, I can only apologise for the incorrect assumption that the chipset or card were faulty.
posted 08-22-2009 02:53
... And PCI because my other old tower doesn't have PCIe slots... Both old machines I have that I test hardware with and whatnot have AGP cards 
, but they have PCI slots as well... Although thinking about it now, I don't remember if I had problems trying to get a PCI video card to work in one of them before... Oh well, another problem for another day). I found one online for $9 though, so I have something to test with when I need it.
