# [SOLVED] Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem



## Spektyr (Mar 28, 2006)

I'm going to fire this off before I head off to bed, hopefully I can get some feedback/advice by the time I get up.


First problem was I couldn't wake the computer. Shake the mouse, push buttons on the keyboard, it didn't wake up. So I reset. I had artifacts in BIOS all the way up to Windows. It was stuck at minimum resolution and according to the Device Manager the video card had reported some kind of error and been disabled. But it was still outputting video, just really horrible artifact-y video.

So I shut everything down for awhile, rebooted, and things seemed fine. Went to do some dishes, came back and the computer was completely locked up showing a screen full of artifacts.


I happen to have two physically identical computers (this being one of them), so I dig out the towers so they're accessible, pull the video card from the sick computer and plug it into the healthy one. Zero issues. Put the suspect card back into the sick computer, it boots up fine. I think "strange, it works now," and put everything back the way it was. Then a little while later, it freaks out again.

So I figure I just didn't leave it in the good machine long enough to show problems, and I go out and get a new video card. Plug it in to the sick computer, and I get the same artifacts as before.

So stats:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5600+
4GB Corsair XMS2 DDR2 ram (2 2GB sticks)
ASUS M3A78 Motherboard
EVGA GeForce 9800 GT video card (the new card I tried is a Radeon HD 5670)
PSU is a big Antec, I can't tell exactly what the wattage is without pulling it but if memory serves it's a lot bigger than I need


I tried the memory sticks independently, but I haven't swapped them with the good machines because I put everything back together and I am frustrated enough I didn't want to drag it all back. Plus, the wife complains when I take her computer apart. (So I can only troubleshoot when she's not home.)


My first assumption is that I can (nearly) rule out the video card as being bad because a brand new video card of a completely different make showed me the same problem, and the "bad" card ran fine in the other machine (albeit for just a little while). There's more testing to be done to be certain, but I think it's likely I'll have to look elsewhere.

If it's a power supply problem I'm hesitant to swap in more known-good parts to test in case they too become damaged, but I'm not sure that's the problem either. The new card doesn't use the PCI-E power connector, and it showed _identical_ problems despite being a Radeon card versus the original Nvidea.

It seems unlikely both sticks of RAM would die in exactly the same way at exactly the same time, so I'm left with Processor and Motherboard, neither of which really seem like likely culprits.


On a lark while I typed this I plugged my wife's monitor into my computer (fully assembled in it's original configuration) and it seems to be running fine. I plugged my original monitor in as the second monitor and activated it, and it too seems to be running fine. So it would seem I have a problem that comes and goes depending on how inconvenient it currently is for my computer to be broken.


At this point I'm thoroughly confused. I'd like it to be as simple as a bad monitor cable, but I'm not sure if that can cause the problems I've seen (specifically that Windows reported the video card had reported an error).


Anyone have suggestions on what to do to figure out what's causing an apparently transient problem? Assuming that I can get the computer to run when I want it to (so far it's only booted artifact-free when I didn't have time to mess with it) is there a decent freeware test program I can do to check what hardware is throwing fits?

Until I can be sure it's definitely not a power-supply issue I'd like to avoid putting known-good hardware into the sick machine, just in case.


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## Spektyr (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Well it ran all night and has been doing fine for about an hour this morning.

Can dust or a loose video cable connection cause something like this? Because that's all I can think of that might have been fixed by what I've done.


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## Spektyr (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Played Fallout NV for about an hour before it froze, displayed some artifacts, and stopped outputting video entirely.

Rebooted and everything looks fine.

I can't figure out how to reliably cause or eliminate the problem.

Suggestions?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Knowing the Model of the Antec PSU would be helpful. Antec PSU's quality is more than questionable since they change suppliers so frequently.


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## Spektyr (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

After another couple hours of Fallout NV it locked up again, so I pulled the power supply out and flipped it over to read the label. It's a TP3-550 (550w).

Dunno if that's a "good" one or not, the reviews I could find on it at the time were good.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

If the dust was preventing the cooling fans fro properly cooling, yes.


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## Spektyr (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

I'm leaning away from dust now that I've reconfirmed the problem after blowing out a lot of the dust. It's not exactly clean, but it is less dusty than before. Not exactly scientific, but yeah.

I took the new video card back to Best Buy and talked to the Geek Squad while I was there. They were confident that it was most likely the motherboard, potentially the RAM, but MB is what they were betting on.

To paraphrase one of the guys, "try the memory from the good computer - if that doesn't fix it, it's the motherboard."


Sounds reasonable to me, anyone else think differently?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

As usual I have to question the Geek Squad's diagnosis.
The Mobo would be my last suspect.
RAM, possibly. If you don't have or can't borrow any RAM to try ou can test the RAM using MemTest on ONE stick at a time and let it make at least ten passes.
550W is the minimum power we suggest for any PCI-E GPU and I have doubts about your PSU. How old is the PSU? Do you have any problems using the 9800GT or just when using the 5670?


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## Spektyr (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Both computers are the same age (2 years), with the same parts. One is fine, the other is not.

The 9800GT is the original video card, so I'm having problems with that one.

I also had exactly the same problems with the 5670, which is why I said I was comfortable saying it wasn't a problem with the video card.


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## Spektyr (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Progress so far:

Video card ruled out - tested brand-new Radeon, it showed same problems as the original GeForce
Monitor/cable ruled out - plugged second identical monitor/cable in during artifact'd display, both monitors show same problem when hooked up to the bad computer

Suspect RAM currently running in the Good system, no problems yet but the problem isn't predictably triggered. We'll be trying some graphics-intensive games to see if that will set it off.


Assuming the RAM transfer doesn't transfer the problem to the good computer my next thought is to transfer the motherboard/CPU. Since parts of the PSU wiring is zip-tied to the chassis to keep the interior looking clean (and to make sure nothing strays into a fan). So it's roughly the same amount of work to transfer a PSU as a motherboard, and neither is a task I really want to undertake.


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## Spektyr (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Memory ruled out - put known-good memory in the bad system and it showed artifacts immediately.

Further troubleshooting is suspended as my wife is using her computer.


We're down to motherboard and PSU, right? That's all that it could be as far as I know.

I can find a replacement motherboard easily, but if it's the PSU does anyone have a suggestion for me?


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

before going any further I'd say try Power supply before Mobo and of course maybe you should try reseating the CPU & Heatsink after putting fresh heatsink compound. Sounds like it might be heat related. I thought I saw something about an AMD CPU & Motherboard but can't see it now .. AMD can be funny and require great care and attention especially regarding heat problems.


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## Spektyr (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Bad news...

When I removed the CPU heatsink the CPU came with it, despite the little locking bar arm being down. The CPU looks intact, but it also seems to be seriously glued to the heat sink. I don't recall whether they came pre-installed or not.

I've exerted as much force as I really feel comfortable with, any more and I'll risk bending pins on the CPU.

The problem is that I can't unlock the CPU slot because the heatsink is too big (it would hit the raised bar so I can't plug it in and then lock it down). And assuming the CPU would even go back in with the bar locked down, I can't very well line it up properly with the whole heatsink blocking my view.

Ideas?


EDIT - Nevermind, I got it off the heatsink (stupidly) by using a knife. No harm done so being dumb paid off.


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## 1 g0t 0wn3d (Jan 31, 2007)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Remove the cpu from the heatsink, its not glued it is stuck with thermal paste, simply twist it in a circular rotation to get it off you will need tt apply thermal paste after you clean both of the top of the cpu and bottom of the heatsink with isopropyl alcohol.


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## Spektyr (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Put everything back together, new thermal paste, no improvement.

I'm going to try the PSU tomorrow I guess.


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## Spektyr (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Tried the good machine's PSU in the bad machine. It still booted with artifacts.

Is there any possible explanation aside from bad motherboard?


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Did you try the good PSU along with the Graphics card from the GOOD PC ?

just because the PSU loading would be different .. if you get the same result using the Good PSU & its Graphics card then the result would tend to point towards Motherboard.

It may be bad capacitors on the motherboard .. are there any that look tired or domed?


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## BlackHatJack (Sep 18, 2010)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Your bad PSU may have corrupted your system files so that even with a good one, you are still running with corrupted data.

Run sfc /scannow. Have your XP Installation disk ready and go straight to Windows Updates afterwards to get re-updated, most particularly to include SP3 (I think that's critical for Security reasons).

I'd also reinstall the video drivers, since they could also be corrupted, might not get replaced by sfc, and could continue to cause problems after doing all of the above.

Geek Squad is as dishonest as they are incompetent. You can know what the problem IS NOT based on what they say it IS.


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## Done_Fishin (Oct 10, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

@BlackHatJack



Spektyr said:


> *I had artifacts in BIOS all the way up to Windows.*
> .


If you haven't got a good picture when you power on, you aren't looking for corrupt hard disk data. It might (but unlikely) b corrupt BIOS but my gut feelings are that there is just enough unfiltered electrical noise to allow the PC to run badly and corrupt the data being processed by the graphics card.
That could be a power supply problem as in the PSU itself or the switch mode supplies on the motherboard itself. If the latter then only replacement of ALL the capacitors is a possibility & may prove a cure. However the cost of replacement plus labour may well be the same as buying a new board.


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## Spektyr (Mar 28, 2006)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*

Alright, we've got everything back up and running properly.

The winner is: The Graphics Card!


Yeah. I know.

Here's how it slipped by - I put the suspect card in the good machine and saw no problems, but at that time it was a transient issue. I figured it was the video card and bought a new one. The new card also showed the same problem so I figured it wasn't the video card, must be something else, right?

Turns out that new card must've also been bad. Long odds, but that's what happened.

After testing the PSU I put the good computer together and, on a lark, decided to put the video card out of the bad computer in. I figured if it wasn't bad, it didn't matter which card went in, right?

Well it transferred the problem to the good PC. Switch back and the problem switched back. Put the known-good card in the bad PC and it booted perfectly.


So I went out and got a new video card, problem solved.


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## BlackHatJack (Sep 18, 2010)

*Re: Unusual Artifacts in BIOS (and everything else) Problem*



Done_Fishin said:


> @BlackHatJack


Thanks. That's right. Oops.

Glad you got it fixed !


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