# losing video signal randomly



## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

I recently purchased an entirely new computer:

AMD quad core 9750, with a Geforce 9600 GT videocard. 
320 GB Seagate
550 watt power supply.


Recently, my computer has been losing all video signal (the computer itself stays powered on, active) and the only way to get it back is to reboot.

This is a screenshot of my speedfan stats:









I'm basically power supply stupid and lost for ideas. There are no application errors in my Windows XP system/application logs. 

I R STUMPED


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

bump!

After reinstalling directx 9.0c this is still happening.

Help


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

any insight or requests for more info, I'll gladly comply with!

Its driving me nuts!


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

what brand is the power supply
what does the bios list the tempretures and voltages as


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

Thermaltake TR2 550P

i'll go check the bios temps and voltages


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

only the toughpower series is recommended


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

dai said:


> only the toughpower series is recommended



Are you referring to specifically for a 550w power supply? or just in general for AMD quad cores?



My BIOS says the following voltages are:

Vcore= 1.312v
DDR2 1.8v= 2.128v
+3.3v= 3.20v
+12v= 12.175v

system temp = 38c
cpu temp = 46c


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

what i am saying is the thermaltake power supplies only the toughpower series is recommended
the rest are considered low quality


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

Any other brands/recommendations, I'm going to purchase a new one tomorrow depending on the availability at the computer store.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

corsair
seasonic
thermaltake tough power
silverstone
http://www.techsupportforum.com/f210/power-supply-information-and-selection-192217.html


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

I purchased a PC Power & Cooling Silencer 750watt power supply, and it still happens.

I'm going to run a memtest on it today... 

any other ideas?


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

check your gpu tempreture with this
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1077/mirrors.php
run this in the tray and see if there is is a jump in the cpu temp
http://www.download.com/Core-Temp/3000-12565_4-10794077.html
can you try the video card in another computer
check the cable from the card to the monitor is secure


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

I tried your suggestions except for putting the videocard in another computer, and same result. The memtest came back fine...starting to run out of ideas, might try reinstalling xp this weekend.

I'll be trying putting the videocard into a diff comp today or tomorrow.


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

I usually listen to mp3s while playing videogames, and I've found that the past two days while not listening to mp3s - this weird issue has not happened once.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

what do the temps do while not playing and when playing do you see a jump in them


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

Normal gpu temps are about 50c, jump to around 54c when playing games.

Temp1 and Temp2 on speedfan are at 39c idle, push up to around low-mid 40s when playing.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

they are normal
are you playing the music off a cd or the h/d


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

Hard drive off my Seagate SATA drive.

One more thing of interest, my computer lost video signal last night while sitting idle 

Thanks for all your help and patience Dai, I appreciate it a lot.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

run
chkdsk /r


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## wilco7 (Sep 18, 2008)

Knives - did you ever figure this problem out? Having same problem. Have replaced video card and monitor.


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

wilco7 said:


> Knives - did you ever figure this problem out? Having same problem. Have replaced video card and monitor.




Nope, it still happens to me - I've kind of given up lately and can't dish out another 100 or so for another videocard. 


Also, I've never used - what a strange question lol


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

did you try the card in another computer


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

I believe I did earlier this summer with my boyfriends computer, back in July. I also reinstalled Windows XP, stayed at SP2 instead - uninstalled videocard, ran driver cleaner, etc.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

see if there is anything listed in the event viewer
check the m/b for leaking or swollen capacitors
can you borrow your b/friends video card to try in yours


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

There is nothing in the Event Viewer logs indicating any problems, the only things that show up are the startup events and shutdown events. 

I'm currently trying a Geforce 7950gt in my computer. I'll let you know how that goes, also I'll check the capacitors.


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

Well, I've played Warhammer online for several hours today and a good chunk last night with the 7950gt in my computer with no problems whatsoever. With the 9600gt, I had several crashes within a couple hours of playing early early yesterday... not sure what to make of it.

The 9600gt yesterday, lost all video signal again and even wouldn't after powering off for a few mins. I swapped it out and haven't checked on it again to see if that was the death of the videocard, mostly concerned with making sure its not the computer (I'm so happy theres been no other problems with the 7950gt).

Also, no swollen or leaking capacitors that I can see


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

rma the card it must still be under warranty


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

So last night before I went to bed, I swapped the 9600gt into my BF and I's computers last night and it powered on both times. Silly thing.

Should I ask to RMA it based on the fact the 7950 has no problems compared to it?


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

your 
temps
power
are ok which are the usual causes of problems
put the 9600 in and do a cmos reset,if that does not fix rma the card


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

the evening of the 22nd, i cleaned drivers and put the 9600gt back in my computer and ran it through some games to see if it lost video signal and how quickly it would. sure enough, within the hour of playing, lost video signal. 

frustrated, i put the 7950gt back in, cleaned the drivers again, and went about my business. no loss of signal at all, combined with the couple days over the weekend - this gives me about 4-5 days of stability.

Today i plan on going to the store where i purchased the card and asking them to rma it. I can't keep losing hours trying to figure out what the problem is. I just want to break the stupid card over my knee and put it out of its misery, but it doesn't account for the 200 I spent on it :sigh:

(its a Chaintech 9600gt btw)

I will be asking what types of options they'll be offering me if its deemed defective, hopefully store credit or something. Any suggestions?


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

the 8800 gt gts gtx are faster cards than the 9600


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## Knives Out (Jun 21, 2008)

I never did RMA the card - my boyfriend has used it in his PC with virtually no issues since we swapped it back in December. He also let me use his 8800GT card, my video still crashed..but I tolerated it and gave up playing videogames. I could also replicate the error within half hour of playing Grand Theft Auto on my pc with the 8800GT card.

I just sort of gave up trying in the meantime until last week - I did a search on the Gigabyte website and was running an older BIOS F3 for my motherboard.. I flashed up to F7 released in January/09 and my PC has been stable since - even when playing GTA4 and I've racked up 10+ hours of playing!

It looks like the BIOS flash fixed it - I've had no problems since. Lets just hope they stay away


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