Graphic card problem

[Jenrai]

Ben... silly question... is there an article you DON'T have? ;)

 

OP - If cleaning your comp, don't use a brush. Or one of those silly little "computer vacuums" you can pick up for like $40. Seriously. Don't. I've seen main boards getting all kinds of messed up because people stuck stuff in em to "clean em". One guy I know even used an old paintbrush he had knocking around and then accused me of building him a cr@p computer. All you need is a can of compressed air and a flat workspace, and maybe a phillips screwdriver to take the sides off the case.

I'm not trying to daunt you, and I'm sure Ben mentions that it his article, but if like me you're reading this from work and can't check the file servers because of an OP web handler, be assured it is really really simple, will cost you about 4 bucks for a can of air, and all you have to do is point and push. Thats it. The air flow will do the rest.

After two years you might have to vac up your "work area" when you're done like. You'll be surprised how much crap can work its way into a pc, believe me.

 

Jenrai

[Illiad86]

Yeah, dust...is... ebil.

 

However, Illiad, one smoker to another... get rid of the cat. ;)

You can always smoke outside. heh heh.

 

Jenrai

 

lol nah rather get rid of the cigarettes, the cat doesn't cost me almost $8 a day :P

 

You can use a brush, but I'd make sure it's a softer bristle, don't use a cruddy cheap paintbrush. Camel hair is good or horse hair brushes :) (camel hair is recommended to brush the dust off my telescope's mirror, so it better be good for the computer :P) Your person there probably shifted a jumper or wiggled something loose because he was using a heavy bristle brush. Can't just take a dang paintbrush for house paint or something and use that heh.

 

Those vacuums are stupid, they aren't very powerful, but powerful enough to suck up your CMOS jumper or something else important.

 

hehe...I'll use canned air when it's not $5 a can. It's canned air ffs. That's just a huge markup...

 

What I normally do is blow as much dust off first, brush off with paintbrush, remove RAM and graphics card, clean the slots with a q tip and alcohol (just like old cartridge games lol), clean the pins the same way, remove the CPU heatsink, blow and brush that out, clean the CPU off, apply new thermal grease, stick it all back together, and then I go to cleaning the living crap out of my fans. They get so disgusting...lol, they are clear with blue LEDs, now it's yellow plastic with blue LEDs haha.

Oh boy this thing was nasty when I put my 5770 in...ergh...nasty again already...nicocatdust is evil :P

[Jenrai]

Five bucks? Dang...

 

I pay 99p. :)

And Illiad... I was trying not to scare the poor lad into thinking he's gonna have to strip it down and rebuild it... he's not been inside fer two years... if you've never done it before it can feel daunting. Especially with a bought model when you're thinking "can I touch that/can I do this"

 

I build my own these days but way back when I had a "PC-World Special" I was scared of opening it too. It actually is surprisingly easy, but still, can be daunting at first.

 

Jenrai

[bben46]

@Jenrai If I don't have an article on something, you can be sure that Lhammonds does. I see the same questions and problems a lot. It is easier to make an article and link to it than to retype it each time.

[Illiad86]

Five bucks? Dang...

 

I pay 99p. :)

And Illiad... I was trying not to scare the poor lad into thinking he's gonna have to strip it down and rebuild it... he's not been inside fer two years... if you've never done it before it can feel daunting. Especially with a bought model when you're thinking "can I touch that/can I do this"

 

I build my own these days but way back when I had a "PC-World Special" I was scared of opening it too. It actually is surprisingly easy, but still, can be daunting at first.

 

Jenrai

 

you lucky stink! I'm lucky to find it on sale for $2 !

 

hehe yeah, it's pretty scary the first time, especially if you don't know what the parts are :P And removing the graphics card/ CPU heatsink always feels like your mobo is gonna snap, but it's not, but man that freaked me out the first time

[Unavi]

Unfortnaly i have a history of failures regarding removing/adding new components to a PC. On my previous one I remember i tried to put new RAM inside. I wrecked a plastic pin but fortunatly it was there just to hold the ram in place and it looked like it wasn't realy needed. Oh and on the same PC all the ports on the MOBO fried some time later....I blame it on my lil cousin but it was probably my fault :P

[pwnedbyscope]

i dont know if this has been suggested but have you made sure that all of your cables are plugged in, same thing happend to me but all it was, was a just ever slow slightly loose cable

[roquefort]

Note that if you're going to remove any cards or other components, wear an anti-static wristband (cheap item from most electronics stores), especially if you're wearing nylon, acrylic, or similar clothing. Static can blow disconnected CMOS circuitry in a jiffy without you knowing it's happened.

 

If you really can't get hold of a wristband, earth/ground yourself regularly (like every few seconds) on a water pipe or similar. If the computer case is metal and safety-earthed, you could leave it plugged in but switched off at the wall, and use the case to earth yourself.

[Jenrai]

Errrr...

Every few seconds?

I've been building high performance PCs for 15 years mate and can assure you really don't need to ground yourself every few seconds. Unless you're wearing a nylon jump suit rolling around on nylon carpets... and seriously... DON'T USE A PIPE. OR A RADIATOR. Especially not if they've been painted. May work, may not. Depends on layers/types of paint and age of the pipe or whatever.

 

You need to earth yourself to prevent ESD once when you open the case - leave it plugged in but switched off, and grip the case either side of the powersupply repeatedly with both hands - three to four times should be enough. Then you should only need to do it again if you wonder off to do something else and come back to it.

 

Jenrai