Your best guess with this computer issue?

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Papa Deuce

DJ Extraordinaire
Aug 8, 2006
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I'm trying to decide whether to fix this 3 year old desktop computer. It was pretty high end when I bought it, and it still can play most of today's games.

Here is the issue: About an hour after it is turned on, the monitor starts displaying all kinds of crap.... sometimes it just displays green lines. Sometimes it displays red lines. And sometimes it just displays a bunch of gray gibberish.

My guess is that in some way, this is a heat issue, be it the video card or the power supply. All the fans seem to function OK.

I'm willing to spend about $250 to fix it so that my kids can have it for whatever they want it for.
 
Open it up, and reseat the video card and RAM.

If not, fire up yer compressor, open the case, and blow all the crap out of it (blow the fans both ways too).


If neither works (or you're too cheap to have a compressor) -- throw it away and buy a new one -- probably only a couple shares of BP, or whatver stock you have these days... :D
 
Green lines? Sounds like Nvidia garbage to me. Your motherboard may be ATI based and therefore you should use an ATI card.

You can get a decent video card for under $100 now. The problem could also be with the monitor. Try another one for laughs and see how it works. I would not toss this machine. I have an even older PC in the lounge that is strictly an arcade. I put less than $250 into it.
 
Hank Davidson said:
Green lines? Sounds like Nvidia garbage to me. Your motherboard may be ATI based and therefore you should use an ATI card.

You can get a decent video card for under $100 now. The problem could also be with the monitor. Try another one for laughs and see how it works. I would not toss this machine. I have an even older PC in the lounge that is strictly an arcade. I put less than $250 into it.
Click to expand...


To Rick... I did reseat the video card and blew the dust out, but there was very little.... When BP goes down to $10, I'm in! :sqwink:

Hank, the monitor is fine. I am using it right now. You might be right about the Nvidia / ATI thing.... right now the PC is in the back of my wife's van. I was going to bring it to a shop today, but the place was out of business. And then I even took it to another shop, and the guy had a sign up that he was away on business for another week.
 
Papa Deuce said:
To Rick... I did reseat the video card and blew the dust out, but there was very little.... When BP goes down to $10, I'm in! :sqwink:
Click to expand...


Did you reseat the RAM?

Mine goes bonkers every now and again (even though I never move it). I take the chips out, and put them back in backwards after having the dog lick them (no, I'm not BS'ing -- I just have Faith). :)
 
The first thought I had was the monitor but if you say thats OK then I would guess the video card is on the way out

For about $170 you can have this animal. You might even find it cheaper in the States

That card is actually faster than the machine I am typing on right now :sqerr:
 
Papa Deuce said:
...I was going to bring it to a shop today, but the place was out of business. And then I even took it to another shop, and the guy had a sign up that he was away on business for another week.
Click to expand...

What is it with you and local businesses? They don't call you back, they never give you quotes, they pretend to be out of business or on vacation when you pull up...
 
Jeff, that's a wee bit much for a machine for my daughters.... :sqerr::sqlaugh:

Wayde, I have no idea. Maybe because I expect them to actually follow through and get it right at an agreed price?

I called 7 lawn care services in the last month. Only one called back. I booked them.
 
Are you or your daughters playing a game that involves green or red lines? :sqlaugh:
 
I think Papa has been trying to watch too much HD internet porn :D:D:D:D:D:D
:sqwink::sqwink::sqwink:
 
Jeff Romard said:
The first thought I had was the monitor but if you say thats OK then I would guess the video card is on the way out

For about $170 you can have this animal. You might even find it cheaper in the States

That card is actually faster than the machine I am typing on right now :sqerr:
Click to expand...


It turned out to be the video card, but since this is just for my wife and kids to play casual games on, I just bought a fairly low end card. I don't even know the model the guy put in, but it was only $85 for the card, so I know it isn't great.

He also found a bunch of my drivers were out of date, and he said that one of them was causing me to have BSODs... and in fact, I was getting the occasional BSOD. But one thing I didn't understand was that he told me that my network ( ethernet ) drivers had been uninstalled, and I have no idea how that could have happened.

So, all in all, it cost $165 to get it all working again. I could have put the video card in myself, but I NEVER would have figured out the other stuff, so, I guess it was worth it.
 
SoftJock Rick said:
Wait until you see the bill for when the iMac breaks... :sqerr: :sqerr: :sqerr:


That'll be a few Exxon/Mobil and Apple shares... :sqlaugh:
Click to expand...

Just ONE Apple share most likely.... as you know, Apple is worth more as a company than MS is right now...

Apple: $267 a share - company value $243 Billion

MSFT $25 a share - $216 Billion market cap.

And yes, I do own literally a few shares of Apple. Eight, I think.
 
Papa Deuce said:
Just ONE Apple share most likely
Click to expand...


Haha -- it costs one Apple share just to get a "genius" with a man purse, to say hello to you... :sqlaugh:


If you buy him dinner, a couple Pina Coladas, and exchange that SPECIAL iPhone app -- it's free :sqwink: :rofl:
 
SoftJock Rick said:
Haha -- it costs one Apple share just to get a "genius" with a man purse, to say hello to you... :sqlaugh:


If you buy him dinner, a couple Pina Coladas, and exchange that SPECIAL iPhone app -- it's free :sqwink: :rofl:
Click to expand...


Well, now, while that is somewhat funny, if you buy an Apple computer with a $100 genius package, you can actually get 52 hours of training on anything you want to know about your Apple. You can meet with a genius for 1 hour a week for a year. They sit down with you and take you through anything you want to know.

Will Microsoft, Dell, Gateway, or any company that deals with PCs do that?
 
Papa Deuce said:
Well, now, while that is somewhat funny, if you buy an Apple computer with a $100 genius package, you can actually get 52 hours of training on anything you want to know about your Apple. You can meet with a genius for 1 hour a week for a year. They sit down with you and take you through anything you want to know.
Click to expand...


Somehow, I get the feeling they are gonna lose money on you... :sqlaugh: :rofl:


I've sent them an invite to join the DCPD (Don't Call Papa Deuce) forums. I notice a call on my machine from Cupertino -- perhaps Jobs got my message... :D
 
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