Is my Graphics Card Dead?

[PimpinPenguin]

Right, so i have a VTX3D AMD Radeon 1GB HD 6950 and whilst surfing the net my PC turned off. When i went to reboot a got 1 long beep and 2 short beeps. The fans were spinning on the card i just could'nt get the PC to post. After checking all the connections in my PC i tried my old graphics card. When i put my old card in my PC booted, so anyway i thought i would try the 6950 again. However now when i put it in nothing works the fans don't spin on either the card or my CPU, which they were before. So is my card Dead? I only got it late January and it's running on stock settings no over clock.

 

[PimpinPenguin]

Just an update, i tried the HD6950 again and it worked, however after around 45 min my PC switched off with only the PSU fan running the Graphics card and CPU fan not working. Since then i haven't been able to boot it again.

 

[Hectic Glenn]

Probably. Who is the manufacturer of your motherboard? Each have their own beep codes which signify specific problems, google "asus beep codes" for example and the 1 long 2 short code should confirm where the problem lies. The power cables to the card or rails on the PSU could have theoretically failed too I guess.

edit: Unstable power supply possibly or temperature issues? Leave it off for an hour to let it cool down, install core temp and check the CPU temp and GPU temp (core temp might not do GPU, speedfan does though IIRC).

 

[bobtheskull]

I had a similar problem about 6 months ago, and I assumed it was the graphics card. Would randomly switch off for no reason. I checked the rails on my PSU and it was stable. Then it died completely. After that, the PSU fan, CPU and HD's would spin up, but the rest of the computer seemed dead with absolutely no display. I tried everything I could, even going as far as cooking my card (shady advice from a friend, but advice that appeared to be backed up in the online communities). Still nothing.

Turned out that it was simply the BIOS battery was failing.

 

[PimpinPenguin]

Well right now am running my old HD4850 and so far it's been running smoothly not one issue. However as soon as i try the HD6950 either the whole system fails to boot or it boots but the system shuts down soon after and won't switch back on. I think the PSU should be fine, i bought a Corsair 600W just for it. Although i will change the BIOS battery as when the PC did switch off i noticed the date went to 31/12/06 so perhaps that may be an issue as well. Just got to get Amazon to replace it now.

 

[bobtheskull]

Yeah, mine was similar. I'd have to leave the computer for hours before attempting to switch it on again, as it would refuse to start up half the time... the other half, it would spin up fans/drives but not actually 'boot'. Hope you get it sorted. That kind of thing is equal parts frustrating and infuriating.

 

[sixteenth]

The BIOS will reset when you remove the battery; that's why the date changed to when your motherboard was assembled. I don't think the blame should be put on the BIOS battery. bobtheskull, that's completely ridiculous how that happened to you. Those watch batteries almost never go out.

My best guess is PSU. PSU's are complicated things. Even though it is new, it could have been manufactured poorly. Also, I've seen this type of thing happen with a few friends because they have bad RAM, so perhaps you should try swapping some sticks out. Never hurts to try.

 

[PimpinPenguin]

I never removed or touched the battery or did anything to the motherboard for it to effect to BIOS. All i did was remove the Graphics Card and check all the connections and removed the additional Hard drives and DVD drive. For me when i boot the PC the hard drive spins up, but neither the CPU fan or the graphics card does yet as far as i can tell the rest seems to be working. I've always seemed to have had issues with this card since i got it. Some times randomly i would just lose video output completely whilst using the computer usually when I'm not gaming and forcing me to reboot. But anyway i'll check out the RAM and try the card on my mates PC and see how it goes.

 

[bobtheskull]

bobtheskull, that's completely ridiculous how that happened to you. Those watch batteries almost never go out.

It may be ridiculous..... until it happens to you. Random 'near impossible' things happen all the time, but until you experience it yourself, its considered ludicrous. But that was exactly what happened to me. I tested my system with a friends card, and it still did the same thing. Cutting out. Refusing to switch on. Spinning up but not booting. I spent a week checking, double checking, swapping out cards and components. Trust me, the BIOS battery was the last thing I would have expected. But I changed it and have not had a single problem like that since.