Difficult video adapter question

[TDeacon]

I don't know if anyone will be able to answer this, but my 10-year-old Dell apparently got zapped sometime last night, and reloading video BIOS and drivers doesn't help.  Screen now looks like the shot below.  Any idea if there are any AGP video adapters out there comparable to the *AGP* Radeon 9800XT (which was top of the line 10 years ago), and with reliable drivers which work with Win XP?  

Now I know all you guys will say just build a new system, and I am considering that as well.  However, it seems a shame to lose my old failthful Dell, which at least could have functioned as a backup.  



MH

[ImADot]

My guess is some of the onboard video ram is fried. Best case, new video card...worst case, video slot or other mobo components are fried and it's a lost cause.

[Tracerfi]

SURGE PROTECTORS ARE SUPPOSE TO STOP YOUR ELECTRONICS FROM GETTING FRIED RIGHT?

[Chalenge]

Deacon you might be able to salvage the card by taking the heatsinks off and reapplying thermal compound like arctic silver.

[TDeacon]

Deacon you might be able to salvage the card by taking the heatsinks off and reapplying thermal compound like arctic silver.

"ATI Tool" shows the internal temperature (somewhere in the graphics chip, presumably...) at up to 52 C within a few minutes of power-up.  Could that have anything to do with it?  I don't recall what the acceptable temperature range was anymore.  

On the other hand, the screen shows the posted defects when the PC is first powered up, when the chip is still around 40 degrees C (and rising).   That being the case, perhaps it isn't transient heat, but instead permanent damage? 

MH

[Bizman]

Yup, looks like a video ram failure. If I remember correctly, the ram chips are soldered to the video card from outside, I mean their "feet" are visible. If you have a sharp tipped soldering iron and a steady hand, resoldering the feet to the board might help in case some of the connections have deteriorated. That won't help if one of the chips has gone bad. So it might be easier to try to find a used equivalent for the card. I have a GF7600GT in my closet, but the Finnish mailing costs overboard would be more than the card's value. Search through your local computer builder/repair shops, they might have a suitable replacement almost for free. Also a request on the AcesHigh Classifieds forum could give you a desired result.

[ImADot]

resoldering the feet to the board might help in case some of the connections have deteriorated.

While possible, given the description of the circumstances it's unlikely that some solder joints fizzled. Besides, ram chips - most all computer components, actually - don't like lots of heat; if you are no good with a soldering iron, you'll probably kill the chip with heat instead.

[Skuzzy]

SURGE PROTECTORS ARE SUPPOSE TO STOP YOUR ELECTRONICS FROM GETTING FRIED RIGHT?

The MOV in surge protectors only absorb so many hits before they simply stop working.  It is the nature of the beast.  A decent quality surge protector will have some type of indicator letting you know it is no longer able to deal with surges.

If your surge protector is using a MOV (most consumer grade units will as the other options are very expensive and large) and it does not have a fail safe indicator to let you know it is no longer able to handle surges, then throw it away if it is over six months old.

[MrRiplEy[H]]

While possible, given the description of the circumstances it's unlikely that some solder joints fizzled. Besides, ram chips - most all computer components, actually - don't like lots of heat; if you are no good with a soldering iron, you'll probably kill the chip with heat instead.

The chips handle temporary temperatures just fine. I revived my 2007 Macbook pro from totally dead status (booted up, no display) to fully working by heating the motherboard/integrated video (and the vram memory chips) with a heat gun. The temperature was enough to melt the surface soldered connections and reattach them and voila the computer booted up again.

So if the card is already pretty much dead it costs nothing to bake it in the oven at 200C for half a minute or blow it with hot air gun. It might work again (after cooling down of course) - at least for some time.

[sandflea]

i have a gate way lap top and its hard drive crashed the replacement (by geek squad) is the lowest quality i think  my ingame settings are awful just to keep framerates smoothe i lose all detail

[MrRiplEy[H]]

i have a gate way lap top and its hard drive crashed the replacement (by geek squad) is the lowest quality i think  my ingame settings are awful just to keep framerates smoothe i lose all detail

Hard drive has no effect on your framerates or level of detail you can set. Laptops can't handle games usually by default.

One possible scenario however is that when geek squad replaced your harddrive they failed to properly install device drivers. If your graphics adapter driver is not installed your performance will be horrible.

[Chalenge]

"ATI Tool" shows the internal temperature (somewhere in the graphics chip, presumably...) at up to 52 C within a few minutes of power-up.  Could that have anything to do with it?  I don't recall what the acceptable temperature range was anymore.  

On the other hand, the screen shows the posted defects when the PC is first powered up, when the chip is still around 40 degrees C (and rising).   That being the case, perhaps it isn't transient heat, but instead permanent damage? 

MH

Well if you let a memory chip run over temp for a few 'minutes' then it could have devastating effects on the memory. 52C is not hot but the question then becomes where is that probe reading the temperature? If it frustrates you to try to fix something then have it not work anyway then just buy another card. I would try it anyway. You are not likely to have a soldering rework station which would be the proper way to do what Ripley suggested. Unfortunately the overn method could potentially cause any borderline components to fail outright. I have rescued cards acting like this but you are headed to replacing it either way once they start acting up.

[Bizman]

Hard drive has no effect on your framerates or level of detail you can set. Laptops can't handle games usually by default.

One possible scenario however is that when geek squad replaced your harddrive they failed to properly install device drivers. If your graphics adapter driver is not installed your performance will be horrible.

Not to mention your other motherboard related drivers. I've seen many kinds of hard drive replacements, and done numerous of them myself in various ways. If your old hard drive was in poor condition and they still just cloned it to a new one, it is quite possible that there are severe failures in the Windows files. The reason to do a clone instead of a clean install is to

• a) try to save your valuable data as is, leaving the responsibility of doing backups to you, and
• b) try to save the reinstall partition for you to be used after you've done the abovementioned backup,

because of course you never bothered to make the factory default installation disks despite all the nag screens that popped up at every boot...

I've also seen that many repair shop workers don't actually know there's a reinstall partition on almost every laptop and brand desktop, too. The task, being quite simple, is often given to the intern without any further advice. They use a generic installation disk and try to find the drivers that aren't included in Windows from various and often questionable sources. One of the most frightening scenarious was when I found out that a nationwide pharmacy chain had a Community Toolbar installed in the machines they had got downgraded and ready installed from their headquarters. Apparently the person who had done the downgrading, instead of using the HP website, had used some adware to find the drivers needed.

So back to your framerate problem, if after the hard disk replacement all your files were as the used to be, a clean reinstall might help.

[TDeacon]

Well if you let a memory chip run over temp for a few 'minutes' then it could have devastating effects on the memory. 52C is not hot but the question then becomes where is that probe reading the temperature? If it frustrates you to try to fix something then have it not work anyway then just buy another card. I would try it anyway. You are not likely to have a soldering rework station which would be the proper way to do what Ripley suggested. Unfortunately the overn method could potentially cause any borderline components to fail outright. I have rescued cards acting like this but you are headed to replacing it either way once they start acting up.

I know how to solder circuit board components; however I doubt loose solder connections is the problem (as it worked when I went to bed, and didn't in the morning).  I would be happy to buy another equivalent video card (or a reasonably trustworthy used one) but they are not to be had in AGP, for Windows XP, and working with my 250 W Dell power supply (or even without this last requirement, if I replaced the PS).  Remember the current card is a Radeon 9800 XT 256 MB, which was top of the line in its day.  The only thing I can find on line is this: "JATON 3DFORCE FX5200TV GeForce FX 5200 128MB 64-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Low Profile Ready Video Card" at NewEgg.  It is alleged to have significantly worse performance than the 9800 XT.  

BTW, I have transfered a 1990's era video card into the unit so I can write code, and it works fine for that, meaning that the issue is probably restricted to the 9800XT. 

MH

[MrRiplEy[H]]

I know how to solder circuit board components; however I doubt loose solder connections is the problem (as it worked when I went to bed, and didn't in the morning).  I would be happy to buy another equivalent video card (or a reasonably trustworthy used one) but they are not to be had in AGP, for Windows XP, and working with my 250 W Dell power supply (or even without this last requirement, if I replaced the PS).  Remember the current card is a Radeon 9800 XT 256 MB, which was top of the line in its day.  The only thing I can find on line is this: "JATON 3DFORCE FX5200TV GeForce FX 5200 128MB 64-bit DDR AGP 4X/8X Low Profile Ready Video Card" at NewEgg.  It is alleged to have significantly worse performance than the 9800 XT.  

BTW, I have transfered a 1990's era video card into the unit so I can write code, and it works fine for that, meaning that the issue is probably restricted to the 9800XT. 

MH

Not so long ago ATI still offered relatively fast AGP card, now I don't see it for sale anymore. I'm afraid that buying a new AGP card right now is like giving CPR to a medically certified corpse. It's time to update the hardware. Nowadays you can find preowned pci-e capable computers for small change - if you're short on money I suggest asking around computer repair shops or recycling centers for one. You may be able to find an old Core2duo office computer for a few bucks, then install a lower mid-level card for 75-100 bucks and you're good to go again.