talkmagic.co.uk

I know some of you work in this field so wanted a second opinion.

I think my graphics card is knackered (ATI radeon hd 3450), I am getting lines banded vertically across the screen. At start up, the resolution change causes the lines to become closer together which implies the output not the monitor, also the monitor displays the onscreen menu without any problems.

I have tried removing the card in Device Manager and reinstalling but this did not work. Took off the cover and gave the card a thorough dusting but still nothing.

Any suggestions before I go buy a replacement would be appreciated. It appears to have happened for no reason one night. Turned it off okay, turned it on next day, broken!

By dusting, do you mean you removed the card, cleaned its contacts and the contacts of the motherboard?

I had those lines about 10 years ago!
It was because of my graphics card dying. My advice to you is to replace it with anything you can find. Maybe a cheap normal graphics card. Because when my card went down, it took my motherboard with it and that cost me more than just a graphics card.

Tomo wrote:By dusting, do you mean you removed the card, cleaned its contacts and the contacts of the motherboard?

It has a cable connecting it to the exterior of the box, which I disconnected and cleaned. Then I gave the rest of the card/onboard fan a dust. You think it might be worth taking out the card and giving the slot a good blow (no bingo)?

Just something I forgot to mention before, the picture looks like it is being displayed twice. A (reasonably) clear picture, over which the banding and a shadow of the display is being shown.

A_n_t wrote:It has a cable connecting it to the exterior of the box, which I disconnected and cleaned. Then I gave the rest of the card/onboard fan a dust. You think it might be worth taking out the card and giving the slot a good blow (no bingo)?

Completely remove the card, clean the contacts, replace it, and boot up. Blowing a bit of dust off the chips won't do a thing. Cards "walk" out of sockets with repeated heating and cooling, and muck builds up on contacts.

If that fails, get a new card.

borrow or buy a cheap graphics card and try that. If you still get the lines then it's not the graphics card. If it does solve it, then buy a decent graphics card.

I had a similar problem once and made the mistake of just assuming the problem was the graphics card - bought a sparkly new one and then it turned out it was the motherboard!

Do not have anywhere to borrow a card from so will just have to buy one.

Tried what you suggested Tomo but to no avail.

I only need a cheap one anyway, never use my main PC for much except storage, browsing and typing these days!

if you remove the card can you run off the onboard motherboard graphics card. it will be lower resolution and will take some of your memory but usable for basic apps like office or browsing.

Do you have any local geeks who can lend you a spare graphics card? It can happen

Both great ideas however;

No onboard graphics with my mobo.

and;

I am the local geek.