desktop stopped working- HELP

[bob123]

Hi
My desktop stopped working recently and im not sure whats wrong with it. im a semi noob re comps so bear with me. I was playing a game when i got multicoloured lines on the screen and then it froze. When i restarted it, everything powered up but there was no picture. All the CPU/GPU/mobo fans are spinning and i even get the beeps on power on? I cant hear the windows opeing jingle either? The specs are below. i treid to overclock it few months ago but got no benefits so reset back to original settings.

AMD X2 3800
Asus A8n-SLI skt 939 PCI E
Pixelview PCX6800GT
Geil 2GB PC3200 RAM
Antec 480W PSU

It was built for me by microdirect almost 2 years ago.

I thought it must be a problem with the GPU but shouldnt i get the windows sounds on startup? I dont have a problem replacing the broken copmonent but how do i find out which is broken? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[djjimbob]

If you don't even see the opening BIOS screens etc etc, I suspect your graphicas card has gone.

[randombs]

How many beeps? I don't think it really matters as long as it's more than one, as if it is then I also think it's the graphics card. No beeps at all would mean a number of things (cpu, ram, etc) so at least the beeps narrow it down.

If the graphics card is properly buggered the PC will beep to tell you, reason being it checks the graphics card very early in the bootup (if not first on the list of checks) as the monitor is the PC's main way of telling you what's going on. I'm pretty sure the beeps only really occur if there's no graphics card at all (or if the card isn't in the socket properly as happened to me when I built my first PC!) so try removing the card and putting it back in.

It's not going to continue booting into Windows, which is why you don't hear the Windows sounds. The lines on the screen tells me it's likely the graphics card ram that knocked out.

Googling your motherboard, it seems it doesn't have onboard graphics, so see if you can borrow a graphics card from someone and try that.

[bob123]

thanks for your help guys. There is only one beep, but that is what usually occurs when it was working? There are no extra beeps. Ive tried to take the card out and re entered it into its slot but that hasnt had any effect. Is there any way i can test it without getting old of another card as that might be a difficult?

[Matt]

Try and external monitor, but I agree - the gfx has died.

[bob123]

ok thanks. Am looking for a replacement GPU. Looking for a mid range GPU. Dont want to spend too much as i will probably be upgrading mobo and CPU in a year or two. Just something that will play newer games, not necessarily at the highest resolutions. Was looking at the Nvidia 9600 range as it got rated very highly in the trusted reviews website. Will i be able just to slot this straight into the mobo or do i need to upgrade that as well? I see that this is a PCI-E 2.0 compatible card, are they backwards compatible with PCI-E 1.0?

[Matt]

Sorry, when I said try an external monitor, I was a little... confused I meant have you tried the onboard gfx, if you mobo has it? Open the case, pull out the gfx card, and use the onboard mobo gfx.

I think all PCI are backwards compatible, it's the power being drawn that's different - I think! PCI is 75w, PCI 2 is 150w. I'm not 100% sure on that. Do a bit of research with your mobo and the graphics card you want, and check you meet the power requirements.

The 9600 is a good card, but right now, my top choice would be the ATI 4850 at around £110. For a little less, the nVidia 8800GT around £80, and then the 9600 after that. nVidia prices are due to fall in a week or two, with the 9800GTX being around £90 to £100 I think, but still, the ATI 4850 is the best budget card around right now.