Bad video cards

[Madmax3040]

Hey guys Im not a electronics guru at all....... Neither is my boss.

I work for a small Computer Repair Shop. Ever time we get a machine that has a bad mobo and a video card in it he seems to think it the video card that causes the problem. Is there anyway to know for sure if the video card is causing a mobo to go bad? is there such a thing as a PCI-E, AGP, PCI slot tester of some sort.

[toastygoodness]

Re: Bad video cards

switch the video card with a known good one. also, if there's an onboard video, use that instead.

[Madmax3040]

Re: Bad video cards

Well my real question is. Can a bad video card cause a good motherboard to go bad? And if so. How can you tell not to use that video card?

[pentium]

Re: Bad video cards

How can you tell not to use that video card?

Spraypaint, missing components, scortch marks, it ticks, it was bought from a crack dealer, it's 8-bit ISA. I can think of more.

[Madmax3040]

Re: Bad video cards

Im sorry I figured i should ask Because my boss seems to think a bad video can distory a good mobo. Like for example if a video card has bad caps on it would that cause problems. As in damage other components on the video card as well as components on the mother board. I just using that as an example but you could look at a video card as se bad caps.

[Neo2_000]

Re: Bad video cards

A bad video card could destroy a Mobo. So can a bad power supply, RAM or probably another other plugin you care to name. Anything that creates a direct short has the potential to cause destruction.

I have seen a graphics card cause problems, but this is about as rare as a blown CPU and you would expect to see corruption in the output to say the very least. More often, I have seen more dodgy RAM blow out a RAM slot - a burning smell and smoke are always good giveaways.

More frequently, I have seen a power supply outright kill a motherboard so that it would no longer even boot but they frequently cause instability.

Once again this is pretty rare but more frequent than a graphics card in my experience but then we produce far more computers for businesses than we do gamers and every one has a power supply. Look for the obvious - swollen / leaking caps on both.

If you have clean graphics, it would be unlikely that the video card has effected the mobo since it is functional enough to do it's own task. Feel the GPU - does it seem excessively hot?

Look inside the power supply for bad caps - you will find a whole new world to explain problems. Just recapped one last night - swollen caps. I did not know there were any problems but once you see them frequently enough you learn that it pays to be cautious and check for them. But once the PSU dies completely, the chances of a cure decline considerably.

Clean the RAM slots with an anti-static brush and reseat all onboard peripherals. Test the RAM with memtest and test the Hard Drive. If at the end, you have reinstalled the software and replaced all other components, there is only one thing left - the mobo.

You could buy a PCI board which monitors the boot process and spits out BIOS codes when it detects a POST fault, but I don't know if that will be of any great help.

At the end of the day, it is the skills of the technician that yield the best results.

[starfury1]

Re: Bad video cards

There was I think in the early days of AGP a case of the wrong video card would kill a MB
can't recall the full story now, was something to do with the voltage requirements not being the same. (maybe it was visa versa but it did exist)

I think at the time it was quite a trap if you weren't aware of it and maybe this is whats in your bosses mind.

As to a video card killing MB on a daily basis type thing...I don't think so but it is "as above" possible just not overly likely.
(unlees you are talking of a particular card that may have some design fault that causes this)

I suppose if I had to put my money on the most likely computer pcb/ memory etc killer it would be badly designed cheap PSU's and MB crap caps

Really not the voice of vast experience but if posts on this site are anything to go by.
These are fare bets, and would be my first 2 ports of call when a system goes belly up

If you are building systems I think you should pay as much attention to psu selection as to the rest of the system but consumers are all to often happy with a $30 cheapie to save a few bucks or dont know any better, sure it will run a box for a wee while but it may cost you dearly later down the track......sadly



just my thoughts on it