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    #1

    Display issue

    I recently gave my friend a PC as I didn't need it anymore. Anyway, the PC works fine, memory has no errors and boots everytime. But sometimes during operation, the display goes blank and he needs to do a hard reset to get an image to come on the screen again. I think this is an issue to do with the caps that are currently on that board, but he thinks it might be the graphics card, but I highly doubt the graphics card has issues as the graphics card uses all Rubycon caps and hasn't been used much either.

    The specs of the PC are as follows:

    * Epox 8K7A+ motherboard
    * AMD Athlon 1200+ CPU
    * 256MB Kingston DDR 266MHz RAM (Will get more soon)
    * Asus Nvidia MX200 32MB AGP graphics card
    * D-Link DWL-G520 PCI WLAN card
    * Realtek 10Mbps PCI Network card
    * Lite-on CDRW
    * Creative DVD ROM drive
    * 40GB SEagate Barracuda IDE Hard drive
    * WIndows XP Professional Service Pack 2

    As you can see the motherboard is an Epox 8K7A+, which is known to have bad caps on an often basis. The caps are Tayeh 2200uf 6.3V around the VRM and 1000uf 6.3v (or something like that) Tayeh with Teapo vents everywhere else. There are about 20+ caps and I think they might be all bad, though the PC boots everytime without an issue. I don't mind purchasing the caps and replacing them for my friend free of charge as after all he did give me a HP 17" LCD monitor in return as he didn't need it.

    So would the issue be stemming from the caps?

    During Windows XP install, everything was ok and even the software install and stuff done at my place was fine and I didn't encounter any blank screens, but he has proven to me that it happens as I was there when it occurred. Now it occurs more often, and I have noticed the weather to get colder as well which may play a part.

    Thanks.
    Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous
    Tags: None
    #2
    Re: Display issue

    Oh and I'd also like to ask that if it is the bad caps and when I go about replacing them, is it OK to leave the CPU and heatsink on the board? It's just because that cooler is a bitch to take off and even putting it on is hard.

    But yes, is the display issue caused by badcaps? or is it a software issue? SO far we've uninstalled the Nvidia display drivers and it's still doing the blank screen thing during operation at random intervals.
    Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

    Comment

      #3
      Re: Display issue

      Change the resolution and or the refresh rate. It could be a monitor issue. Swap monitors and see. Check the PSU also for cap problems. I had a weird problem with video in a particular game, and it would clear on cold boot only. Changed the PSU several months ago and the problem no longer occurs.

      Toast
      veritas odium parit

      Comment

        #4
        Re: Display issue

        I'm pretty sure it isn't the monitor because the monitor he is currently using is my 17" Diamond View 1770G CRT and it works fine on any other PC without this display blanking issue. We've even tested it isn't the monitor because we'd turn the monitor off for a minute or two during the blank screen/ fuzzy screen incident with the PC and then when we'd switch the monitor back on, the screen was still blank so it's definitely the PC.
        Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

        Comment

          #5
          Re: Display issue

          Originally posted by Toasty
          Check the PSU also for cap problems
          The PSU in that system is a high quality one as it is my old Fortron/ FSP 200W one from a P4 Acer system that was rarely used. I did a visual inspection on the Teapo and OST caps in that PSU and they seem OK. The voltages are also very stable so I can rule that out.
          Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

          Comment

            #6
            Re: Display issue

            So.... does anyone know what I should do? I'm kinda stuck.
            Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

            Comment

              #7
              Re: Display issue

              I already gave you some, but you didn't report back on some of them.

              1) Change the resolution and/or the refresh rate. More likely the refresh rate. Is Windows recognizing the monitor correctly? Make sure the box is checked "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display" under (R-click on desktop)-Properties-Settings tab-Advanced button-Monitor tab. There is a driver for that specific monitor also.

              2) Swap monitors and see. --> You never said anything initially about a fuzzy screen.

              Do you mean 'out of focus' fuzzy? Or, colors (R-B-G) around objects?
              veritas odium parit

              Comment

                #8
                Re: Display issue

                Originally posted by Toasty
                I already gave you some, but you didn't report back on some of them.

                1) Change the resolution and/or the refresh rate. More likely the refresh rate. Is Windows recognizing the monitor correctly? Make sure the box is checked "Hide modes that this monitor cannot display" under (R-click on desktop)-Properties-Settings tab-Advanced button-Monitor tab. There is a driver for that specific monitor also.

                2) Swap monitors and see. --> You never said anything initially about a fuzzy screen.

                Do you mean 'out of focus' fuzzy? Or, colors (R-B-G) around objects?
                Sorry I didn't see your hints before.... but....

                1. We have changed the resolution and refresh rate and that has made absolutely no difference. Windows recognises the Monitor as a plug and plug monitor which is correct as my PC detect it as that and works fine with the monitor.

                2. When I mean fuzzy, I mean the screen goes blank and we get a green fuzz going across the screen in some sections. Only a cold boot of the PC will solve this issue. Cycling the monitor whilst the PC is still on does nothing so It's definitely the PC in my view.

                Thanks.
                Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                Comment

                  #9
                  Re: Display issue

                  replace video card or mainboard.

                  Ran the torture test mode in prime95?

                  Cheers, Wizard

                  Comment

                    #10
                    Re: Display issue

                    -Is this problem at all predictable/repeatable? Such as it will definitely fail after 'x' minutes of running or after you try to run 'y' program?

                    -Does the problem occur in Safe Mode?

                    -Swap the video card.

                    -PSU - OST's are crap caps. You know that. As I pointed out, I had a problem with video and PSU. Monitor voltages +3.3/+5/+12/+5SB before and then when the problem occurs. Voltages can look fine but ripple could be horrible. May be exacerbated with this system and any extra load. 200w seems terribly small.

                    -Swap out the PSU.

                    BTW - "rarely used" does not exempt anything from failure. i.e. the PSU & video card

                    Keep Fightin'
                    Toast
                    veritas odium parit

                    Comment

                      #11
                      Re: Display issue

                      Since I'm on my easter break at the moment, I will first replace the graphics card in my friends PC and see how that goes. If it goes good then it's problem solved.

                      Next comes the power supply if changing the graphics card doesn't fix it. If the power supply ain't fix it, next step takes place.

                      I'll be replacing the Epox board with a Jetway V266B motherboard

                      From what I've heard, the Epox 8K7A+ motherboard requires a PSU with a very strong 5V line.... the Fortron FSP200 in there at the moment is more powerful in the 12V department, since it's for a P4..... I dunno, but could a weak 5V line be causing these issues....?
                      Otherwise I'll just get the Seventeam 250W PSU from my Pentium III and give that to him since the 5V is more powerful (in terms of Amps) on that one.

                      Thanks.
                      Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                      Comment

                        #12
                        Re: Display issue

                        Late update.... but....

                        A Jetway V266B motherboard replaced the Epox one. Still no change. The graphics card was changed with an SiS 350 32MB? one and it has worked perfectly ever since. Yup, it was a faulty graphics card.
                        Don't find love, let love find you. That's why its called falling in love, because you don't force yourself to fall, you just fall. - Anonymous

                        Comment

                          #13
                          Re: Display issue

                          Could be that the SiS video card is just easier on the power supply.

                          EP-8K7A is indeed very heavy on the 5v rail. 200W does sound weak, but if it shows good voltage in the bios health monitor then it's maybe okay.
                          Lots of PSUs will go high on 3.3v and low on 5v, due to joint regulation. PSUs like that will suck on the 8K7A.

                          If the BIOS shows 5v in the 4.8x range, it's marginal and might have problems under load. If it's in the 4.7s it's going to be very bad, might not even boot reliably.

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