color problem. x1900

T

[teh]manwich

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 27, 2006
Messages
146
k first of all, im gonna assume this is primarily a gfx card problem because ive had one that did something similar to this. BUT... this could be something else because ive been having problems with this computer since i built it. The problem before this one was that i would boot my pc up and fans would run lights would come on, etc. but no bios would come up. So to fix this i would either have to repeat the boot up about 3 times before the computer would run normally or leave it in this no-start-up-menu state for like 5-10 minutes then reboot and works fine. now I've encountered a new problem. the colors on my screen have changed, and blue's are now purple and pixely and what looks like a heat problem or power problem with the video card ( when i play games though, they go to normal, but as soon as i exit the game the colors mess up again). any answers on how to fix this or should i just start replacing parts and see wich one is the problem?

one thing to note is that i will be replacing the gfx card with a 8800gtx in a few months, or w/e is the best in that point in time. But this pc has always had that one problem since i first booted it up (like 2 months ago) and now with the addition of this new problem, im a bit scared. plz help me with this ongoing hell...

specs are in sig.
 
It sounds like your PSU is struggling to run your system.
I get a similar boot problem if I overclock too much as I'm using a PSU way below my requirements.
Booting is a nightmare at 2.7GHz, it takes up to 5 attempts.
However, once in Windows it works great.
Booting at 2.6GHz causes no problems.

Booting uses a lot more power than you imagine.
As your problem occurs only in high power situations it points to a power problem.

It could also be a component thats drawing way too much power.
Either way, a more powerful PSU may fix it.
Beware though if a component is drawing too much power and pegs the PSU, fitting a more powerful PSU could cause permanent damage to it through overheating.

Have you checked your temps?
 
ive gotten my gfx card temp down to 60s under load and everything else seems around 40c underload. the only thing that seems to be a bit high is the nforce 590 chip wich hovers around 60c or above
 
I wouldnt like my chipset toasting like that but then I dont know the expected temps for the 590.
That does sound really hot though, can you do something to help cool it more?

The other temps are fine
 
i guess i could buy a seperate cooler because i dont know any other way to cool it. but do you think that has anything to do with the boot up problem?
 
Its possible.

If Silicon runs too hot it degrades, causing even more heat generation.
If it gets too hot it can engage in thermal runaway and the device is irreparably damaged.

The extra heat is generated by new/easier paths for electricity to flow along and can cause a device to consume far more power than it is specced.
Once this occurs, you need to keep it cool and have a powerful enough PSU to handle the extra current requirement.

I'm not saying thats what has happened but it is a possible scenario.
Its quite possible your PSU is under specced or under performing and you also need more cooling on your chipset by co-incidence.
 
well i dont wanna sit and watch it get worse so i guess ill be looking for a new psu, even though this one is pretty new itself.. I also might as well pick up a chipset cooler for like $20 and try that out and see if the two options work. I really wish there was another and cheaper way around this...
 
For the hell of it, I'd try blowing an 80mm fan on your chipset before buying anything to see if the situation improves enough.
You never know, the hot chip could be the only issue.
 
well i have takin a large industrial fan, removed the side panel of the pc and let that blow on it for awhile and it still has the boot up problem. but ill try that and see if the color thing still happens when i get home from work.
 
ok, doing allittle research and reading the motherboard manual, and even emailing the motherboard manufacturer, he has told me to check the onboard led code and see if a certain number comes up when the problem occurs, ( if the led says FF that means its in its normal boot up ). i watched while it booted up ( after reseating pretty much everything) and a # 26 came up and stayed there. the manual says for 26 - "clock gen ( Init onboard clock generator and sensor)". wtf does that mean? i should probly just email foxconn back with this info anyway but since i wont get a response for like 4 days i was wonderin if anyone knows if this means anything.

oh and btw, the pc wont even start up anymore, im using a laptop as i type :(
 
from the error and the problems you have been having, maybe a clock generator on the mobo is having problems with speed/stability.
On the other hand, any form of chipset overheating or heat damage could induce just about any error so it may not be worth anything.
Regardless, thats probably a dead motherboard.

Its down to trying parts etc to see what has failed.
 
replacing parts is alot easier than fixing them, and im tired of watching this slowly get worse to the point where it doesnt work at all. i might as well start with the motherboard and send that back since that seems to be the most logical problem at this point. then if that doesnt do anything it will be the video card to go back. now i just need to look for all the stuff that came with the product which is all nicely cluttered in a mountain of boxes in the corner of my room.

edit: last minute thought. should i replace the chipset fan with a new one i just bought to see if that does anything or just send the motherboard back and hope for the best? doesnt that void the warranty?
 
Hard call.
replacing the heatsink means disturbing the default heatsink paste.
It all depends whether that gets checked which I imagine it will if tested.

Then again, we dont know if the motherboard is the whole problem.
Given the temps of the chipset, it looks likely to be 'a' problem if not now, later.


How about testing if the PSU is overloaded. Its possible that the chipset on the motherboard is drawing too much power (which could be why its so hot).

If you can try another more powerful PSU that would be perfect but if not...
Unplug everything you dont need for the machine to boot including USB devices.
Declock the CPU via the FSB a lot as this can save a lot of power from memory, chipset and CPU being declocked. You may want to reduce voltages a little too.
Test and see if it responds better.


If that doesnt work, you might want to consider getting a really cheap graphics card to test with.
You will always have that card to help diagnose future problems and if you get a future graphics card failure it will at least get you online.
Keep the fan blowing on the chipset when testing with it.
 
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