Help diagnose a friends PC problem

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ivandurago

[H]ard|Gawd
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Jun 5, 2008
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I came over to my friends house today to help reformat, as his PC was having issues.

The problems however are more than a reformat can absolve.

The screen display is fragmented, the text is off and there are random white boxes around. This even happens in the bios, and the PC blue screens when attempting to boot regularly and safe mode yields a black screen while only being able to see the pointer.

The power supply is creating a loud whine, weird noises? It is a OCZ Mod-Stream 450W, I think this one:
http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?item=N82E16817104154
It is around four years old?

The rest of his specs are: MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum | 3800x2 | 2 gb Corsair | 9800gt
2 x 120gb HDDs | few 120mm fans...

I suggested he order a new PSU from newegg, to see if that absolves the problem or if anything else is damaged. Is this sound advice? What would you do?

I have a 5700 Ultra he can test with (but not with me atm), but I am hesitant to test with parts from my rig (in sig) as if anything is damaged in his, I would not want my parts messed up.

What would you do? What power supply would you get? Cheap as possible (but obviously reliable.)
 
For those specs, the Corsair 400CX should be fine.

Anyway, so far it sounds like the video card is artifacting a bit. Which could be the result of damage from being connected to a low-quality PSU. In which case, he might have to get a new video card or just RMA it.

On the other hand, the white boxes make it seems like a mobo problem as well.

So here's what to do:
- Test with that 5700 Ultra
- Get a new PSU since it's needed no matter what
- See whether or not it's a GPU or PSU issue or even both.
 
Thanks for the quick advice Danny Bui

I hope the PSU will absolve the issue, or at worst it is a video card problem after that. Mobo would be a big bummer, as 939 gear is getting hard to come by and it is pricey.

Would there be a cheaper option than the Corsair 400w? I see it for $55 ($45 ar) on newegg. Maybe a Antec for around $40? If not I understand, just trying to save a friend some $$.
 
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