[sugarland]

I am getting an intermittent black screen while using my computer. It just started a few days ago. Any ideas out there?

[Rommel]

sugarland, on 01 August 2011 - 07:38 AM, said:

I am getting an intermittent black screen while using my computer. It just started a few days ago. Any ideas out there?

More detaills would help.

Does it go black for a second then come back?
Does it appear to go in sleep mode and require some action on your part to restore it?
What kind of monitor?
What graphics card or onboard?
Does the pc appear to NOT shut down with it?

From what info is given, the first and simplest thing is check your cable connection.
Try a different cable.
If it persists, try another monitor.
If it persist we'll need to look into your graphics and motherboard.

[sugarland]

Rommel, on 01 August 2011 - 07:49 AM, said:

sugarland, on 01 August 2011 - 07:38 AM, said:

I am getting an intermittent black screen while using my computer. It just started a few days ago. Any ideas out there?

More detaills would help.

Does it go black for a second then come back?
Does it appear to go in sleep mode and require some action on your part to restore it?
What kind of monitor?
What graphics card or onboard?
Does the pc appear to NOT shut down with it?

From what info is given, the first and simplest thing is check your cable connection.
Try a different cable.
If it persists, try another monitor.
If it persist we'll need to look into your graphics and motherboard.

It goes black for a second and then come back with no interaction on my part.
Monitor: MultiSync LCD 1960NX
Graphics Card: 128MB DDR NVidia GeForce FX 5200
Does NOT shut down with black out.

This post has been edited by sugarland: 01 August 2011 - 09:14 AM

[Rommel]

Came across an nVidia forum about this card blacking out.

http://forums.nvidia...howtopic=192196

There is a reference to the HZ so make sure your resolution matches the correct HZ.

This seems like it would be a situation were the bets troubleshooting is trying another monitor or VC.
It seems you don't have one on hand, perhaps you could borrow one off a buddy or at work.

How is the the air flow in your system?
If its the card it could be struggling if its getting too hot.

The italic would be my choice of action, starting with the monitor being its the easiest part to try.

[LiveBrianD]

Speaking of airflow, try HWmonitor. What is your GPU temp? Note that gpu temps are almost always higher than cpu ones, they're designed for that.

[sugarland]

Rommel, on 01 August 2011 - 04:23 PM, said:

Came across an nVidia forum about this card blacking out.

http://forums.nvidia...howtopic=192196

There is a reference to the HZ so make sure your resolution matches the correct HZ.

This seems like it would be a situation were the bets troubleshooting is trying another monitor or VC.
It seems you don't have one on hand, perhaps you could borrow one off a buddy or at work.

How is the the air flow in your system?
If its the card it could be struggling if its getting too hot.

The italic would be my choice of action, starting with the monitor being its the easiest part to try.

[sugarland]

Rommel, on 01 August 2011 - 04:23 PM, said:

Came across an nVidia forum about this card blacking out.

http://forums.nvidia...howtopic=192196

There is a reference to the HZ so make sure your resolution matches the correct HZ.

This seems like it would be a situation were the bets troubleshooting is trying another monitor or VC.
It seems you don't have one on hand, perhaps you could borrow one off a buddy or at work.

How is the the air flow in your system?
If its the card it could be struggling if its getting too hot.

The italic would be my choice of action, starting with the monitor being its the easiest part to try.

I cleaned/dusted out the computer about a month ago, because it seemed to be running hard. Runs better now. The card is the original card I purchased with this PC 6 years ago. It has always worked fine so I don't think it has anything to do with HZ/resolution. If you think it is card, can you advise what to replace it with? I have a DEll Dimension 8300; Pentium 4 2.8GHz. Do you need more info?

[sugarland]

LiveBrianD, on 01 August 2011 - 05:12 PM, said:

Speaking of airflow, try HWmonitor. What is your GPU temp? Note that gpu temps are almost always higher than cpu ones, they're designed for that.

What is HWmonitor?
How do I find out what GPU temp and CPU temp is?

[Rommel]

sugarland, on 01 August 2011 - 05:35 PM, said:

LiveBrianD, on 01 August 2011 - 05:12 PM, said:

Speaking of airflow, try HWmonitor. What is your GPU temp? Note that gpu temps are almost always higher than cpu ones, they're designed for that.

What is HWmonitor?
How do I find out what GPU temp and CPU temp is?

Without any testing it is risky to buy a VC but it does look like the most logical component.
Based on the link below your system has a 205 or 305 watt psu.
This greatly limits your options.

Your card is $30 at www.newegg.com if you wanted to stay where you are.

http://support.dell....00/sm/specs.htm

http://www.cpuid.com/news.html
For my system I am using HW monitor version 1.17

and cpu-z version 1.56

Both free.
These are nice to have being they show a lot of your system info, they are free and only take resources when you open them which is very little.

[coastie65]

At 6 years, that card is getting a bit lon in the tooth and is probably on the verge of failing.

[LiveBrianD]

8300? Beware that around that time Dell was using some PSUs with nonstandard connectors, yet they fit physically with standard ATX stuff (the 20/24pin connector), meaning that you could use a standard PSU, which would fry the motherboard. However, I had no issues using a standard PSU with my 8200, except that because that dell had a hole only for the fan but not the entire psu like most, the power switch that most other PSUs have but dell's didn't prevented it from physically fitting in.

As for hwmonitor, click on my link. The word 'hwmonitor' in my last post was it. Your CPU temp will be under the cpu name (ex. "Intel Core i5 750") and gpu ditto (ex. "Nvidia Geforce 210").