Dell XPS 420 video card issue?

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reckedracing

reckedracing

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inlaws have an xps 420 or something like that
one of the overpriced beefy looking cases from dell with the cool tower lcd and all that shit

the video card shat the bed a few months ago, and it was covered under warranty

now the monitor has started to display polka dots/static at random intervals
almost like the the video card is cooking itself or something else is getting hot

sometimes the computer will still work, if you can see where the mouse is, etc
and sometimes it requires a hard boot
its the nvidia ge force 8800gt or something along those lines

i just dont want to recommend a new video card and then the problem is still there
any advice? out of warranty a month after the last card was replaced. the last time the monitor would not show anything at all.
 
does it also have onboard video? do you have a junk card you can test? other LCD?

most cards you can get for 25 bucks nowadays... you can upgrade it for peanuts.
 
Having another screen to test with would be a good idea. If they just use it to surf the web and other basic stuff buying a new card at staples or walmart would be just fine i would imagine if it comes down to that. Unless they have youngins that game.
 
its just a standard computer for email and shit
i think they way overpaid for what they actually do with it

i dont think it has onboard video, there is another monitor, but it seemed to be working properly before i got to testing another screen with it.

so the video card has 2 outputs, i assume for dual monitors, so it might be time to try the second channel, or try the spare monitor.
my next step would be to start chucking parts at it. if i had a machine with a video card i would try that out. i think they are calling a tech friend to get more advanced on it.
i don't want to start wasting their money on spare parts etc, and i cant tell if its software or hardware related.
 
so they called dell and the shit is still covered under warranty, so they are sending a tech and another new video card.
i guess they got some sort of additional time on the warranty for the previously bad defective video card, and hopefully they get something new/different this time.
 
Depending on what model, a lot of the 8800 series nvidia cards have a habit of cooking themselves due to fan control issues. They also run pretty hot just as design. Might try an ATI card. They use less power and run cooler.

Also might look into adding a fan or 2 to the case.
 
thanks for the tips
i assumed the cards were prone to failure, now its confirmed.

they will probably bring another one of the same cards unfortunately.
 
get MSIAfterburner or EVGA precision tuner. it may work with their card. it allows auto/manual fan adjustments, overclocking and voltage controls. very powerful program that allow tweaks or set and forget settings.

it could be a ram issue as well. you can stress test ram with memtest and/or prime95 and the video card with furmark.

if it fails prime95, its usually cpu or ram related. if it fails furmark or even futuremark its gpu.

alternatively, if it is the gpu and they do get the same replacement, just upgrade the cooling with something like arctic cooling, zalman or even strap an additional 120mm on the video card.
 
so the Dell tech came and put a replacement 8800 card in
now the fan for the graphics card is flat out balls to the wall running all the time.
might be a plus for not cooking the card, but they're fucking pissed
spending all that money on a desktop machine, and now it sounds like a jet engine
lmfao
 
reckedracing said:
so the Dell tech came and put a replacement 8800 card in
now the fan for the graphics card is flat out balls to the wall running all the time.
might be a plus for not cooking the card, but they're fucking pissed
spending all that money on a desktop machine, and now it sounds like a jet engine
lmfao
Click to expand...

Download the newest drivers, that should fix it.
 
i'm thinking the newest driver is what is causing the problem
the latest driver update says its tweaked for new games like BF3 and batman
so i assume they bumped the clock speed and just set the fucking thing to perma cool
i downloaded some of the nvidia utilities to try and find some fan speed settings with no luck
the one utility shows the video card temp as -56C, so i'm not entirely sure what the fuck is up with it
 
give either MSI or ASUS a try. if the fan only has 2 wires, then it cannot do pwm or be controlled via software.

temp readings are usually always not too accurate, but other than the two previously mentioned softwares, if you want to monitor temps you can use, smartfan, hwmonitor, gpu-z or aida/lavasoft.

again, if software doesnt work, you can always replace cooling system ($20ish) or strap a 120mmm on it ($10ish).
 
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