Can AGP Video card cause mobo to fail?

[stduc]

Upon return from a 2 week vacation my PC booted up just fine. After running for a few hours I had to re-boot and after selecting re-start - the PC seemed to shut down OK - but did not re-boot. Black screen.

Upon opening the case I noticed that the video card's fan had failed. So, assuming the card had 'cooked' I replaced it. No change. Upon power on all fans start, Hard drives start, network card lights come on. But no BIOS screen, in fact no video at all. Also no BIOS beeps either.

I have removed all cards and disconnected all drives and all connections. No change. I have cleared CMOS. I have tried booting without the video card. At no point in all this has the PC beeped even once. I have inspected the mobo for blown capacitors - they seem OK. I have tested the PSU - it gets the green light on the tester.

Could the video card have screwed up the mobo? I am thinking that it must have?

Any thoughts anyone before I go looking for a new mobo/RAM and CPU (I may as well upgrade while I am at it and just keep the case, drives & PSU)

BTW - I did try another monitor - just in case!

 

[wahnula]

Sounds like you've done a thorough job troubleshooting. The only other possibility would involve using a PCI VidCard. My guess is VidCard fan failure= heat=possible shorts=AGP or PCI-E bus damage or CPU damage, but that's just a wild guess.

After running for a few hours I had to re-boot

What were you doing that caused you to have to reboot?

I may as well upgrade while I am at it and just keep the case, drives & PSU

Now you're talking!!! You've got a great excuse to upgrade...

 

[nashull]

Just in time for the Core 2 Duos also

 

[BadBigBen]

stduc - it may sound strange, but have you cleared the CMOS after you disconnected the PSU or with the PSU attached to the mobo?

reason why I am asking: at work we have PSUs that need to be reset by unplugging from the Outlets and MoBo, after they detect that something is wrong with the system... I would try this. unplug the PSU from the mobo, clear CMOS and hold the PWR button for a few minutes (to drain the CAPS), reattach the PSU and check the seating of the GFX card...

if this does not produce anything better, then UPGRADE...



Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."

 

[stduc]

When will I learn - NEVER ASSUME!

Because the video card was hot and the fan jammed I (naturally?) assumed that was the problem.

To cut a long story short. I fixed the fan on the video card & re-seated the CPU.

Ah well - all's well that ends well!

Thanks for all the suggestions.

 

[BadBigBen]

Glad you got it up and running... and that you learned from this experience (just as I did)...

Ben

"If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer..."