Dell 4550 Video Loss

[racherry]

Syptoms of problems was video going black. Seemed computer and monitor was running fine, but required reboot. I had a couple XP blue screen boot up crashes indicating hardware problems. Originally had an AGP nVida GeForce, video is not on the mobo with a BIOS of V02. I updated the BIOS from the Dell site to V08. Installed a new GeForce4000Mx PCI and it continues to loose video. The AGP slot is a first generation AGP. If I install a simple old Diamond Stealth 64 Video PCI which I can not get XP drivers for, it runs fine for days in VGA mode. Any ideas?

Thanks

 

[kestrel1]

Could be a power supply issue. Can you swap the PSU for a know good one?
PSU's can cause all sorts of problems, if they start to fail.

 

[racherry]

Thanks for that suggestion, I'll try. I noticed that the DirectX 9 tests caused the video to lock up on bouncing box full screen. I uninstalled Directx 9, now back to 8.1...I'll see if that does anything.

Actually the power makes sense becuase only high-end cards cause a problem. Have to see what I can do to test that.

What a crazy problem this can be, never really seen anything quite like this. Thanks again for responding.

Any thing else you can think of or experiences would be greatly appreciated.

 

[racherry]

One other issue is that bios was telling me the battery was dead. I replaced it but the original issue on this thread still exists. Like i said in the previous post, I am now leaning towards the power supply and see what I can do to getting another. Anyone know if the Dell 4550 can take a generic power supply with the same wattage?

Thanks

 

[kestrel1]

Just for testing, you could just unplug the original PSU & sit the other on top & connect it up.
Just be careful. I do this for testing, but not for long periods.

 

[racherry]

Yes, I've done that myself. But a little late...it was rather easy to rip out and I have do a local search for a replacement....

Thanks kestrel1... it's always great to have someone o bounce ideas off of.... I probably would have not looked at the pws....

 

[kestrel1]

Hope you can find one to try it out then & hopefully it is the PSU.
Another option, if a new PSU won't fit the case get a new case & transfer everything into it. A bit extreme, but could save you trying to get a PSU for your case.

 

[racherry]

Power supply was not the answer. I still think power is the issue, but the problem is on the mobo.

I'm gonna take a stab at swapping out the system memory.

thanks

 

[kestrel1]

Memory is another possibility. If this is going faulty, it can cause problems. If not, I suppose the CPU is another possibility. Not always easy to swap out, if you haven't got the same type.
If that doesn't work you may have to cut your losses & get another mobo etc or a new system.
I have found that recently it is cheaper to get a new system than build one from scratch. Although if you build your own, you know what is going into it & can build to your own specs.

 

[racherry]

I agree, ya really can't beat some deals out there....but you know what your getting. Barebones may be the way to go...you can cannibalize the old machine It's not my computer so not my decision. But he has a couple options.

Thanks