Here are my computer specs,
Brand and model :Gateway ZX4300-01e
Processor: 2.7 GHz Athlon II X2 Dual Core 235e
Ram: 4 GB DDR3
Harddrive: 640GB
Graphics Processor: Radeon HD 4270
Chipset Brand: ATI
Processor Brand: AMD
I bought it used a year or more ago and after a few weeks, the screen went black. It's been sitting in my closet since, because there was no way I was going to be able to afford having a professional look at it and fix it.
I was doing some spring cleaning and pulled the machine out of the closet and did some Google lurking about the model and the problem, with the help of this video, Gateway zx4300 black screen FIXED!! - YouTube , I was able fix it!
A few of the comments (and the video description) mention thermal paste and how it should be applied for a more reliable fix. So I went to Google again to see where I could buy it and there's so many different kinds and brands, I'm not sure what exactly to buy! I was going to order it and then read and watch whatever I could to make sure I applied it correctly, but I can't figure out what to buy for my PC as there's so many different kinds.
Long story short, pulling off the fan and heat sink and over heating the GPU, the putting it back on and hard resetting the machine fixed the black screen but I don't know exactly what thermal paste is and what I should do with it, if someone could direct me in the right direction I'd be very grateful.
Brand and model :Gateway ZX4300-01e
Processor: 2.7 GHz Athlon II X2 Dual Core 235e
Ram: 4 GB DDR3
Harddrive: 640GB
Graphics Processor: Radeon HD 4270
Chipset Brand: ATI
Processor Brand: AMD
I bought it used a year or more ago and after a few weeks, the screen went black. It's been sitting in my closet since, because there was no way I was going to be able to afford having a professional look at it and fix it.
I was doing some spring cleaning and pulled the machine out of the closet and did some Google lurking about the model and the problem, with the help of this video, Gateway zx4300 black screen FIXED!! - YouTube , I was able fix it!
A few of the comments (and the video description) mention thermal paste and how it should be applied for a more reliable fix. So I went to Google again to see where I could buy it and there's so many different kinds and brands, I'm not sure what exactly to buy! I was going to order it and then read and watch whatever I could to make sure I applied it correctly, but I can't figure out what to buy for my PC as there's so many different kinds.
Long story short, pulling off the fan and heat sink and over heating the GPU, the putting it back on and hard resetting the machine fixed the black screen but I don't know exactly what thermal paste is and what I should do with it, if someone could direct me in the right direction I'd be very grateful.