Black screen, GPU powers down.

Hobble · 07-03-2008, 08:18 PM

Ok, I have looked all over the place and can't find much to do with my issue exactly, I see some which are similar but I will explain it now.

I have an nvidia 7800 AGP, and everything used to work completely fine.

Now, I swapped over monitors today because of a hardware upgrade to this computer, and everything seemed to be working ok, I did the settings as I usually do on the old graphics card (GF3 TI) and everything seemed alright (1600x1200 75Hz).

After a few minutes I had a black screen, the video card just powered down, and whenever I tried to reset I would again have a black screen just after the windows logo... and the card would power down.

So I got in to safe mode, uninstalled the drivers, rebooted and everything was ok, as soon as I go to install the drivers again I get that black screen on the 3rd flicker.

Again I uninstalled them... here are a few things I have tried:

Other Graphics card connector with a analogue-Digital convertor.
VGA mode works with graphics drivers installed, BUT changing anything in settings gives the black screen and power down (change refresh rate or resolution, even if I don't 'change' them and just click apply). (Without drivers I can change these things settings fine.)
Total removal of drivers, reinstall motherboard drivers, same issue.
Edit: I tried old drivers too.
2nd Edit: I just tried uninstalling the drivers and everything, then putting in the old monitor that it used to be on, but it still had the same problem.
I should also note, when installing the drivers the card doesn't shut down, just goes black and hangs, when starting windows though the card does shut down.

I guess it's something to do with the new monitor, (ADI Microscan 21" 931G) but that seems silly as it worked for a while.

Am I missing something? Some say to check what monitor it's looking for in the control panel, but I can't with no drivers, and would that cause a power down?

Anyway, please fire away with questions, I think in the meanwhile I will put an old graphics card in, but I don't really want to keep it like that.

To clarify, the only thing to change was the monitor.

Houndog777 · 07-06-2008, 04:27 PM

Hi, Hobble
At the beginning of your post you say you "swapped over monitors today because of a hardware upgrade to this computer".
What was the upgrade?

When replying, please include the spec of your PC, i.e. motherboard, cpu, memory, video, power supply manufacturer & model and drives.

Hobble · 07-06-2008, 04:49 PM

Ok, I have 2 computers... and I basically merged the best of both when making this single machine.

When replying, please include the spec of your PC, i.e. motherboard, cpu, memory, video, power supply manufacturer & model and drives.

The new merged one is:
Asus A7N8X-X motherboard
Athlon XP 3200+
1 gig of memory
700W PSU.. Antec, I think... PSU should be fine as it was running the graphics card before with no problems, infact I purchased the PSU along with the graphics card with enough room for upgrade a long time ago.
40Gb HDD, Western Digital
300Gb HDD, Maxtor

From the other machine is:
Change of monitor from iivama 17" LCD -> 21" ADI Microscan
Samsung DVD-ROM SD-616E
(This has been put in since the problem) 120Gb HDD, Maxtor

Purchased yesterday as my other soundcard wasn't working:
X-Fi Extreme Gamer

I should have updated my main post earlier but there was a bit of a development.
I tried going back to the old monitor and setup, and it wouldn't pick up that again either.
I then took out the 7800GS AGP and put in an older 5950GTX, which works fine.

Maybe the 7800GS has just had it :/

I should also note, I have basically built a whole new machine to replace one of them which is now using the iiyama monitor, this is why I was doing the merge.

07-03-2008, 08:18 PM	#1 (permalink)
Hobble Registered User Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 84 OS: Vista Ultimate 64bit	Black screen, GPU powers down. Ok, I have looked all over the place and can't find much to do with my issue exactly, I see some which are similar but I will explain it now. I have an nvidia 7800 AGP, and everything used to work completely fine. Now, I swapped over monitors today because of a hardware upgrade to this computer, and everything seemed to be working ok, I did the settings as I usually do on the old graphics card (GF3 TI) and everything seemed alright (1600x1200 75Hz). After a few minutes I had a black screen, the video card just powered down, and whenever I tried to reset I would again have a black screen just after the windows logo... and the card would power down. So I got in to safe mode, uninstalled the drivers, rebooted and everything was ok, as soon as I go to install the drivers again I get that black screen on the 3rd flicker. Again I uninstalled them... here are a few things I have tried: Other Graphics card connector with a analogue-Digital convertor. VGA mode works with graphics drivers installed, BUT changing anything in settings gives the black screen and power down (change refresh rate or resolution, even if I don't 'change' them and just click apply). (Without drivers I can change these things settings fine.) Total removal of drivers, reinstall motherboard drivers, same issue. Edit: I tried old drivers too. 2nd Edit: I just tried uninstalling the drivers and everything, then putting in the old monitor that it used to be on, but it still had the same problem. I should also note, when installing the drivers the card doesn't shut down, just goes black and hangs, when starting windows though the card does shut down. I guess it's something to do with the new monitor, (ADI Microscan 21" 931G) but that seems silly as it worked for a while. Am I missing something? Some say to check what monitor it's looking for in the control panel, but I can't with no drivers, and would that cause a power down? Anyway, please fire away with questions, I think in the meanwhile I will put an old graphics card in, but I don't really want to keep it like that. To clarify, the only thing to change was the monitor. Last edited by Hobble : 07-03-2008 at 08:45 PM.

07-06-2008, 04:27 PM	#2 (permalink)
Houndog777 Tech Hardware TEam Join Date: May 2007 Location: Scotland, UK Posts: 2,683 OS: XPpro sp3 My System	Re: Black screen, GPU powers down. Hi, Hobble At the beginning of your post you say you "swapped over monitors today because of a hardware upgrade to this computer". What was the upgrade? When replying, please include the spec of your PC, i.e. motherboard, cpu, memory, video, power supply manufacturer & model and drives. __________________

07-06-2008, 04:49 PM	#3 (permalink)
Hobble Registered User Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 84 OS: Vista Ultimate 64bit	Re: Black screen, GPU powers down. Ok, I have 2 computers... and I basically merged the best of both when making this single machine. When replying, please include the spec of your PC, i.e. motherboard, cpu, memory, video, power supply manufacturer & model and drives. The new merged one is: Asus A7N8X-X motherboard Athlon XP 3200+ 1 gig of memory 700W PSU.. Antec, I think... PSU should be fine as it was running the graphics card before with no problems, infact I purchased the PSU along with the graphics card with enough room for upgrade a long time ago. 40Gb HDD, Western Digital 300Gb HDD, Maxtor From the other machine is: Change of monitor from iivama 17" LCD -> 21" ADI Microscan Samsung DVD-ROM SD-616E (This has been put in since the problem) 120Gb HDD, Maxtor Purchased yesterday as my other soundcard wasn't working: X-Fi Extreme Gamer I should have updated my main post earlier but there was a bit of a development. I tried going back to the old monitor and setup, and it wouldn't pick up that again either. I then took out the 7800GS AGP and put in an older 5950GTX, which works fine. Maybe the 7800GS has just had it :/ I should also note, I have basically built a whole new machine to replace one of them which is now using the iiyama monitor, this is why I was doing the merge.