DoYouRealize

I'm not 100% sure if this is the correct forum to post it in, but since tweaking my video card settings is what caused the problem I'll post it here...

Ok so I play Counter-Strike and in the quest to get better FPS I was told to change some stuff in my graphics card settings (It's a Radeon Xpress 200 series, 128 mb, it came with the computer.) All I did was turn AA and AF off (AA stands for Anti-Alliasing or something like that, don't remember what AF stood for) and to change several settings from "Quality" to "Performance" (settings such as minmap bumping, picture quality, stuff like that.) This was suggested by several people and other reliable sources so I didn't think there would be any problem except no FPS boost.

Well I was completely wrong.

I applied these changes and when I started up CS suddenly my screen just completely changed to these green and black bars, and everything was all distorted. I couldn't do ANYTHING so I had to turn my computer off. And then when I tried to turn it back on, it wouldn't. The computer itself actually turned on, but my monitor remained off, as if it wasn't even connected to the computer. I also noticed the Caps, Num and Scroll lock buttons on my keyboard never came on either. I tried turning it on and off, unplugging everything and then replugging it many times and still nothing.

Then, for some reason it actually turned on when I tried once. I was on the desktop and everything seemed fine. Well since I didn't want to go through that again I changed all the graphics card settings back to the default... and then when I tried to play CS it did it again. And I haven't been able to turn it on ever since.

Thinking it might be the monitor, I dug up my old computer (Windows ME Compaq) and hooked it up to the monitor, bam monitor works fine, so SOMETHING in the good computer is fried... this is soooo frustrating. BTW I am posting this from my old Compaq right now... can ANYONE offer some help? I know this may be hard considering I can't even get the damned thing to turn on! But any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you

dai

post your system specs including the power supply details from the label on the side of the psu

DoYouRealize

Ok my specs -

eMachines T6520
3400+ AMD Athlon 64 Processor (2.40 GHz, 512 KB L2 Cache, 1600 MHz FSB)
200 GB ATA Hard drive
ATI Radeon Xpress 200 series (128 MB)
1024 MB of DDR RAM

The power supply details are:

Input: 100 - 127V-6A, 200-240V-3A, 60/50 Hz
Output: +12V / 15A , -12V / 0.8A
300W MAX, +5V / 30A, +5VSB / 2A
+3.3V / 28A
+5V & +3.3V 180W MAX
+5V & +12V & +3.3V 288W MAX

I have no idea what any of that means but that's all that was on the PSU.

DoYouRealize

Might I add that the fans and everything in the computer run when booted up, it just seems that there is NO signal being sent to the monitor...

dai

with eMachines the first thing i suspect is the power supply as with most brand names the supply is barely good enough to run it
check your power requirements here
http://www.extreme.outervision.com/psucalculator.jsp
add 30% to the result
i would try and borrow a larger psu to try in it with around 18a on the 12v+ line
http://www.techsupportforum.com/showthread.php?t=107466
if it is under warranty give it to them to fix

DoYouRealize

Yeah, it is still under warranty and we were thinking of going to Best Buy (where we bought it from) tomorrow to have them look into it.

dai

that is your best option ifyou mess with it they will say you caused it

DoYouRealize

*sigh* Ok, I just hope tomorrow they can fix it because I really need the computer for the weekend... Anyone know how long it might take them to fix this type of thing?

dai

let us know how you get on

DoYouRealize

Ok, will do.

It's just I'm skeptical about it being the power supply simply because this problem started right when I changed the video card settings, which makes me believe something is wrong with the video card. Well I dunno, I don't know much about these things and I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

dai

i think you will find you do not have a video card only a onboard chip
i suspect the 12v line found the increased demand to much

DoYouRealize

I know it's just an oboard chip, the Xpress series is Radeons onboard video cards, it's just I call it that out of habit lol. But the thing that gets me is I wasn't turning the settings up, I was turning them down. I turned off AA and AF and turned the texture quality and one other setting (I think it was like minmap bumping or something, can't quite remember) from "Quality" to "Performance" ... meh...

Not to mention that even when I finally WAS able to get on the desktop, I changed the settings back to the default and it still happened. :/

Ah well... I think I'll quick hook the computer up and give it one last try before I go to bed tonight, if I still get nothing (which is what I'm betting on) to Best Buy tomorrow it is.

DoYouRealize

Well just got back, Best Buy is shipping it off to the company where they will do a full scan on all the hardware and replace anything thats defective, it's all covered under the warranty :D however it will take anywhere from 10 days to 4 weeks :(

dai

let us know how you get on with it