Oh my nVidia G4 MX440 problem!!

thachcucngon · 10-08-2005, 06:06 PM

Hi guys!!! I really need helps with my annoying graphic card's problem.

It started couple of months ago when my computer suddenly became insanely hot. (I could even feel the heat if i put my foot on the case

) . Unfortunately, I ignored it and did nothing but try to reduce my using time. Sometime later, I found something funny with my display pictures. It kept occasionally disappearing for like 1 or 2 seconds, totally black then becoming normal again. And by saying "occasionally", I mean 5 minutes per disappearance. And now recently, it's got worse, the pictures freeze after a flash, and nothing I can click on the screen to reverse it. All I can do is to wait for 5 seconds until the screen turns back to normal. It is now a really annoying problem because the screen freezes every half a minute or may be less. I can hardly do anything in my computer now that's why I desparately need your helps.

I've tried to install the nVidia G4 MX440 driver but nothing's changed. Is it the problem with my coolers? I've even tried the external cooler, which is the big fan I often use in my room in a hot summer day, to blow the air right into the motherboard (open case). It does cool all my computer's parts off but I has not improved the performance of the graphic card.

I would be very grateful if you guys could help me out!

ebackhus · 10-08-2005, 07:46 PM

The GPU may be burned out if your efforts are of no avail.

Uranium-235 · 10-08-2005, 08:01 PM

Is the card integrated (onto the motherboard) or not?

check the card and see if the heatsink has as fan, is the fan running? is it on well?

if you have any older video cards lying around, you put them in temporarly and see if the same issues happen.

You may have indeed damaged the GPU. If you're using an integrated card or not, you can always just buy a MX 4000 (actually, a lesser card next to a 440) for like $30 off newegg.com, or a FX5200 for $40-$50.

Cloud_Strife · 10-08-2005, 10:08 PM

That could actually be a burnt GPU, since my MX440 only had a heatsink on it, usually 1 hour of Need For Speed Underground will leave it feeling like burnt plastic, literally.

thachcucngon · 10-09-2005, 08:30 AM

Thank you all for your replies!
I've checked the 2 fans I have and I think one of them has some problem. That is the fan under the power supply. It makes noises when running and does not run continously. By saying that I mean It starts running fast for few seconds then slowing down (may be just the inertia of the fan's swings) for only couple of seconds then running fast again then slowing down. It keeps going fast, slow, fast, slow... with all the annoying noises and leaves my comp in a very bad heat.
Unfortunately that I haven't got a spare video card to try on so may be I'd go with a new one in the shop. By the way, should I get a new fan too? Should I replace the old one or just attach the new one to the board?

harry3000 · 10-17-2005, 01:52 AM

Nah, I have the exact same card and problem. But the card works flawlessly on another machine with same OS - XP SP2.

Even tried it on Win98SE and couldn´t make the blinks reappear. Must be a driver prob or an I/O IRQ conflict maybe. Haven´t figured it out yet though, still blinks on the first machine... And yes - have tried different drivers, but nVidia haven´t upgraded drivers for MX 440 since 5x.xx i think?

10-08-2005, 06:06 PM	#1 (permalink)
thachcucngon Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 25 OS: Win XP	Oh my nVidia G4 MX440 problem!! Hi guys!!! I really need helps with my annoying graphic card's problem. It started couple of months ago when my computer suddenly became insanely hot. (I could even feel the heat if i put my foot on the case ) . Unfortunately, I ignored it and did nothing but try to reduce my using time. Sometime later, I found something funny with my display pictures. It kept occasionally disappearing for like 1 or 2 seconds, totally black then becoming normal again. And by saying "occasionally", I mean 5 minutes per disappearance. And now recently, it's got worse, the pictures freeze after a flash, and nothing I can click on the screen to reverse it. All I can do is to wait for 5 seconds until the screen turns back to normal. It is now a really annoying problem because the screen freezes every half a minute or may be less. I can hardly do anything in my computer now that's why I desparately need your helps. I've tried to install the nVidia G4 MX440 driver but nothing's changed. Is it the problem with my coolers? I've even tried the external cooler, which is the big fan I often use in my room in a hot summer day, to blow the air right into the motherboard (open case). It does cool all my computer's parts off but I has not improved the performance of the graphic card. I would be very grateful if you guys could help me out!

10-08-2005, 07:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
ebackhus Manager, Design Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: SATX Posts: 14,341 OS: WinXP Pro SP3/Windows 7 RTM My System Blog Entries: 28	The GPU may be burned out if your efforts are of no avail. __________________ ----------------------------- There are no dumb questions, unless a customer is asking them. Help in the fight against cancer and other serious illnesses.

10-08-2005, 10:08 PM	#4 (permalink)
Cloud_Strife Registered User Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 51 OS: XP Pro	That could actually be a burnt GPU, since my MX440 only had a heatsink on it, usually 1 hour of Need For Speed Underground will leave it feeling like burnt plastic, literally. __________________ AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 1.84 GHz eVGA Geforce FX5500 256MB 1024MB PC2100 Samsung DDR RAM 120GB 7200RPM HD

10-08-2005, 08:01 PM	#3 (permalink)
Uranium-235 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: Milky Way/Alpha Quadrant/Earth/US/Texas Posts: 190 OS: Windows XP SP3	Is the card integrated (onto the motherboard) or not? check the card and see if the heatsink has as fan, is the fan running? is it on well? if you have any older video cards lying around, you put them in temporarly and see if the same issues happen. You may have indeed damaged the GPU. If you're using an integrated card or not, you can always just buy a MX 4000 (actually, a lesser card next to a 440) for like $30 off newegg.com, or a FX5200 for $40-$50.

10-09-2005, 08:30 AM	#5 (permalink)
thachcucngon Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 25 OS: Win XP	Thank you all for your replies! I've checked the 2 fans I have and I think one of them has some problem. That is the fan under the power supply. It makes noises when running and does not run continously. By saying that I mean It starts running fast for few seconds then slowing down (may be just the inertia of the fan's swings) for only couple of seconds then running fast again then slowing down. It keeps going fast, slow, fast, slow... with all the annoying noises and leaves my comp in a very bad heat. Unfortunately that I haven't got a spare video card to try on so may be I'd go with a new one in the shop. By the way, should I get a new fan too? Should I replace the old one or just attach the new one to the board?

10-17-2005, 01:52 AM	#6 (permalink)
harry3000 Registered User Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 1 OS: XP	Nah, I have the exact same card and problem. But the card works flawlessly on another machine with same OS - XP SP2. Even tried it on Win98SE and couldn´t make the blinks reappear. Must be a driver prob or an I/O IRQ conflict maybe. Haven´t figured it out yet though, still blinks on the first machine... And yes - have tried different drivers, but nVidia haven´t upgraded drivers for MX 440 since 5x.xx i think?