Mom's Radeon VE Bites the Dust

Dyre Straits · Sep 23, 2004, 05:03 PM

Things started getting bad yesterday. Her system would lock up randomly in various programs during various activities.

Today she told me that this morning her computer wouldn't even boot. The monitor was showing just a bouncing "The monitor is working" box.

So, I restarted while holding down the Insert key and, Lo and behold, the screen lit up with all kinds of garbled images. Once it got to Windows, all that showed up was a series of colored vertical bars across the screen.

I felt the heatsink on the VPU and, sure enough, it was getting VERY uncomfortable to touch.

So, I guess I'll be looking for a new card for her brand new system soon. Presently, it's running on the system's onboard S3 adapter.

TwistedMetal · Sep 23, 2004, 05:16 PM

Sorry for the lost, I hope it gets a good funeral. It deserves it.

Dyre Straits · Sep 23, 2004, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TwistedMetal

Sorry for the lost, I hope it gets a good funeral. It deserves it.

I have a special place for all discontinued and non-working hardware. I hate to get rid of anything.

Son_of_Thunder · Sep 23, 2004, 06:05 PM

ditto man, i have my sapphire 9000 entombed in it's anti static bag...i would throw it out, but i don't have the guts

Dyre Straits · Sep 25, 2004, 01:22 AM

It's definitely the Vidcard...

I put it into another computer and it did exactly the same thing. So, it's off to VidCard Heaven for this one.

CDsDontBurn · Sep 25, 2004, 02:33 AM

i want to hang my old EPOX 8RDA+ board and my busted 9700pro on my wall, but my mom and my gf would both kill me if i did.

interspaced · Sep 25, 2004, 09:16 AM

what is the normal lifespan of a graphics card?

leekirlew · Sep 25, 2004, 09:22 AM

my 9800pro lasted 6 weeks!

Son_of_Thunder · Sep 25, 2004, 11:45 AM

my r9000 lasted 2.5 years, but i didn't know how to take care of it when i first got it, i'd install it w/out static protection, touch the gold connectors, take it places w/out static protection. so yah.

wait, i did rma it once about 6 months after i got it. so it lasted 2 years like that.

Falstaff · Sep 25, 2004, 01:01 PM

I know on those cards as well as the old 8500 there is a capaciter that expires, i had my card repaired for 25 bucks and a new capaciter resoldered but I got rid of the 8500 anyway. There is a chap here in town that revives the cards somehow, dont know what his secret is but he gets Nvidia and some ATI cards to work again, no special technique, he just plugs them into a an 875 board and tests the vpu somehow. hmmmmmmmm

Dyre Straits · Sep 25, 2004, 01:08 PM

I've revived a MoBo by replacing capacitors. (ABIT BE6-II) But, that board has lasted long past its value.

I hated that my Mom's VE card expired, though. Now she's having to use the onboard S3 card that shares memory. And her computer only has 128 MB to begin with. (That will be fixed as soon as I can take care of it for her.)

Clubber · Sep 25, 2004, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by interspaced

what is the normal lifespan of a graphics card?

10 days for my 800xt, but my 9800xt is going strong.

riles9262 · Sep 25, 2004, 06:07 PM

I got a spare radeon ve in my closet if you want it

I hope to use it again on this pc when i build a new one.

Dyre Straits · Sep 29, 2004, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by riles9262

I got a spare radeon ve in my closet if you want it

I hope to use it again on this pc when i build a new one.

Haha! Thanks for the offer, but I think it would cost more to ship that card than I would spend on one new -- if I can still find one on the shelf here in Atlanta.

Anyway, there's a nice computer show coming up in a few weeks. I'm sure I can find something for her there.

Son_of_Thunder · Sep 29, 2004, 04:31 PM

my sapphire 9000 is officially dead. even in my mom's pc it doesn't give any picture.