Hi,
Yesturday i decided to get the dust off my graphics card and let the air get into the fan etc. Pretty simple, held it by the edges with my hand and used a hoover to suck out the dust from the fan. Put the card back, i've done this plenty of times before, and turn on my pc and instead of getting a nice clear screen i get a scrammbled mess. It's hard to describe but it's kind of like tv static? Except more pixilated and various coloured large pixels and also it's moving up the screen like a stream.
I've taken out all my PCI cards and RAM, made sure there's no dust anywhere, put it all back in firmly and nadda. I've never had this problem before so i can only assume it's to do with the graphics card but maybe someone here is familiar with this problem and knows what's causing it.
My specs:
AMD 64 3500+
1.5GB ram
120GB HDD
Radeon x850XT 256mb(bought in 2005)

Thanks

Did you let the fan spin when you vacumed it ,cause some act like mini generators.
Possibly throwing "way" more than the normal voltage through the card.

Other things to check.
Loose components on card,clean and reapply thermal paste,reseat the card.

Some people on other pc boards told me it's a hazard to clean components with the hoover because it creates a lot of static. They think something on the card is fried, which would make sense seeing as i didn't touch any of the other pc parts or move them.

Do you recognise the problem though? It's definatley the gfx card?

Quote: Originally Posted by Psycho Pigeon Do you recognise the problem though? It's definatley the gfx card?

Got another card you can test on your mobo?

No i haven't got another pci-express card at the moment, just ordered one and hopfully it sorts it..

Take the heatsink off and clean the whole card in acetone. Reapply some thermal paste and
the heatsink and give it a try. It might work and it might not. But Acetone is cheap. And double
check the fan for proper operation.

Quote: Originally Posted by Slaymate Take the heatsink off and clean the whole card in acetone. Reapply some thermal paste and the heatsink and give it a try. It might work and it might not. But Acetone is cheap. And double check the fan for proper operation.

Acetone!!!???NNOOO!!!!

acetone is a powerfull solvent and will melt many plastic components.

I use ethyle alchohal or everclear on sensitive electronics

The only tools needed to clean out dust is canned air and a toothbrush. Then again maybe a small screwdriver to dig out the clumpy dust bunnies.

You cant go wrong with these tools to clean your fans or case.

Quote: Originally Posted by Rockin'male The only tools needed to clean out dust is canned air and a toothbrush. Then again maybe a small screwdriver to dig out the clumpy dust bunnies. You cant go wrong with these tools to clean your fans or case.

Normally I think Rockin'male is bang-on with his advice, but I'll differ in this case. Canned or pressurized air of any sort can often force dust / dirt / particulates into tight spaces that they did not previously inhabit prior to its use as a cleaning aid ...

I would recommend using a vacuum instead. Still removes the particulates, but pulls them away from the tricky areas instead of toward.

-godling

Quote: Originally Posted by godling Normally I think Rockin'male is bang-on with his advice, but I'll differ in this case. Canned or pressurized air of any sort can often force dust / dirt / particulates into tight spaces that they did not previously inhabit prior to its use as a cleaning aid ... I would recommend using a vacuum instead. Still removes the particulates, but pulls them away from the tricky areas instead of toward. -godling

Yeah, but a vacuum cleaner can suck off vital parts such as resistors etc. I've heard that canned air is the best method.

Quote: Originally Posted by reflux Yeah, but a vacuum cleaner can suck off vital parts such as resistors etc. I've heard that canned air is the best method.

That is certainly a risk: I guess there's going to be difficulty no matter which method you use.

On another note, if the resistors on your card are so weakly attached that they can be vacuumed off, you might have identified the problem ...

-godling