The video card does not work: what to do?

All breakdowns of video cards can be classified as software or hardware. Software breakages - this is a malfunction in the operation of the video card, caused by the actions of some software, improper installation of drivers, etc.

You can detect and fix software video card malfunctions as follows. If errors occur during the operation of any software,for example, a complex three-dimensional game, you should remove this software and try to install it again. You can try to completely remove the installed graphics card drivers, and then install new ones. For example, new drivers can be found on the sites of video card manufacturers. Also, install the latest version of the DirectX interface set. Sometimes it is errors in older versions of the drivers that cause problems with the graphics card.

If the measures taken do not help, you can try to reinstall the operating system. In this case, after the installation of the OS follows the firstqueue to install the drivers of the motherboard, then - the graphics card drivers, lastly - the set of DirectX interfaces. After this, you need to install the application that caused the video card to malfunction and restart it. If failures no longer appear, the problem is solved.

If the above actions did not help to fix the problem, then, most likely, the breakdown of the video card is hardware-based. Hardware breakdowns include technical faults on the video card: blown capacitors, cooler failure, faulty contacts, and so on.

How can I tell if the video card is broken? As a rule, the "symptoms" of a broken video card look like this:

• there is no signal to the computer monitor;


• there were horizontal or vertical distortions on the monitor;


• When installing video card drivers, the system displays the "blue screen of death" to the user.

The problems with the video card are signaled by a special speaker (sound speaker) BIOS. Depending on the BIOS version, the signals may be different. For example, AWARD BIOS gives 1 long and 2 short beeps if there is a video card error or monitor connection. AMI BIOS when the video card fails, it emits 8 short beeps.

PHOENIX BIOS Notifies about video card problemssound signals according to scheme 3-3-4: three signals, a pause, three signals, a pause, four signals. In this case, the system can not detect the video card. The errors of the video card in the PHOENIX BIOS are also indicated by the signals 3-4-1 and 3-4-2.

Hardware problems with a faulty graphics card can be solved by replacing it with a known good one, by re-installing the video card to another connector. It is also necessary to make sure that the problematicthe video card does not overheat, that the necessary supply voltage is supplied to it. It will help to find out special utilities such as Everest, RivaTuner.

These utilities allow you to constantly monitorthe state of the video card (and not only), get information about the current adapter temperature, voltage. If these parameters go beyond the norm - this is cause for concern.

You can use these utilities only if the computer turns on and the signal is sent to the monitor (even if it is distorted). In the remaining cases, manually check all required parameters.

The voltage can be measured with a special device -a voltmeter or a multimeter. The temperature is measured with a thermal sensor. Experienced users to touch determine the overheating of the video card: too hot or too fast heating surface often indicates problems.

It happens that the problem is not the card itself, but some of its "neighbors". So, the problems with the operation of the video card can becaused by the failure of the power supply, the motherboard. More details about how to detect and solve such problems - in the subsequent materials of the Council of Nations.