Hello to all you Tom's forum fans and users.... I have a problem that maybe you can help me out with.
I own a XFX 8800GTX graphics card for more then a year now, but about a month ago something strange started to happen.
It all started when I moved my computer to another room for better Wi-Fi reception. When I turned the computer back on I saw to my disbelief that my computer wasn't booting up, so I tried again but still no luck. What would happen was.....
1. When I turn on the computer the fan on my Graphics Card would go full throttle (100%)
2. No initial POST signal or beep
3. No signs of any activity of booting up in the background
4. Occasionally the system would successfully boot up in the background and a "GFX not detected POST beep" will sound .... ( 1 Long beep with 3 short beeps for the Asus P5B-Deluxe WI-FI AP )
I am pretty certain that my graphics card is causing the problem because of the throttling, so I immediately checked out the power connection to the GFX (could be a loose connection) and after removing and reconnecting the connectors the computer started working again... or so I thought.
The next day I turned on the computer.... same thing !!!
So instead of reconnecting the power connectors this time I sort of pushed on the solder joints of the connector to ensure proper contact to see what would happen. I saw that the GFX started working again. At this time I thought to myself that its has to be bad/broken solder joint.
So what I did after was, I re-soldered the joints to ensure maximum contact and it fixed the problem for about 2 days until it came back.... same situation.
A couple days later I re-solder again, which again was a temp. fix for about 2-3 days but the problem came back.
Now its so bad that even if I push down firmly on the solder joints... The computer still wont boot up ( it's sort of in the computers hands now when it will boot up. Some times it will take 10 tries until it finally starts working )
I have a couple of theories of what is causing the problem
1. A VERY bad solder joint that maybe un-repairable to a extent
2. A malfunctioning capacitor or resistor ( or maybe one with a bad solder joint ) causing power fluctuations not allowing the card to POST itself before giving the ok to the Motherboard... (you get the idea of what I mean
)
3. It could be on the PSU's side where either the Motherboard is not giving a "Power OK" signal to the PSU or that the PSU cant see the "Power OK" coming from the Motherboard thus not powering up the system. ( Which I feel is not the case because if it was then symptom no. 4 stated above would not happen )
So my question is, has anyone had this issue with this GFX before ( The XFX 8800GTX ) and if so what was your solution ?
P.S
I already tried cleaning all pci and pci-x contacts of my system, memory also, even the pci slots!
Just so you know where I'm coming from, I have been working with computers for over 20 years, installing, troubleshooting, and repairing.
If you want I can post pics and a video of my problem.
And also I am posting now with the system that is causing me problems.
System Specs
--------------------------
Intel E6200 @ Stock speed
Asus P5B-Deluxe WiFi Ap
2x 1gb OCZ special ops PC6400 ram
XFX 8800GTX @ Stock speed
780W Real GreenPower PSU ( Server PSU used in Asia and the Middle east, can also be found in Europe)
4x 250gb Seagate/Maxtor H.D.D in Raid 0 array
1x LG Optical Drive
1x Floppy drive
1x WiFi network card (Atheros)
I own a XFX 8800GTX graphics card for more then a year now, but about a month ago something strange started to happen.
It all started when I moved my computer to another room for better Wi-Fi reception. When I turned the computer back on I saw to my disbelief that my computer wasn't booting up, so I tried again but still no luck. What would happen was.....
1. When I turn on the computer the fan on my Graphics Card would go full throttle (100%)
2. No initial POST signal or beep
3. No signs of any activity of booting up in the background
4. Occasionally the system would successfully boot up in the background and a "GFX not detected POST beep" will sound .... ( 1 Long beep with 3 short beeps for the Asus P5B-Deluxe WI-FI AP )
I am pretty certain that my graphics card is causing the problem because of the throttling, so I immediately checked out the power connection to the GFX (could be a loose connection) and after removing and reconnecting the connectors the computer started working again... or so I thought.
The next day I turned on the computer.... same thing !!!
So instead of reconnecting the power connectors this time I sort of pushed on the solder joints of the connector to ensure proper contact to see what would happen. I saw that the GFX started working again. At this time I thought to myself that its has to be bad/broken solder joint.
So what I did after was, I re-soldered the joints to ensure maximum contact and it fixed the problem for about 2 days until it came back.... same situation.
A couple days later I re-solder again, which again was a temp. fix for about 2-3 days but the problem came back.
Now its so bad that even if I push down firmly on the solder joints... The computer still wont boot up ( it's sort of in the computers hands now when it will boot up. Some times it will take 10 tries until it finally starts working )
I have a couple of theories of what is causing the problem
1. A VERY bad solder joint that maybe un-repairable to a extent
2. A malfunctioning capacitor or resistor ( or maybe one with a bad solder joint ) causing power fluctuations not allowing the card to POST itself before giving the ok to the Motherboard... (you get the idea of what I mean
)3. It could be on the PSU's side where either the Motherboard is not giving a "Power OK" signal to the PSU or that the PSU cant see the "Power OK" coming from the Motherboard thus not powering up the system. ( Which I feel is not the case because if it was then symptom no. 4 stated above would not happen )
So my question is, has anyone had this issue with this GFX before ( The XFX 8800GTX ) and if so what was your solution ?
P.S
I already tried cleaning all pci and pci-x contacts of my system, memory also, even the pci slots!
Just so you know where I'm coming from, I have been working with computers for over 20 years, installing, troubleshooting, and repairing.
If you want I can post pics and a video of my problem.
And also I am posting now with the system that is causing me problems.
System Specs
--------------------------
Intel E6200 @ Stock speed
Asus P5B-Deluxe WiFi Ap
2x 1gb OCZ special ops PC6400 ram
XFX 8800GTX @ Stock speed
780W Real GreenPower PSU ( Server PSU used in Asia and the Middle east, can also be found in Europe)
4x 250gb Seagate/Maxtor H.D.D in Raid 0 array
1x LG Optical Drive
1x Floppy drive
1x WiFi network card (Atheros)
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