I examined my video card and I think it's broken. Am I right?

mikekazik1

September 6, 2009 5:56:01 PM

I opened up my desktop and I removed my video card (Geforce FX 5500). Here is a generic pic of my specific model:

http://images.tigerdirect.ca/skuimages/large/E145-5500b...

When I looked at it, two of those metal cylinders (solid state capacitors??? i'm not 100% sure) had openings at the very top. It looks like they may have burst open for some reason. There is a very thin layer of yellowish/light brown residue on top of the two cylinders that had openings on the top. Does that mean my graphics card is broken? Here is my original thread:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/269766-33-video-card-...

When I tried to start my computer up, the monitor said that there was "No Video Signal". I cannot test the video card since I don't have another computer with an AGP slot. I tested my PSU (by pressing the internatl test button) and it worked just fine. The various lights on the motherboard also came up. What could possibly be causing this problem?

Is it the video card (since there are two metal cylinders that look like they burst open)? Could it possibly be something else? Thanks in advance.

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coozie7

Graphics card Master

September 6, 2009 6:25:46 PM

The metal cylinders are capacitors and have, indeed broken.
Here's a replacement:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

It may be possible to replace the capacitors, but I suspect it would be cheaper, and quicker, to simply replace the card.

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mikekazik1

September 6, 2009 6:44:17 PM

coozie7 said:

The metal cylinders are capacitors and have, indeed broken.
Here's a replacement:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

It may be possible to replace the capacitors, but I suspect it would be cheaper, and quicker, to simply replace the card.

Is that the reason why I tried to start my computer up, I would get a "No Signal" message on my monitor? When I would start it up, everything else worked just fine. Everything was starting up, but I still had that "No Signal" message on the monitor.

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coozie7

Graphics card Master

September 6, 2009 6:47:57 PM

Yes, the card is broken hence the 'no signal' message, nothing else (hopefully) is damaged.

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djcoolmasterx

September 7, 2009 2:19:23 AM

It may be worth using this as an opertunity to get something slightly better to replace it rather then getting another of the same card.

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mikekazik1

September 9, 2009 1:23:32 AM

There's no point. It's a really old PC (back from 2002). The hardware is really old and you can't do a whole lot with it (other than basic stuff like surfing the internet, having video conversations online, etc).

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