Is it the graphics card or the game?

[KristyRNinAZ]

Greetings,
I recently installed Halo Combat Evolved on my son's computer. It played fine for about 8 hours (he played Halo and WOW  later - both worked as expected) but then... the next time he logged on the computer (just logged on like normal) the monitor screen started acting odd... displaying random colors, nothing that was normal. Now, he's 13 so of course he called me. I tried restarting the computer and then went into Safe Mode. Everything seemed to load fine, so I went back to normal mode. This time, the screen looked like digital firecrackers at low resolution - multi colored squares all over. Then the monitor went out. Knowing that we have another plug in on the video card, I replaced the cable and plugged the monitor into the second slot for the vid card. The monitor came on but it was digital rainbow again. So, thinking it's the monitor, I unplugged the monitor and plugged in his TV to the computer (to the 2nd vid slot). It seemed to boot just fine. However, and this is probably my problem so tell me if I'm crazy please. I heard that if the resolution or anything is screwed up on the TV, that the TV may actually 'break' - that's per Sony and I don't know what it means but I don't want to 'break' the TV by using it incorrectly as a monitor.  Now his computer is plugged back into his original monitor and I have the same problem - digital rainbows in multiple squares on the screen. One last thing; after the computer boots, the monitor scrolls a bunch of line of text too fast to read. It never did that before.  I know you are going to want the specs of his computer, and we built it ourselves so I have to find them. I cannot pull them off the computer because the screen doesn't work. Am wondering if this is coincidental with the installation of Halo or if it sounds like the vid card or worse - the mobo.
Thank you.
-Kristy

[killerb255]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the problem is, indeed, the monitor.  Otherwise, the problem would have happened with the TV or any other monitor you use (unless you're using the same monitor cable)...

As for whether or not your TV would "break" using it as a computer monitor, that depends:

Is it an HDTV?  If yes, then it's not a problem using it as a monitor.  In fact, an HDTV is little more than a large computer monitor with speakers and built-in TV tuner(s).

If it's not an HDTV, then it depends on how old the TV is.  If it's an SDTV or EDTV, then you may be okay (although the resolution is limited to 720x480 in NTSC regions--not sure about PAL).  If it's older than that, then you might have problems...

[KristyRNinAZ]

Yes, it is an HDTV.

ANd I am still looking for the computer specs. The system is 5 years old if that helps.

[KristyRNinAZ]

Hi again,
I just plugged the computer in to the HDTV and everything seemed to work fine. It automatically adjusted to the correct resolution and everything. Then, about 5 minutes in, the screen fell into smal 1/4 inch waves. Then, the signal was lost. The computer continued to run (fans on, etc.) but the TV flashed "No Sugnal" and wen dead. Does that mean it's the vid card?  I used a new cable for the TV too, just FYI.

[killerb255]

Hmmm...well I guess it's not the monitor then...

Does restarting the computer clear up the problem? 

Also, try updating the video drivers.

nVidia card: http://www.nvidia.com
ATI card: http://ati.amd.com

If that doesn't work, then I would guess video card at this point.

[KristyRNinAZ]

Thank you so much for you feedback!
To answer your question, yes, the same thing happens after restart.
I cannot update the drivers because I cannot see anything on the screen before it fades to black.
It is nVidea Card and I know the processor is Pent D with 4 GB memory; Western Digital Caviar hard drive... that's about all I can remember.
My 13 year old is driving my crazy now (should I install WOW on my computer for him... Hmmm... another interesting issue)..
So you think it's the vid card yes?

[killerb255]

It's definitely the video card at this point...

[KristyRNinAZ]

Thank you Bummer that but at least now I know. Too bad for my sanity though

[KristyRNinAZ]

One last thing:
THe vid card would not have had anything to do with installing HALO, right?

[killerb255]

No, it didn't. 

A general rule of thumb with computers: correlation does not always equal causation.

In plain English: just because two things happened at the same time doesn't necessarily mean one thing caused the other.

[BC_Programmer]

Quite the opposite of the fictitious Uncle Larry. If he's around and the punch disappears, chances are he drank it all, such is the calibre of his gluttony.