Possible Graphics Card Problem

[jay1978]

I have 2 Nvidia 8800 GTS cards in my pc, The other day my monitor stopped working so I borrowed a crap old one off a mate. I plugged it in but the monitor wouldn't come out of standby mode, Now because I don't know alot about pc's I decided to get a so called expert out who was useless and didn't have a clue, Anyway's I messed about with it and totally forgetting that I had to 2 graphics cards I plugged the monitor into the second card which worked, The problem I have now is when I go to device manager, It now says I only have one graphics card, Does this sound like one has gone and if so should I have it taken out or will it be fine still in the pc ?

Cheers and sorry for the long winded story lol 

[jason2074]

The card might be busted due to overheat... Have you checked or monitored any hardware temps for that matter? You might have a problem with your cooling system. Have you tried swapping the card on the other slot and plugging again the monitor? Just to make sure either the card or slot is at fault too, although its rarely that slots would be the problem. Cooling system or Overclocking might be the key here depending on your hardware specs and activities(gaming) to avoid certain overheating issues.

[jay1978]

Hi mate. My pc seems cool enough but that's just from feeling around it. I aint touched anything inside just because I don't feel comfortable taking things out lol ... I have never Overclocked it. I might get another repair guy out to look at it, 

The card might be busted due to overheat... Have you checked or monitored any hardware temps for that matter? You might have a problem with your cooling system. Have you tried swapping the card on the other slot and plugging again the monitor? Just to make sure either the card or slot is at fault too, although its rarely that slots would be the problem. Cooling system or Overclocking might be the key here depending on your hardware specs and activities(gaming) to avoid certain overheating issues.

[mannsupreme]

how old is your system, what are the 2 cards you are using and what are the specs for your rig? more often then not a PSU can be the problem when it comes to graphics cards.

[jay1978]

My system is 3 years old. I had it specially built for gaming, My cards are 2 Nvidia 8800 GTS. I have noticed that the top graphics card, both slots for the monitor isn't working and the bottom one, Only one slot is working, I basically have one slot to plug the monitor in, Which is the one I have it plugged into now, My PSU was recently changed about 6 month ago after my old one just stopped working totally. I have also checked my device manager and its only picking up one card now where it used to pick up both of them, Its kinda odd tho that my card and my monitor go at exact same time.

how old is your system, what are the 2 cards you are using and what are the specs for your rig? more often then not a PSU can be the problem when it comes to graphics cards.

[mannsupreme]

8800 GTSes are known for their excessive amounts of heat but seeing as you havent overclocked them, it is unlikely that the problem will be due to heat. have you tried plugging the cards into the other PCI-E slots in your mother board?

[jay1978]

No mate. I would need someone to do that I think lol, Do you know why only one monitor slot would work ? I have 2 slots on each card and only 1 slot on the bottom card is working

8800 GTSes are known for their excessive amounts of heat but seeing as you havent overclocked them, it is unlikely that the problem will be due to heat. have you tried plugging the cards into the other PCI-E slots in your mother board?

[mannsupreme]

not sure, its unlikly that both the cards would be damaged totally by random. its likely to be an outside problem that caused it. if you look around of the main site here at computer hope there are deonstarions on how to remove and install hardware. installing grapics cards is very simple if you feel up to it you can try it. but i think if you move around the cards in the PCI-E slots it might give us something to look at

[jay1978]

I did update to windows 7 from vista and I had upgraded about literally 2 days ago then the problem started, Could that be the problem ? I wouldn't think updating my OS could do physical damage tho surely ?

not sure, its unlikly that both the cards would be damaged totally by random. its likely to be an outside problem that caused it. if you look around of the main site here at computer hope there are deonstarions on how to remove and install hardware. installing grapics cards is very simple if you feel up to it you can try it. but i think if you move around the cards in the PCI-E slots it might give us something to look at

[patio]

Is Windows setup for dual monitors in Control Panel ? ?
Does it show Monitor 1 and 2 ? ?

[mannsupreme]

oh, have you installed the drivers for the cards? http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

[jay1978]

Not set for dual monitors no mate.

Is Windows setup for dual monitors in Control Panel ? ?
Does it show Monitor 1 and 2 ? ?

[jay1978]

Not yet mate. I formatted and reinstalled my old vista. I did think maybe win 7 was the problem but I still don't know if that would cause the monitor sockets to not work anymore. I am downloading all the windows updates right now but I will install the latest drivers for my card. 

oh, have you installed the drivers for the cards? http://www.nvidia.com/Download/index.aspx?lang=en-us

[mannsupreme]

well im thinking that all of your problems could have been due to the drivers not being installed. specific drivers must be installed if your going to use 2 graphics cards. specalised SLI drivers in Nvidias case i doubt it would have been Windows 7

[jay1978]

Just installing new drivers now mate. If one of my cards has gone, Will this put further pressure on the other one or will one card be fine ?

well im thinking that all of your problems could have been due to the drivers not being installed. specific drivers must be installed if your going to use 2 graphics cards. specalised SLI drivers in Nvidias case i doubt it would have been Windows 7