Computer Dilemma

[charlotte49er]

I took my Desktop into Office Depot to have it checked out. (They offer a free check up.)

I was pretty sure my video card was bad. No matter what setting I tired, the screen was locked on 800 X 600 and everything was huge. And my computer had trouble with the color blue.

Well, Office Depot's Free PC Check up cost me $30. (It's only free if they don't have to do anything.) Otherwise they charge you.

They confirmed that the video card was bad. So I ordered another one and paid 2 day shipping. Great! I got it yesterday, Installed it. At least the resolution is back there where it should be. But web pages still have trouble displaying anything with the color blue in it.

So I went back to talk to the tech today and he said to bring it back. They would look at it again. (For another $30.) That the Mother Board sounds like it's bad as well.

Here's my problem. I have a AMD Quad Core 3.2 ghz processor, 8 gig of RAM, etc.

If I have to replace/upgrade my Mother Board, I'll have to buy new RAM, new wiring harness, new CPU (Probably). Probably the only things I can keep is the 500W power supply, case, hard drive, card readers and new video card.

Do I gut my old machine and replace the parts?

OR

I can go and design a new CPU from the ground up for $900?

(I don't really want to spend the $900 right now.) I'm using my old HP Quad Core 2.6 ghz machine right now. It works OK, just not as fast as my other Desktop.

HP h8m

Operating system Windows 7 Home Premium [64-bit] Processor AMD FX-8150 eight-core processor [3.6GHz, 8MB L2/8MB L3 Cache] Memory FREE UPGRADE to 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [2 DIMMs] from 4GB Hard drive 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive Secondary Hard Drive No secondary hard drive Office software Microsoft® Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook Security software FREE Norton Internet Security subscription 15-month Graphics card 1GB AMD HD 7450 [HDMI, DVI, VGA adapter] Power Supply 600W Power supply Primary optical drive SuperMulti DVD Burner Networking Wireless-N LAN card (1x1) Productivity ports 15-in-1 memory card reader, 4 USB 2.0 (front), 2 USB 3.0 (top) TV & entertainment experience No TV Tuner Sound Card Beats Audio -- integrated studio quality sound Keyboard and Mouse Premium HP keyboard and optical mouse

[Donald LaFell]

replace the parts definitely

[Zaximus]

Has anyone had a thought that the monitor itself could be having issues? Seems like that more than a MB issue. Check your settings on monitor, etc. If you have another slot on your MB for the video card, try that too. It could be the MB, but I'd explore other things first.

Also, that place sounds like a scam.

[Doyle]

ST go get a new laptop from bestbuy. Mine is 3 years old and I run Microsoft Flight simulator off of it. Its a huge download and my laptop runs like its brand new still. I cant imagine what you could get for $600 dollars now which is what I paid for mine. I also only paid about $30 a month for the first two months and then paid it off in full.

[charlotte49er]

Has anyone had a thought that the monitor itself could be having issues? Seems like that more than a MB issue. Check your settings on monitor, etc. If you have another slot on your MB for the video card, try that too. It could be the MB, but I'd explore other things first.

Also, that place sounds like a scam.

I swapped monitors. Both are flat screens and both work fine on my old CPU, and both act up on the newer CPU.

I even hooked up the VGA to the MB VGA/CRT connector. Resolution is right, but the blue is still screwed up. Office Depot even said that I might have Malware on the machine. (Charge for removing Malware.) So I downloaded Malware Bytes for free and ran it. That found 2 minor problems, fixed that. Still screw up sites.

I run good surge protectors on everything.

I'm beginning to think that it's in the MB or the CPU itself.

Trouble is, I have never built a CPU from the ground up, just replaced a part here and there. ( CPU, memory, drives, burners.) The wiring harness kind of kind of intimidates me.

[CatofWar]

Don't fret over a wiring harness. I'm color blind and they use to scare the poo outta me. I some how figured it out with the help of my wife (not color blind).

[Zaximus]

If the onboard AND the video card have issues with "blue", that just sounds odd to me. Maybe a reload of Windows may be worth it (after backing up stuff) to rule that out.

[RedMage138]

Lesson 1 is don't take your poo to a big box retailer. They always find a way to charge you for it.

Obvious question here but have you installed the drivers for your new card?

[Porn Shop Clerk]

yeah seems like a weird issue to be coming from the mobo/proc. usually those things just flat out die

[Kevin Greene]

In your video card thread didn't you say you thought you had a gforce card (nVidia) in there and then you ordered a Radeon card.

Did you uninstall the nvidia card and drivers before installing the new card and then Radeon drivers?

Also, did you plug in any needed auxilairy power supplies to the card other than just mounting it in the AGP slot?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150560

Appears the card you ordered requires a secondary power source.

Should be a socket like this:

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1673/1/