Can a monitor damage a video card? - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: dengorius
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2010, 02:59:33 pm
content: Hey guys,some time ago i had some issues (artifact and such) with the video card of my pc, it was still in warranty so i sent it for RMA. When it came back and it was working ok, but after a couple of months the problem started again. Now it's gone for RMA a second time (btw what i never got to know what they did to fix the card the first time).Yesterday as i turned on my monitor that i use with the pc and that is now connected to my laptop, i saw a very strange thing: the on screen messages are "broken", sorry but i can't find a less silly way to explain thatIt's like if the normal OSD messages have "unglued", like they're falling apart. There is a small part to the left, another at the top of the screen and the actual message is in the bottom left corner (everything used to be in the top left corner). Now this is happening for every kind of on screen message: source selection, channel selection, menu etc.Is it possible that the monitor is faulty and that is has damaged the video card in the first place? It is connected to the wall outlet with its original transformer and to the laptop via a vga cable. Except for that OSD issue the monitor is working great, everything looks ok.I don't wanna risk to burn the laptop's video card aswellAny ideas?Thank you

author: charliex
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2010, 05:13:02 pm
content: Its possible to destroy a CRT with bad signals. Its usually only certain types/brands though. I can't say i've experienced the other way aroundbut if its the OSD on the monitor itself, then they're usually entirely separate and it sounds like if the patterns look more "digital" noise than analogue noise that its the OSD hardware thats borked, which is going to be separate from anything the laptop can get too.but with anything wired, you never know what can go on, any sort of short or overvoltage is possible.

author: marianoapp
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2010, 05:35:47 pm
content: artifacts in a video card are almost always because over temperature or not enough power. What video card and PSU do you have?after discarding temperature and power, you should try the video card on another computer to see if you can reproduce the problemi never head of a monitor killing a video card, but who knows..

author: dengorius
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2010, 07:33:26 pm
content: Thanks for the answers,I've done the whole "standard checks" with the video card and it is *definitively* faulty. Since you asked it an Asus 8800 GTS and the PSU is a Corsair 520W and the whole systems has been working properly for 2+ years. I also tried the card on another pc and it showed the same problems. But that should be taken care of from the assistance. The thing that i would like to be sure of is that the cause of the whole thing doesn't come from somewhere else, i don't wanna fry the card again when it's back. I know it sounds weird, i haven't heard of a monitor damaging a video card ever, but you know... Murphy's law is behind the corner, that's why i asked. I'll see if i can borrow another monitor or try the one i have someplace else, really don't know what else to do.Meanwhile if you have any idea i'll be more than glad to hear that.Thanks again

author: charliex
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2010, 08:33:49 pm
content: look for an overclock tool that does a verify, i'm not sure if rivatuner does. if the cars memory is faulty, then it'll tell you. I believe ATITool will do it.most cards have an inbuilt thermal shutdown that just heavily underclocks the cpu on an overheat, its fairly hard to damage a stock card that way. even OC'd ones (unless they don't have thermal protection)we run our cards at 100% within a few percent of their TDP for weeks on end.Low power is a possibility, run a stress tester and it'll tell you really quickly if theres a problem.

author: Unknown
author_rank: Unknown
timestamp: May 27, 2010, 08:42:18 pm
content: Was this series affected by the bumpgate issue? Bumpgate was about different thermal expansion of the various parts of the BGA mounting system, causing the BGA connections to fracture under repeated heating/cooling cycles. Lots of extended warranties on laptops for this issue (laptops usually run hotter and have more aggressive power saving, so more thermal cycling), but I'm not sure if the 8800 GTS is affected, and would expect it to be fixed in more recent production runs (but it may have been replaced by old stock, since they don't produce that type anymore).Although it's technically possible for a monitor to destroy a video card, it does seem unlikely to me (the monitor hardly has any outputs except the I2C bus for EDID), and I wouldn't expect the GPU/video RAM to be damaged (which artifacts suggest), more likely the VGA RAMDAC.Old monitors could be damaged by invalid sync rates out of their bandwidth range, but I think all remotely recent CRT monitors are protected against this. My guess that the OSD chip in the monitor was damaged by an unrelated cause, unless there's some common issue like dirty mains supply or dirty environment.

author: charliex
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2010, 08:46:54 pm
content: yeah thats a good point the 8800 GTS was one of the chips affected by that.

author: dengorius
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2010, 09:10:31 pm
content: Thanks for the heads up, i didn't know about bumpgate. That could be a hit, even if i tend to believe the problem is the VRAM cause the card didn't die completely, i just had weird artifacts, but that's just my opinion.Unfortunately i can't perform any kind of test at the moment. But when they'll send me the card back again i'll give it a shotAs for the monitor issue, mains should be good, i've never ever had a single hardware failure before. So unless something that i'm not aware of has changed up in the distribution chain that part should be fine. Maybe it's just a coincidence.Cheers

author: Pyr0Beast
author_rank: Contributor
timestamp: May 27, 2010, 09:38:07 pm
content: 8800 series are prone to failures more than any other GPU.Your LCD monitor could also be dying, but I think these things are not connected.

author: xani
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: May 28, 2010, 12:00:45 pm
content: One of most common failures on graph. cards are bad electrolytic caps., some time ago my friend was buying used, not working cards, soldered new caps and sold as new ;]