Odd computer problem.

[Legendary Stray]

Sorry if this isn't the right place for this! Anyways up until a few months ago I was using a dual set-up, a normal monitor for one display and an HD TV for the other display. Recently the HD TV started having some odd issue where it would act like it was turning on then shut off immediately. I tried trouble shooting a few things but couldn't seem to get it to work so I ended up having to switch back to just the one monitor. Now recently this monitor has been acting strangely, it will boot up as black on startup and I kind of have to fiddle around turning the monitor on and off before it will start displaying my desktop. I know this could happen from heat damage to the GPU but its well ventilated and that seems kind of unlikely so what else could it be? Is it just bad luck that my TV and Monitor went bad one after another or is there some kind of issue with my computer causing this?

Specs:
Windows 8 64 bit
AMD FX-6100 six-core processor
16 GB RAM
NVIDIA Ge Force GT 640

I wouldn't mind replacing my Graphics Card honestly but I also want to make sure there is nothing more seriously wrong with my computer before doing that.

[chiefputsilao✖️ping]

1. monitor temperature of the cpu, gpu, chassis using hwinfo, cpuid hardware monitor, speccy, or speedfan.
hwinfo and cpuid hardware monitor can also read psu voltages on rails 12v+, 5v+, 3.3v+.

2. upgrade to latest stable gpu driver or downgrade to previous gpu driver to see if there is a difference.

[Blackstar001]

You have been using this set up for a while, it seems. Not like you had the problem first time you plugged it all in.

I had the exact same symptoms on my system at one point; blank screen, goes to sleep, takes some fiddling to get it to run, etc... The culprit in my case, although it was a single monitor configuration ,was indeed a faulty graphics card.

Do you have an old card that you know for sure works? You could remove the current card, hook up the 1 monitor to the other card and test the problem that way. If the old card works then your present card is starting to go.

The fact that the HD TV is giving you problems first suggests to me that it is the card having a problem with output. I mean does the OS appear to have any bugs?

Hope that offers some insight.

[Legendary Stray]

Blackstar001님이 먼저 게시:

You have been using this set up for a while, it seems. Not like you had the problem first time you plugged it all in.

I had the exact same symptoms on my system at one point; blank screen, goes to sleep, takes some fiddling to get it to run, etc... The culprit in my case, although it was a single monitor configuration ,was indeed a faulty graphics card.

Do you have an old card that you know for sure works? You could remove the current card, hook up the 1 monitor to the other card and test the problem that way. If the old card works then your present card is starting to go.

The fact that the HD TV is giving you problems first suggests to me that it is the card having a problem with output. I mean does the OS appear to have any bugs?

Hope that offers some insight.

Well that's the thing that bothers me, see the HD TV stopped working all together period. It just started doing this thing where it would immediately shut itself off after being turned on so I kind of thought it might be a different issue? Thats part of the reason I posted here cause I didn't know if a graphics card could damage a TV and make it inoperable or not. Only bug I've had is once or twice having the system stay on after being told to shut off although I looked that up and it seemed to be a windows 8 thing that got patched out. I don't have another card atm but I do have another monitor I could use to test, that would work the same right?

[Blackstar001]

I do not see how a graphics card could damage a monitor.

If you plug in different monitors you are only testing the monitors. If the HD TV really is dead then hook it up to another input source such as a DVD player to test for sure. If the TV does not play the DVD then it is the TV. Perhaps it is the TVs input(HDMI or s-video etc.) so you could test those too.

GPUs are more delicate than TVs.

In your original post you said that you hooked up a second monitor to the GPU out puts and it had the same stalling episode.

Replacing that card you have would be only $100 probably Does not sound like you have a problem with your computer though

[Legendary Stray]

Blackstar001님이 먼저 게시:

Blackstar001님이 먼저 게시:

I do not see how a graphics card could damage a monitor.



I am starting to get a little uncertain what you asking, because although you are posting in the right forum in your original post you said that you hooked up a second monitor to the GPU out puts and it had the same stalling episode.

Oh wait I see. Seems you are saying the HD TV shuts down whether the computer is on or not?

Yeah exactly, just nothing. I can hook it up to cable or a dvd player and its just does that cycle of turning on for a second and then shutting off. I thought it was just the TV because of that but now I'm having the issue with this monitor which seems to occur mostly at start-up. Mmm anyways it seems like the best move is to just replace the GPU?

[Blackstar001]

I am trying to think if I have ever heard of a graphics card ruining a monitor. I just have not.

Replacing the card would be cheap.

That is weird though how the other monitor nods off too. Can you test that using a separate DVD player?

[Legendary Stray]

Well the main screen I have now is just an old computer monitor with one of those pin connectors (forget what they are called) so no HDMI cable on that one but I could hook it up to another tower, I think that would work the same yeah?

[Blackstar001]

Its a VGA connection.

It should work if you hook it up to another tower, yes. Good thinking.

[_I_]

try a different hdmi cable

[Blackstar001]

_I_님이 먼저 게시:

try a different hdmi cable

He always has the answers BTW.

Trust in the power of the underscore.

lol

[Legendary Stray]

Alright so the monitor actually burnt out this morning. I had to run to the store and get a new VGA cable and a shock protector as I'm strongly suspecting some kind of electrical problem now. Everything is on the shock protector at the moment and is running well on the old monitor I found. So should I migrate everything over to a new wall? could this have just been the old protector or is it the outlet? could the computer of fried the monitors?

[Blackstar001]

Sounds like an electricity problem. I mean originally I did say it sounded like the graphics card, but you tested that and determined the problem is with the TV.

I still just do not see how the computer fried the monitors. Think about it, the wattage/voltage coming out the GPU/computer is going to be way less than what is going in to them. I mean your wall jack is going to put out what 120/240 volts? Internal parts run on milli-volts right? Minute fractions.

A surge protector was a good idea. Maybe split the components up between two separate ones, computer on one, monitor on a another.

If you think it is the wall outlet, it very well could be. Do you get alot of rain or are you in a damp location? That is all it takes sometime to cause a ground fault and damage delicate components.

Sorry your TV died, dude. Good luck with the new setup.

[Spieler4]

If your devices "pc, monitor, television etc." is usually on standby when not used. Try to turn off/un-plug everything -> re plug & turn on

[Legendary Stray]

Blackstar001님이 먼저 게시:

Sounds like an electricity problem. I mean originally I did say it sounded like the graphics card, but you tested that and determined the problem is with the TV.

I still just do not see how the computer fried the monitors. Think about it, the wattage/voltage coming out the GPU/computer is going to be way less than what is going in to them. I mean your wall jack is going to put out what 120/240 volts? Internal parts run on milli-volts right? Minute fractions.

A surge protector was a good idea. Maybe split the components up between two separate ones, computer on one, monitor on a another.

If you think it is the wall outlet, it very well could be. Do you get alot of rain or are you in a damp location? That is all it takes sometime to cause a ground fault and damage delicate components.

Sorry your TV died, dude. Good luck with the new setup.

Yeah I agree that it seems very unlikely the computer did it but I'm also super surprised that my computer has seemed to have suffered no ill effects. It runs very well and everything is at the right temperature range, no glitches or problems that I've seen yet. I guess only time will tell if it did get damaged but I'm also surprised that the TV and monitor bit the dust like that as I thought the computer would have been the more delicate of the bunch.

I do have a theory that one of my Family Chihuahuas may have snuck in here hoisted their leg on the outlet or my girlfriend who is a bit of a clutz may have spilled something on the outlet and not told me/realized. In any case I'm glad that it seems to be solved but it is a bummer that whatever caused it cost me a great TV and a monitor. Thanks for all the help Blackstar, I'll keep stuff unplugged when not in use and go ahead an invest in another protector asap. Also probably try and get an electrician out here, they could test and see if it was the outlet itself right? Seriously thanks again everyone!

[ttv/mk_sandwich]

An electrician can probably test the line for transient voltage. You may have had a storm, power spike or surge. It's best to keep your PC on a UPS system. I live in an area with frequent power issues and a lot of the time they are almost in a blink of an eye. Power drops and resumes almost instantly. I can always hear the click from my UPS to verify I did actually see the lights drop for a nanosecond but in that short period of time you can lose any electrical device.

I will assume you tried changing out cords as that would be the first step in trouble shooting. Along with the suggestions others have made to connect the t.v. and monitor to other input sources to verify they are still operational. Both you could also disconnect from the computer and use the menu on them to test if they are working. Most newer devices have some sort of splash/advertising screen anyway so those are typically easy to tell if they have become paper weights or are still functional.

Having issues with these all at the same time points towards a power related problem or video card or cable. Of course there is the possibility both screens went out at the same time. Highly unlikely but completely possible. I take it one output from the video card was the hdmi and the other was a dvi or dsub. If it was the dsub you may try an adapter for one of the dvi outputs and see if that resolves your problem. They make dvi to hdmi and other adapters. A lot of smaller monitors are very cheap and you can probably access one or attach another tv via a dvi to hdmi adapter. If that works ok then you know it was the dsub port. The tv could just be going out. Both tvs and monitors are made very cheaply now so I wouldn't be surprised if you had an issue with an output port as well as one just dying. Especially if it's a budget monitor.

I don't believe your pc could damage a monitor or tv. I once had a motherboard die at the same time as a monitor. Seems suspicious but it was most likely related to electricity issues. Best of luck to you.