Hi all.
Not too long ago my Win 7 Ultimate system wouldn't boot to my desktop; it got stuck at the Windows loading screen. I happened to have another separate hard drive handy that had Win XP Pro on it (I had made no hardware changes in my system, just changed operating systems).
However, this also would get stuck at the Windows loading screen, so I knew it wasn't the Win 7 OS that was corrupt or anything like that.
I tried troubleshooting for a while back in the Win 7 OS…..was able to boot into Safe Mode but not “normal†desktop….couldn't figure it out on my own……long story short: After taking it in to a computer repair shop, my graphics card was dying and was the culprit.
I had the nVidia GeForce GX2 from the BFG company. The card that I had was actually an already RMA'd one from them. I got the original one from them back in 2008, so it's coming up on 3 years now.
Did you hear about BFG Tech? I believe the company has “gone under†and filed for Chapter 11 or something. For a little while it seemed like they were going to rename themselves and deal in custom computer systems; their new name was BFG Systems. But, if you try either of their web sites: www.bfgtech.com, or, www.bfgsystems.com, neither of them are valid web sites.
Anyway…..the “lifetime guarantee†that BFG offered on their graphics cards is not going to do a heck of a lot good for me now. “Lifetime†is only as good for the “life†of the company.
Like I mentioned, the card had been RMA's before; it was a “heat†issue. GX2's tend to run normally “warm†because they're two GPU's sandwiched into one card. But my card would run in the 80's C while idle. Even the RMA'd card ran into the 80's C after a while. And I've got a well-ventilated case with the CoolerMaster 932 HAF.
I replaced the GX2 from BFG with an EVGA GTX 470 SC; it runs in the 40's C!!
So, since my chances are slim to none of getting a replacement from BFG, I was thinking of dismantling the GX2 to see if it's something as simple as not enough thermal paste on the two GPU's inside. I've never dismantled a GPU card before but I came across some “how to†articles on the ‘Net with pictures.
So what do you think? Usually, taking apart a graphics card will void the warranty, but I don't think I have to worry about that now, what with the current state of the BFG company.
Should I take it apart and see if I can discover the problem? If it's not a thermal paste issue, what else can cause a graphics card to slowly “die�
If I can “repair†it, who knows; I might be able to sell it on e-Bay or CraigsList and re-coop some of my investment.
Pez
Not too long ago my Win 7 Ultimate system wouldn't boot to my desktop; it got stuck at the Windows loading screen. I happened to have another separate hard drive handy that had Win XP Pro on it (I had made no hardware changes in my system, just changed operating systems).
However, this also would get stuck at the Windows loading screen, so I knew it wasn't the Win 7 OS that was corrupt or anything like that.
I tried troubleshooting for a while back in the Win 7 OS…..was able to boot into Safe Mode but not “normal†desktop….couldn't figure it out on my own……long story short: After taking it in to a computer repair shop, my graphics card was dying and was the culprit.
I had the nVidia GeForce GX2 from the BFG company. The card that I had was actually an already RMA'd one from them. I got the original one from them back in 2008, so it's coming up on 3 years now.
Did you hear about BFG Tech? I believe the company has “gone under†and filed for Chapter 11 or something. For a little while it seemed like they were going to rename themselves and deal in custom computer systems; their new name was BFG Systems. But, if you try either of their web sites: www.bfgtech.com, or, www.bfgsystems.com, neither of them are valid web sites.
Anyway…..the “lifetime guarantee†that BFG offered on their graphics cards is not going to do a heck of a lot good for me now. “Lifetime†is only as good for the “life†of the company.
Like I mentioned, the card had been RMA's before; it was a “heat†issue. GX2's tend to run normally “warm†because they're two GPU's sandwiched into one card. But my card would run in the 80's C while idle. Even the RMA'd card ran into the 80's C after a while. And I've got a well-ventilated case with the CoolerMaster 932 HAF.
I replaced the GX2 from BFG with an EVGA GTX 470 SC; it runs in the 40's C!!
So, since my chances are slim to none of getting a replacement from BFG, I was thinking of dismantling the GX2 to see if it's something as simple as not enough thermal paste on the two GPU's inside. I've never dismantled a GPU card before but I came across some “how to†articles on the ‘Net with pictures.
So what do you think? Usually, taking apart a graphics card will void the warranty, but I don't think I have to worry about that now, what with the current state of the BFG company.
Should I take it apart and see if I can discover the problem? If it's not a thermal paste issue, what else can cause a graphics card to slowly “die�
If I can “repair†it, who knows; I might be able to sell it on e-Bay or CraigsList and re-coop some of my investment.
Pez
