Do I need a new video card? Which one should I get?

[Notedog]

Below this post is what I have for my custom PC. I'm sorry if there's unnecessary info in here. Please let me know if anything is missing. For months, I would have occasional trouble with streaming videos. Often they would come up as a green screen, and other times they would make my computer freeze, with a nasty sputtering sound. If the character in the video was starting to say "please" the computer would make the noise "puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh" until I hit the power button.

Now, my monitor won't acknowledge its connected to my computer. I've gone from Dvi to Vga and no change. Computer turns on fine, monitor works on its own, but they won't connect. "No signal" I believe the monitor says.

A friend looked inside my PC and says I probably need a video card. I never got one, and have only used the one built inside the MB. Is that all I need? Can you recommend one for 1080p video and light video editing? Would a sound card make sense as well? Thank you for any help you can give.

Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1

AMD A10-5700 Trinity 3.4GHz (4.0GHz Turbo) Socket FM2 65W Quad-Core Desktop APU (CPU + GPU) with DirectX 11 Graphic AMD Radeon HD 7660D AD5700OKHJBOX

Rosewill BLACKHAWK Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, come with Five Fans, window side panel, top HDD dock

LITE-ON Black 12X BD-ROM 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-ROM SATA Internal Internal 12X Blu-ray Combo Model ihes112-04 - OEM

ASRock FM2A75M-DGS FM2 AMD A75 (Hudson D3) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

 

[PP Mguire]

If all that was happening without a dedicated gpu then it means you have problems with the processor. Clean the dust off and put fresh paste on it. Also clean and thrn install the latest drivers for your apu. What psu do you have?

 

[Notedog]

PSU CORSAIR|500W CX500 R

http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16817139027


MEM 8Gx2|PATRIOT PV316G160C0K R

OK, so all I need to do is buy paste and a dust cleaner, take off my processor, clean it off, and reattach it?

 

[PP Mguire]

Take the cooler off, clean the base of the cooler and the CPU off with a paper towel or napkin, then clean the base of the cooler and CPU off with 91% isopropyl alcohol (I use Q tips too do that). Make sure all the dust is off the heatsink and fan. Put a grain of rice sized amount of paste in the center of the CPU die and then place the heatsink back on and latch it.

 

[cb600fshornet]

I've always manually spread the CPU paste smoothly over the chip rather than just putting a blob in the centre. You cannot guarantee full coverage of the chip this way, as depending on how you put the heatsink on, the paste will have a tendency to be directed the easiest route.

Though in this study, an X shape seemed to be the most effective...
https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Thermal-Paste-Application-Techniques-170/

 

[PP Mguire]

It's not, as the paste isn't meant to be blanketing the chip. Thermal paste is only there to fill in the microgaps of the metal to make as close to perfect contact for heat dispersion. Considering most if not all processors have the cores in the center of the die the best method is a tiny grain of rice sized amount in the very center and the pressure of a properly installed heat plate will spread out the paste evenly and create a nice suction which is precisely what you want.

 

[cb600fshornet]

I'm sure Intel recommend a crossed x pattern with 4 dots for their Xeon chips to allow full coverage.

Plus although the die itself is small compared the exterior of the chip (just a heat-spreader really), if you can cover the whole contact area of the chip with a thin layer of thermal paste, you'll have a larger surface area to dissipate the heat, making it more effective.

Just check out the study I posted to actually see how "evenly" the grain of rice method causes the paste to spread.

Saying that, the difference between the temperatures in the study were miniscule (0.25 degrees celsius between them), so scientifically the study was a farce really (unless they repeated it multiple times). As long as the paste is on there then you're okay

_____________________________

EDIT: Actually, let me redact my statement about putting a smooth spread on the chip. Unless you know what you're doing it'd be easier to get the smooth spread method wrong compared to the grain of rice method, so for a newbie it might be better to do a grain of sand, or the X shape.

 

[PP Mguire]

Less is better with pastes, reviews show this and personal experience over the past 15 years shows this. Pressure from the heatsink or plate itself even disperses the past in the area it's needed. X pattern blankets which traps heat. The small size I put on my chips covers the whole chip evenly every time as long as the product is mounted properly.

 

[Notedog]

Thank you to both of you. Is there a specific type of thermal paste I should get? What about remover? Also, I may very well choose to get a dedicated you regardless. Could either of you recommend one? Again, thank you both.

 

[carnageX]

Thank you to both of you. Is there a specific type of thermal paste I should get? What about remover? Also, I may very well choose to get a dedicated you regardless. Could either of you recommend one? Again, thank you both.

I personally like Tuniq's TX series because it's highly rated, but tends to be cheaper than the other brands for the same amount (TX-2 is what I currently use). Arctic Cooling's MX-4 is also pretty highly rated.

As for removal... Isopropyl alcohol is all you need as far as cleaner goes (90% is highly recommended over normal 70%). As for what to clean with...you'll get varying options. Some people use cotton swabs, kleenex, etc. I personally use coffee filters because I find that the cotton swabs/tissue paper either break down/apart easily or leave lint behind (maybe it's just because I get the cheap stuff lol). Coffee filters are cheap for a whole lot and I found don't break down or leave any lint behind.