Current Events > Computer people, I need some help. I think my PC is on its last legs.

(+) Yeah! (+)

https://imgtc.ws/w/EkaNidf

My poor desktop, it's only 6 years old. But this randomly happened tonight while on Chrome where the screen scrambled and everything locked up.

I manually turned the PC off, waited a minute, then turned it back on. The tower itself beeped 4 times, then my monitor said no video signal, so I had to turn it off again. Pulled the plug and checked the VGA cable, then tried once more and it booted up normally. It was fine for about 15 minutes when it started doing that again, which is when I got the video.

Did my graphics card go or something? I don't really use it for gaming at all, mostly just work.
---

It looks like a graphics card gone kaput to me.

Yeah, it's probably overheating. You can try taking it out and cleaning off the heatsink and fan. Be careful not put any pressure on the fan blades.

Ah shit. I'm not a gearhead, so taking it apart scares the hell out of me lol.

If it's just a stock setup that I got from Gateway, is that still something I could do with the help of a YouTube video?
---

Yeah, it's really not difficult. Best Buy would go out of business if people would default to youtube tutorials more often.

Just make sure to unplug your pc, avoid rugs and other sources of static electricity, and be naked.
---

Are you able to take out the GPU and plug a HDMI into the motherboard?
---

Wii_Shaker posted...

It looks like a graphics card gone kaput to me.

might be that. something similar happened to a computer of mine once. and it was the graphics card dying

Zikten posted...

Wii_Shaker posted...

It looks like a graphics card gone kaput to me.

might be that. something similar happened to a computer of mine once. and it was the graphics card dying

Same.
---

Video Card or RAM issue most likely.

Should be simple to fix just replace the video card. It's like putting a card in a slot.

Tony_Biggie_Pun posted...

Should be simple to fix just replace the video card. It's like putting a card in a slot.

true but with a 6 year old computer it might make more sense to just get a new machine

If he actually has a graphic card. He could be running on-board graphics on the cpu.

Darmik posted...

Are you able to take out the GPU and plug a HDMI into the motherboard?

It does have an HDMI port in addition to the VGA, but not sure if it plugs directly into the motherboard.
---

Also thanks for everyone's prompt responses! I really appreciate the advice!
---

LostForest posted...

Darmik posted...

Are you able to take out the GPU and plug a HDMI into the motherboard?

It does have an HDMI port in addition to the VGA, but not sure if it plugs directly into the motherboard.

On the back of your computer are there display ports that don't seem to do anything? That's the motherboard if so. Should mean your CPU should be able to output without the graphics card. On my computer they're below the GPU display ports.

If this is the case you can simply remove the GPU and plug the HDMI into the motherboard to check if that's the issue. That's the easiest way to know I think. But it does rely on your CPU having built-in graphics (I think most do).
---