Testing Graphics Cards

[Harrie]

A friend of mine bought a 'new' card off ebay only to find out he can't use it. He's offered it to me but I'm not very trusting of Ebay... is there a way that i could have it tested to make sure that it's in working order with out putting it in a computer?

 

[CrazyFrog1903]

The only way I know is to plug it into a system that you wouldn't mind taking the chance on. Is the only reason your friend can't use it because it plugs into a different kind of slot?

 

[Harrie]

That's what I figured. Yes, his computer uses AGP and the card he got (GeForce 8600 GT) is not.

 

[Lord_Trekie]

Haha, wow... Um... as long as your have at least a 400W power supply you shouldn't have to worry about frying anything, so I'd honestly just stick it in there... But yes, if you have a backup pc I'd suggest using that first...

 

[Harrie]

I figured I'd also need to get a hold of a bigger power supply. All I have is 300.

 

[Lord_Trekie]

300 could still work, it depends on what else the power supply has hooked up to it...

 

[Harrie]

Well... there's the 2.2 Ghz quad core, 3 gigs of ram, 500 gig hd.... I don't really know what's hooked to the psu... I go tthe card in it works... but I'm still thinking about ordering a 400 or 450 watt from the gateway site (it's a gateway comp by the way...) The only question I have now will any psu work or will i have to find one that supports quad-core cpus because the two I'm looking at only mention dual cores?

 

[Lord_Trekie]

Probably Safer to go with a 500-600 watt if you can, I know the quad core probably draws around 135 watts IIRC, the mobo doesn't take much, nor do the HDD's usually, it's the chip and the Graphics card that do, and any fans you have plugged in...

 

[Harrie]

No extra fans... And now my computer is making an ominous sound that reminds me of a playing card in the spokes of a bike. I'm no expert but I don't think it should be making a sound like that.

 

[Lord_Trekie]

ok yeah, probably not good, can you get your friend to take a look?

 

[Harrie]

I can but chances are I'll have to take to the local repair shop and have them look at it... Makes me glad I haven't done anything with my old one yet.

 

[Atlantis]

The playingcard/spoke noise could just be something simple like a cable touching the blades of one of the fans. If you've had it open and been putting things in, there's a chance you may have just nudged something into it, no biggey.

Try opening it up, turn it on, and see if you can identify where the sound's coming from.

 

[Harrie]

I fixed it... That was a good idea Atlantis... but unfortuantely the card's fan faces the the bottom of the case with nothing under it.

It sounded so much like a playing card in the spokes because it almost was... The manufacturers sticker that was in the center of the fan had shifted and was hitting the edge of the fan assembly, pulled it off and voila, no more "ominous-playing-card-in-spokes-sound".