Computer Power Issues
I think I may have fixed my computer now. It was having some serious problems with the video stuff. It just seemed like it might be a power problem. It was very interesting what it was doing.
Ryan suggested I take the computer completely apart and reasemble it to varify all of the connections are good. In doing so I found two things that could have caused the video problem. There is a clip on the back side of the AGP slot. The video card was not seated all the way to the point where that clip fully engages. It was just barely not clipped all the way in like it should be.
The other issue had to do with the power leads from the power supply. There are two leads from the power supply that have several power connections on each one. I believe that in hooking up power to the fan controller I had them crossed over each other. I’m not the smartest guy around but I can’t imagine that to be a good thing.
After fixing those things it booted right up and didn’t complain at all when I changed my resolution to 1600×1200 again. We’ll see how long it lasts this time.
Ken Wendland 
Ryan said,
September 25, 2006 at 9:47 am
… and to think that I was joking at the time.
Viper said,
September 25, 2006 at 5:02 pm
I didn’t go so far as to drill out the rivets of the case like we discussed. I didn’t think that would really help me diagnose the problem, as fun as it sounded.
It did make sense to double check every connection in the computer just to make sure everything was connected properly.
The easiest way to check everything like that was to remove it all and start over. In actuality I just removed the network, sound, and video cards, and unplugged all cables and wires from everything. I then carefully put it all back, not paying any attention to making sure it was the way I had it before. It was not working before, so I had no real desire to duplicate a failed setup.
I didn’t actually remove everything from the case, but I wasn’t far from it. When I booted the computer up the differance was a dramatic one. I booted up in half the normal time. I further tested it with Half-Life 2. I ran HL2 at 1920×1440 with all settings at the maximum. I was getting a consistant 35 to 40 fps. It would ocassionally spike to 60 to 70 fps if I was close to a wall or in a small room where it didn’t have to render as much. I did all this very smoothly.
I consider my computer completely fixed.
Mom said,
September 26, 2006 at 11:54 am
Very good Ken, I am proud of my smart son. 🙂
Viper said,
September 26, 2006 at 4:37 pm
It wasn’t my idea. It was Ryans idea. I just did it and it worked.
Matt hicks said,
September 26, 2006 at 4:50 pm
3 cheers for ryan….
Mom said,
September 27, 2006 at 11:11 am
Very good Ryan 🙂