Ok i have a nvidia geforce 5200 fx pci 128mb card and ive had it not even a year and its been good for me, but for about 2 weeks it started not bringing up my monitor screen, so i have to keep changin pci slots and eventually it will bring it up after about 20 card changes into different slots. When it does come up it works fine, but for some reason it doesnt bring up when i start my pc up. any help would be nice :D thx

Welcome to the PC Guide Forums!! :D

Hmmm... gonna need more info to solve this one. System specs, OS version, drivers being used, etc. Did you make any changes to your system prior to this malady? How's your security?

its a pentium 4 amd 1.2ghz
376mb ram
128 mb PCI geforce fx 5200
win xp home
the newest nvidia drivers

i didnt make any changes, and i dont really have much security but i doubt its a virus because it works after i fiddle with it changing the card into different slots after about an hour :( and its not the monitor cuz i tested them on different computers

Sylvander’s Diagnostic Flowcharts
Download a copy of my diagnostic flowcharts from here
www.erniek.eclipse.co.uk/downloads/sylvanderdiags.zip
and print them to leaf through.
Begin on the STARTUP chart.

Do you hear no single short beep?
-----------------------------------------------
NO POST, NO BEEP, NO VIDEO
www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?t=39685
-----------------------------------------------

Whenever you change your PCI hardware arrangement you aught to "Force Update the ESCD".

its not the monitor cuz i tested them on different computers
When you say 'them', do you mean that you tested the monitor and the video card on other systems?
If so, did the card work ok?

its a pentium 4 amd 1.2ghzUmmm... huh?? :confused: AMD doesn't make Pentium4's - Intel does. Likewise, there is no 1.2GHz P4 - the slowest speed was 1.3GHz and even that was only sent out to OEM's (1.4GHz is the slowest speed made available to resellers).

If you really don't know what CPU you have, just download and run Everest Home Edition (http://www.lavalys.com/products/overview.php?pid=1&lang=en). That will tell you more than you ever wanted to know about your system.

sry theres a sticker ont he back that says p4 amd lol so ya its around 1.2

today i bought a new video card a ati radeon 9250 pci 128 mb card and it still wont bring up or let my computer start up. the power turns on but the beep doesnt go nor does the monitor come up. I also tested the new video card on a different cpu and it works. So im guessing its not the video card

Make sure that all connections are secure, and reseat the RAM.
If no luck and there are no beeps, then either the MB or the CPU may be knackered.
Check the MB for any bulging, leaking, or ruptured capacitors(small upright cylindrical objects). If any look bad, then the MB is bad.

sry theres a sticker ont he back that says p4 amdOh! The power supply! Ok, yeah, that must be a P4/AMD "approved" sticker. That doesn't tell you what CPU you have, that just says your PSU is so-called "approved" for P4/AMD stuff (ATX12V spec, aka ATX 2.0).

Have you followed Sylvander's flowcharts for disconnecting devices and stuff? Should be called a "barebones boot", where no drives are connected. Only the essentials. If a barebones boot doesn't work, then one of the core components is bad, which at this point means the mobo or CPU. Like ski said.

Does your motherboard have onboard video? You might consider checking the bios settings. Mine was configured to look there unless there is an AGP card installed, which it would default to. A pci card would need to be enabled before it would be active. I'd have to boot with a montior plugged in to the onboard video in order to change these settings.

I had an old voodoo 3 pci card at one point, and I recall it giving me troubles with not being recognized. Unfortunately I can't remember the specifics right now. I think I went into the bios and enabled pci video without the card installed, then booted to windows. Disabled the onboard graphics processor in the hardware manager and shut down. Then put the pci card in with my monitor attached.

Reseting the bios would get the onboard active again when I wanted to remove the card. Can you find a manual online?

Ok i bought a new vid card and it works (tested it on another comp) and i finally got the computer able to boot up but i have to turn on turn off turn on turn off my comp about 20-25 times for it to work. Does this mean maybe my power supply is goin ?

It's possible that the power supply is bad.
But before troubleshooting it, first d/l and run Memtest86 to check the memory. Be sure to run the test with only one module installed at a time if the system has multiple modules.

If the memory is ok, then test the power supply as described here:
http://www.ochardware.com/articles/psuvolt/psuvolt2.html
If you do not have access to a voltage meter, then you'll have to swap it out with a different PS unit.

If the PS is ok, then either the MB or CPU may be bad. You can either swap them out, or have them shop tested.