Computer Repair Help Needed !

CandyStripes05 · Nov 2017

Fixing a rejected pc from gf's parents for the kids to use for gaming. Any help is much appreciated

- Not sure if the performance is bad or it's just crazy outdated so I plan on doing a fresh install of Windows and re-evaluating)
- As for the issues of the display (the monitor works fine ,tested elsewhere) is that 100% graphics card fault or a chance of MOBO or other?
- Are these components good for gaming or should I improve parts? (tight budget, kid plays a range of gaming from RoBlox to Diablo/Skyrim)

Video Card: NVIDA GeForce GTX 560 Ti
Processor: Intel Quad Core i5 2500k CPU @ 3.30GHz
Ram: 2x (4 GB DDR3 2133)
CPU: Corsair TX 750W
OS: 64 Bit Win 7 Home Premium
MOBO: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 (pretty sure same one as this: https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157271)

random lines and blurs on working monitor

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/u0/oydxl6zqr1xf.jpg

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/5021068/uploads/editor/qk/p1vwu9yfqbau.jpg

Bek · Nov 2017

If you get the same artifacts during POST then it's almost certainly a hardware issue, so you can probably skip the windows reinstall until you've tested the gpu. You could replace it with a nvidia 1050 (~$120) or search for a deal on a used card. Maybe someone you know has and old GPU gathering dust.

Only other thoughts are you could probably spend $20 and get a cpu cooler and overclock it a bit for the performance boost, but up to you if that's worth doing. i5-2500k is still a decent cpu. Depending how old they are you could suggest they give it a try if they have the need. From the looks of it they can access the back of the cpu socket without having to disassemble it all so it's not that huge of a task.

poopipe · Nov 2017

The guy thing could be as simple as dust, crappy socket or even being badly seated. But you want to isolate the problem to the gpu before replacing it.

Does that motherboard have a second gpu slot you can try?
Is there another machine you can put the gpu in?

A single 560ti will handle battlefield3 at medium ish settings so it's not useless at all.

PolyHertz · Nov 2017

That screen corruption is almost certainly the GPU.
A Geforce 960 or 1050 would be a good replacement, and shouldn't cost more then about $80-120.

2500k and 8GB RAM is still perfectly fine for a basic gaming PC.

Dash-POWER · Nov 2017

Or you can bake your GPU in an oven. This process is calling reballing and it is standard process in advanced reparing services. The problem could be that your GPU(core) doesn't have contact with PCB because GPU produce hot and cold(pc is turned off) so the material(tin) slowly working and there can occur micro holes between the core and PCB. I tried to bake my old 9800GTX and it was successful for next year.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hP2_w5Mebe8

Of course this is the last chance how to save your GPU. If you don't mind to spend some money to buy a new one go ahead.

CandyStripes05 · Nov 2017

I have a GTX 970 I can take out and try in this case, I moved the current GPU to another PCI Express 3.0 and same result and the corruption is there during POST. I'll try the GTX 970 in it if it works then I think i'll attempt to bake the old one to see if it fixes if not then i'll buy a new one.

Thanks guys, i'll keep you posted!

edit* my gpu works smoothly in place so the issue is with the GTX 550 Ti - once I get the time I'll take it apart and try to bake it :P

CandyStripes05 · Nov 2017

IT WORKS ! ! ! ! !

thanks everyone, ended up taking it apart and using a heat gun instead of my oven (mixed reviews on safety) Hovered over it for a few seconds and let it cool for about 20mins to be safe and turned it on and it worked! Tossed on some fresh thermal paste and even got around to fixing one of the fans in the case. Time for a fresh install and it'll be ready for xmas, thanks for all the info people!

CandyStripes05 · Apr 2019

sorry to bring up an oldie but quick question, I ended up eventually upgrading his card to an EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Ti SC 4GB GDDR5 but now his bday is coming up and he is asking if he can get a new processor.... is it worth it without spending lots of money or would investing in a new rig be a better move? open to all suggestions lol thanks

complains its slow/laggy when dual screening games and youtube at the same time

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Ti SC 4GB GDDR5
Processor: Intel Quad Core i5 2500k CPU @ 3.30GHz
Ram: 2x (4 GB DDR3 2133)
CPU: Corsair TX 750W
OS: 64 Bit Win 7 Home Premium
MOBO: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

Kanni3d · Apr 2019

CandyStripes05 said:
complains its slow/laggy when dual screening games and youtube at the same time

Processor: Intel Quad Core i5 2500k CPU @ 3.30GHz

Yeah, that CPU is quite the bottleneck, especially with a modern 10 series GPU, let alone trying to stream/game/multiple displays. Aside from a whole new rig altogether, you'll have to get a new motherboard to use newer CPU, since it'll be a different socket.

Keep in mind, newer motherboards mean DDR4 memory, which isn't backwards compatible with DDR3 memory, so you'd have to replace that - or simply just get a nice processor/motherboard (z87 chipset for Intel boards, for example) that support DDR3 (might benefit from more than 4gb of ram, 8 minimum

)

m4dcow · Apr 2019

CandyStripes05 said:

sorry to bring up an oldie but quick question, I ended up eventually upgrading his card to an EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Ti SC 4GB GDDR5 but now his bday is coming up and he is asking if he can get a new processor.... is it worth it without spending lots of money or would investing in a new rig be a better move? open to all suggestions lol thanks

complains its slow/laggy when dual screening games and youtube at the same time

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Ti SC 4GB GDDR5
Processor: Intel Quad Core i5 2500k CPU @ 3.30GHz
Ram: 2x (4 GB DDR3 2133)
CPU: Corsair TX 750W
OS: 64 Bit Win 7 Home Premium
MOBO: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

A newer gen CPU would mean new motherboard and ram.

The cheapest way to go would be to get a used 2600k with a decent cooler, which might end up running $150-$200. you can overclock those chips pretty well, but I'm not sure if that ends up solving his lagging problem. You might need to profile where the actual bottleneck is, run a few of the games he plays with the resource monitor open, see how/if it maxes out CPU, make sure latest GPU drivers are installed too.

Prime8 · Apr 2019

CandyStripes05 said:

sorry to bring up an oldie but quick question, I ended up eventually upgrading his card to an EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Ti SC 4GB GDDR5 but now his bday is coming up and he is asking if he can get a new processor.... is it worth it without spending lots of money or would investing in a new rig be a better move? open to all suggestions lol thanks

complains its slow/laggy when dual screening games and youtube at the same time

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 Ti SC 4GB GDDR5
Processor: Intel Quad Core i5 2500k CPU @ 3.30GHz
Ram: 2x (4 GB DDR3 2133)
CPU: Corsair TX 750W
OS: 64 Bit Win 7 Home Premium
MOBO: ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3

What do you mean by "dual screening games"?
First try to figure out the actual bottleneck as mentioned before. I assume that is 8GB RAM in total? Could be a bottleneck as well.

As @m4dcow wrote, cheapest solution is to upgrade the CPU, you can check the prices for used i7 3770 as well.
But if the GPU is the bottleneck, this won't help you much.

Computer Repair Help Needed !

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