Scrambled PC Screen

[DaFroginator101]

Hi. I would like some help to know what's wrong with my computer. About a week ago, I turned it on and the screen was all scrambled and nothing was responding. I restarted it, and it booted up fine. Then about 10 minutes after it was at the desktop, the screen went scrambled again and I had to restart it. This kept happening randomly, whether it be every 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes or 5 hours...it just scrambles with lines all over the screen of various colours no matter what I'm doing or if it's on standby. Sometimes, it just cuts off from the tower and restarts. Since this issue occurred and me having to constantly restart it, there has also been a chainsaw-like sound coming from the tower as well. I don't know if it's the fan or power supply or what. Also, I don't have a graphics card at the moment since it died a while back so I'm using the integrated graphics from the motherboard. Any help will be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Jad Chaar]

What are your full system specs (OS [32bit or 64bit?], CPU, amount of RAM)? What connection are you using to your monitor (HDMI, DVI, VGA, etc)?

 

[St1ckM4n]

Uh, is the fan on your CPU spinning? Chainsaw sound is most like a fan, and your PC restarting means it's a critical component probably overheating.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Uh, is the fan on your CPU spinning? Chainsaw sound is most like a fan, and your PC restarting means it's a critical component probably overheating.

Yeah I was thinking that. I think it is a GPU overheating issue.

 

[St1ckM4n]

OP said he took out his graphics card and is using onboard. That's why CPU (or even chipset) could be overheating.

 

[DaFroginator101]

What are your full system specs (OS [32bit or 64bit?], CPU, amount of RAM)? What connection are you using to your monitor (HDMI, DVI, VGA, etc)?

Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit, Intel E5400 @ 2.7Ghz, 2.5 GB RAM, VGA.

 

[DaFroginator101]

Uh, is the fan on your CPU spinning? Chainsaw sound is most like a fan, and your PC restarting means it's a critical component probably overheating.

Yes, the fan on my CPU is spinning.

 

[St1ckM4n]

Alright, so what's making the chainsaw sound?

Take a photo and circle the part that's making the noise, if you don't know what it is.

 

[DaFroginator101]

Alright, so what's making the chainsaw sound?

Take a photo and circle the part that's making the noise, if you don't know what it is.

I believe it's the fan on the CPU. When the tower is open and I turn it on, I touched the sides where the screws are and it made an even louder chainsaw-like noise. Maybe the screws are slack or something? I also see black, dust-like fragments under the propeller. Also, if it is the chipset overheating, will getting a graphics card solve the issue instead of replacing the motherboard or whatever? Thanks.

 

[St1ckM4n]

Can you take a photo please? It'll be easier to tell you what to focus on.

By the way, be careful when the PC is running. ..

The noise is probably the fan blades hitting a cable, or something similar.

 

[DaFroginator101]

Can you take a photo please? It'll be easier to tell you what to focus on.

By the way, be careful when the PC is running. ..

The noise is probably the fan blades hitting a cable, or something similar.

Okay, I will but I can't right now. It's pretty late so I gotta hit the hay.

 

[St1ckM4n]

Alrighty, goodnight!

 

[DaFroginator101]

Alrighty, goodnight!

Good night/ Good morning...since it's after 12 a.m. here. Bye!

 

[Jad Chaar]

OP said he took out his graphics card and is using onboard. That's why CPU (or even chipset) could be overheating.

Herp derp . Oops lol.

 

[DaFroginator101]

Hey. Here is a photo:

 

[St1ckM4n]

That looks pretty clean. Can you circle the parts you mentioned in post #9?

- Where you touched.
- What is making noise
- Black dust-like fragments.

 

[DaFroginator101]

Here you go...it's not circled though:

 

[St1ckM4n]

See the silver square on bottom-left of photo? Most likely, that's your chipset. You should gently touch it when PC is turned off (recently) and check to see if it's very hot.

In regards to your fan: maybe your screws are loose. If you say there's dust in your fan, maybe it's time for a good clean. Use a screwdiver to make sure the screws are nice and tight, and blow out the dust. Or, if you're feeling like some DIY, you can do the below.



Follow a video such as this:

Of course, make sure your hands are clean, you 'discharge' yourself and ground yourself (touch case while touching components), power is unplugged, etc...

You need to remove that fan, blow out the dust, then replace the thermal compound.

 

[Jad Chaar]

Yes that is the chipset: http://www.asrock.com/mb/Intel/G31M-VS2/. He should check temperatures with RealTemp before jumping to the conclusion it is heat.

 

[DaFroginator101]

I have some pictures of some of the crashes that occurred recently if it will help. This is what the screen looked like:

 

[St1ckM4n]

Eh, hard to tell. I'd swap out monitors, if you have another to test.

 

[Jad Chaar]

I think it is a monitor issue like Stick said.

 

[DaFroginator101]

I found this thread here and most of it is the exact thing I'm experiencing: https://www.techspot.com/community/topics/screen-and-sound-get-scrambled-and-system-hangs.55735/

 

[Cobalt006]

It may be the monitor. Try swapping out monitors. If this does not work , I would lean toward your on board graphics chip.

 

[DaFroginator101]

Hey everyone. Sorry I took so long to reply. I got a new graphics card and everything is working fine now since I got it but as of this week the PC freezes on desktop start up. Yesterday it froze on "Starting Windows". I twitched the DVI-VGA cable a little bit and it seemed to be working now. But I am afraid to shut it down again as I don't know if it will turn back on. My card is an EVGA GTX 650 and I'm using the latest beta drivers from Nvidia's website. Any help will be appreciated again. Thanks.