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I'm getting garbled graphics on my computer in text mode environments, such as in the BIOS or before loading Windows. However, I don't have any graphical issues in Windows.

Graphics card is a GeForce 8800 GT, on a MSI P35 Neo motherboard model MS-7360.

Edit: Seems the capacitors on the card are bulging. I managed to fix my TV on my own by replacing them (repairman wanted $100!), and I might try doing this on my graphics card. It's a long shot, but I might be able to do this and see if this is the problem.

bwDraco
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Xentios
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  • Its an ex-parrot. Also, you can give us a link, and someone will probably edit it in for you. – Journeyman Geek Dec 05 '14 at 13:04
  • http://puu.sh/dhXlf.jpg – Xentios Dec 05 '14 at 13:06
  • Still pretty stupid to have a system like that as you can see – Xentios Dec 05 '14 at 13:07
  • Not really - it prevents people from creating accounts for abuse purposes - if you get enough reputation, you have a certain degree of time invested in the site. That dosen't look like your bios - what program is that? I seem. Also what's your GPU - I've seen graphical wierdness in *specific* modes in pre failure video cards. – Journeyman Geek Dec 05 '14 at 13:10
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    Picture posted for you. I'd suggest reading the [help] before complaining about how stuff works here. We're willing to help, but coming here with an attitude isn't going to encourage people to help you. – Journeyman Geek Dec 05 '14 at 13:12
  • Ok i will be positive. From the moment I press power on and till the computer starts to load "Windows 7 amblem" graphics are like that. Since it is pretty hard to see the problem at a mostly black screen , so i took this picture as you can see clearly the malfuntion type. – Xentios Dec 05 '14 at 13:12
  • While the 8800GT is a G92 chip, it's still in the same series as the G84 and G86 [notorious for a high failure rate](http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-g84-g86-chips-overheating,6121.html). So your GPU is certainly a prime suspect. Would you be able to take the graphics card out and test with onboard graphics? – Bob Dec 05 '14 at 13:28
  • I don't have a onboard graphics card , also if the card was malfuntioning why whould it work fine at Windows? – Xentios Dec 05 '14 at 13:33
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    @Xentios Because Windows and its drivers use the GPU differently from the basic mode the BIOS uses, which potentially follows a different circuit path. Hardware failures can manifest in *extremely* weird ways, and the only real way to be certain is to swap in known working parts. – Bob Dec 05 '14 at 13:34
  • "This component(condenser) is a little bumpy/fat" - the component is called a "Capacitor". Check this out for more info on what you're seeing there: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor_plague – Ƭᴇcʜιᴇ007 Dec 05 '14 at 16:09
  • @DragonLord You can add a picture as ACII code, since there is no limitation in characters; not allowing a picture is pretty stupid design. What would be best? Don't restrict the asker. If question is too big or has pictures hide the rest of the question until readers open it OR question reach a plesant up-vote. – Xentios Dec 06 '14 at 05:53
  • @Xentios: There actually is a character limit, but it's really high (30,000 characters). – bwDraco Dec 06 '14 at 06:14

2 Answers2

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Its your GPU. Its not the exact same issue but its a minor miracle your GPU still works.

Basically nearly everything in the 8xxx family was flawed and tended to fail due to issues with the BGA soldering on the video card.

These issues could manifest themselves in many different ways - dell put out a recall on laptop GPUs with the same chip family and I've personally had failures of a 8300 and a 8800. Text mode wierdness is more common - like the famous image, but I'm guessing that your pre-boot drive practitioner runs in that mode.

Bob pointed out its a G92

And... its also apparently buggy

You should consider planning to get a new video card.

Community
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Journeyman Geek
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  • Huh, never heard about G9x failing. But there you go, almost certain that it's the GPU. The only other candidate would be the motherboard... but you still need to swap parts to verify that. (If you really want, you can check for any busted capacitors on the mobo, as it's *possible* however unlikely.) – Bob Dec 05 '14 at 13:35
  • Neither did I. I looked it up on seeing your comment. – Journeyman Geek Dec 05 '14 at 13:57
  • I've personally seen capacitor plague on a factory-overclocked GeForce 8600 GT. It worked, but the system had intermittent issues booting up. The card was later replaced with a Kepler-based GeForce GT 640—not great, but the best we could do on a 6-year-old desktop without PCIe power connectors. – bwDraco Dec 05 '14 at 21:05
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Pretty sure your graphics card is bad. Bulging capacitors are never a good sign.

Back then, a lot of hardware components had faulty capacitors which would eventually fail. These capacitors had improper chemistry which caused them to pressurize during operation and ultimately leak caustic electrolyte. This problem was called capacitor plague and it forced a lot of computer manufacturers to recall and replace hardware.

Given the age of the machine (the Intel P35 chipset is seven years old), you should consider getting a new computer.

bwDraco
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