UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I know this may not be the right forum, but here goes.

Last night I was playing my favorite game Everquest and my monitor goes blank... I was able to save out of my game and shut it down...

My question is this: I thought my monitor had died but this morning I was able to get it to come back on for a few minutes then it went black again...but the video was shaky while it was on.

It seems as though my monitor is not totally dead if at all. I was wondering if a video card can have that effect on a monitor?

I have had the monitor for 6+ years and it was refurbished when I purchased it... The PC is a Dell I bought about 4+ years ago... I know ancient in today's world...


Any insight would be helpful... Do I need a new monitor or Video card?

It could be either - which is not very helpful.

The easiest way to check would be to try another monitor. If it continues it's the video card. If not it's the monitor.

Also does it only happen when playing a game or does it go off anytime. Does the machine re-boot/shutdown or do you just get a blank screen. If it's caused by running some graphics intensive game it is more likely to be the video card.

i dont have another monitor to check with.... yet. I do have an old video card from another PC but dont want to try it as it is rather old and less capable.

EQ is a very intensive game video-wise. However, I have been playing it for a year now.

My pc is stable atm... only the monitor is black, but i can get it to come back on briefly... every several hours or so.

as stated before, trying another monitor is the best first step that you can take.

it sounds like the monitor is on its way out (if not out already..). check the monitor cable though and make sure that it is plugged in securley. since you dont have another monitor yet you might as well check to see if any of the wires in the cable are broken. you can do this with a voltage tester or another similiar device if you have one available.

i can say however that it does really seem like its the monitor, not your video card.

oh another thing, i dont know how much effect it could have on it, but make sure that the monitor is grounded properly.

Not sure if this is still something that works, but when the monitor goes black, unplug the cable from the monitor to the pc. If the screen then goes white, the monitor should be okay.

Of course, when you go to get a new video card, you'll have to update your monitor anyway (and your pc, software, licenses...Mr. Gates needs the $$$ in this economy!).

Actually, I bought a new(old) video card for $20... from a local Dell refurbisher in Carrolton(Dallas suburb).

I had a 16MB Diamond Viper Nvidia card....I bought a 32 DiamondViper card... The cards are virtually identical. Unless I got a second bad card,

That didnt fix the problem, sooooo it must be the monitor.


I know you are going to say "why didnt you buy a new GF4!" hehe. Well I have a 4+ year old PC, Most of the new cards wont work or would be major overkill and much of their resources would be wasted...

The latest card I could buy would something in the GF3 range... anyways, i dont have the budget for $100 card...Of course I dont have the budget to buy another monitor... will have to get a refurbished one there too.

http://search.ebay.com/ws/search/Sal...onitor&from=R8