11bee Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Just had something strange happen today with my PC (unit is ~ 5 years old, WIN7). While surfing the net, all of a sudden all the text and pictures became smudged (maybe ghosted is a better description), By this I mean that it they have a residue of the color that fades off the right an inch or so. It's not just related to the browser, my desktop his it, along with any apps I run. I rebooted the machine and it went away for approx 2 hrs and now it's back. Not sure if my graphics card is going or something else is happening. Killed power to the monitor (a 3 year old LG unit), no change. Haven't made any changes to my display / video settings. Any thoughts? Didn't find a great deal of help online. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
murad Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 gpu might be becoming loose on your gfx card. if it's still under warranty try them, otherwise try throwing the gpu into the oven and cook it (seriously) http://lifehacker.com/5823227/save-dying-video-cards-with-a-quick-bake-in-the-oven but it's a stopgap measure usually, one foot is already in the grave for the gpu. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
habu2 Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 Check the connections at each end of your video cable between the monitor and graphics output on the PC. Try dis/reconnecting each end. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 A tech trick is to unplug and re-plug all cables; ditto with all the boards insides the box. You be surprised how much this can clear things up.But, to Murad's point, your system is nearing the wear-out side of that bathtub curve, especially if you need to try to re-flow solder joints... Having written that, a new system would be quite a bit more capable and consume much less power. Unless you're a serious gamer, you could also get graphics built into the CPU, which assists on both power and reliability. Finally, multiple monitors are easily supported today. I have 2 on mine with the built-in graphics. My honey has a graphics card with 3 displays, but she produces videos. Disclaimer, I work for a CPU manufacturer... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mingwin Posted March 5, 2017 Share Posted March 5, 2017 (edited) 1 hour ago, habu2 said: Check the connections at each end of your video cable between the monitor and graphics output on the PC. Try dis/reconnecting each end. that's what i'll do first. after, i'm always tempted to check for dust/heat issues... Edited March 5, 2017 by mingwin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted March 6, 2017 Author Share Posted March 6, 2017 Thanks very much for all the tips guys. I cleaned all the vents, blew out all the dust, and then reseated the graphics card / reattached the cable. So far, I'm good to go. Got my fingers crossed because I do realize the system is well past her prime. Best PC I've ever owned. Had it custom built, had zero issues until just lately. On a related note, it now sometimes freezes up shortly after waking up from sleep mode. I have to physically kill power to it and then start up again. Any thoughts? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
hawkwrench Posted March 7, 2017 Share Posted March 7, 2017 You've been hacked by the Russians! Dog gone Putin! Tim Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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