Hopefully a quick fix - my graphics card cooling fan STARTED acting up, so I decided to get a new one. I put the new one in, and it seemed not to work. So, I put the old card back in (there was no problem with the graphics, just the fan seemed to be going out) and it didn't work. The fan still turned on, but no signal went to the monitor. I figured I did something to the MOTHERBOARD, so I bought a new one, and moved all the hardware to a new tower. The card still has the same result - the fan turns on, but no signal to the monitor. I guess my question from this scenario in two parts is - can you fry a graphics card and still have the fan TURN on, and without the ability to switch between computers to assess this, how do you know if the card is fried?

Suggestions?

Here are some specs:

Card - XFX PVT84JUDD3 GeForce 8600GT XXX 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card

Mobo (new) - DFI LANPARTY DK P35-T2RS LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
Mobo (old) - ECS NF650iSLIT-A (V1.0) LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 650i SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

Thanks! Is the power lead long enough to reach a fan header on the MBoard ? ?
I had to do this once and i just spliced on a lead from a BROKEN fan to get it to reach.
You need to CONSULT the MBoard manual to find which header is on all the time...Yes you can have a inoperative graphics card with the fan still spinning. In fact, you can also have the converse- a operating card with a non-functional fan. Chances are that it won't be operating for long without a fan, depending on age.

The fact is- the fan is merely powered by electricity. that electricity still flows to the fan even in the case the graphics processor isn't working.


As for actually being sure it's a dead card- especially considering you have no way to test it in another machine- difficult, really- do you get any beep codes from the computer? Have you tried a minimal config? (no drives- just mobo with video card and a keyboard).

One way would be acquire an older card- for example- a Rage pro, or something along those lines. (IE- one without a fan) and see if it posts. Also, try another bus type of card if you can. (PCI as opposed to AGP or PCI-E).


One last thing to consider- does the new (or old) board have built-in graphics?