Did I hork my monitor? Or sheer coincidence?
January 19, 2018 9:06 AM Subscribe
Would an unseated video card be enough to fry the logic board on my monitor? Or did it happen to go bad at the same time?
Earlier this month, I found that the monitor on my seldom-used-directly-but-always-on-for-remote-needs desktop computer wasn't working. After unsuccessfully trying another screen (our smart TV) and worrying that the video card or MB was bad, I noticed the connector on the PC was a little wobbly and discovered that the video card had actually popped halfway out of its MB slot. (Stupid me for forgetting to screw it in last time.) So, after re-seating the card and re-testing components, I confirmed that it's the monitor that's the point of failure.
My question is mainly around what might have happened. Could the video card coming unseated have killed the monitor somehow? I can't imagine this is much different than just disconnecting the cable? This is my second mid-range Samsung that has gone bad in 3 years, and if it coincidentally went bad at the same time the card popped out (or within a couple weeks since it was last known to be working) I plan to re-brand for its replacement. But if it's reasonable to assume this was a result of the card popping out then I'll accept blame and consider giving Samsung another chance because I do like the clarity and color.
What say you, PC gurus? Is there enough voltage flowing across the cable to have done this? It's an HDMI connection, if it matters.
Earlier this month, I found that the monitor on my seldom-used-directly-but-always-on-for-remote-needs desktop computer wasn't working. After unsuccessfully trying another screen (our smart TV) and worrying that the video card or MB was bad, I noticed the connector on the PC was a little wobbly and discovered that the video card had actually popped halfway out of its MB slot. (Stupid me for forgetting to screw it in last time.) So, after re-seating the card and re-testing components, I confirmed that it's the monitor that's the point of failure.
My question is mainly around what might have happened. Could the video card coming unseated have killed the monitor somehow? I can't imagine this is much different than just disconnecting the cable? This is my second mid-range Samsung that has gone bad in 3 years, and if it coincidentally went bad at the same time the card popped out (or within a couple weeks since it was last known to be working) I plan to re-brand for its replacement. But if it's reasonable to assume this was a result of the card popping out then I'll accept blame and consider giving Samsung another chance because I do like the clarity and color.
What say you, PC gurus? Is there enough voltage flowing across the cable to have done this? It's an HDMI connection, if it matters.
Response by poster: Best I can tell, since it was not screwed to the chassis (my bad) and the little clip on the inner side of the card slot was still in place holding that end of the card in, it probably was just tension from the HDMI cable that slowly pulled the unscrewed end of the card out. It's not unusual for me to slide the case around on the desk a little to dust and clean which could have pulled on the cable too. But there would be no kind of impact that would have affected both. Neither have been dropped or anything, they just sit on a desk.
posted by SquidLips at 11:51 AM on January 19, 2018
posted by SquidLips at 11:51 AM on January 19, 2018
Best answer: I've got a few dozen systems at work I'm responsible for. Sometimes hardware failures just happen for no discernible external reason, especially with commodity hardware. The only scenario I've seen where equipment burns out because of external factors---a lightning strike or a short---everything electrically connected gets fried.
If you're looking for good monitors I've had great success with Dells in the last couple of years, btw. Nice colour accuracy and not too expensive.
posted by bonehead at 12:31 PM on January 19, 2018
If you're looking for good monitors I've had great success with Dells in the last couple of years, btw. Nice colour accuracy and not too expensive.
posted by bonehead at 12:31 PM on January 19, 2018
Best answer: Yeah, I don't think that the unseating would've caused the issue with the monitor. It could've possibly caused issues with the graphics card or motherboard, but if you say you've tested the card with other monitors and had them work, then I guess that the monitor failed for some other reason.
Seconding the recommendation for Dell monitors. I have some UltraSharps that are rock-solid.
posted by Aleyn at 3:48 PM on January 19, 2018
Seconding the recommendation for Dell monitors. I have some UltraSharps that are rock-solid.
posted by Aleyn at 3:48 PM on January 19, 2018
I'll accept blame and consider giving Samsung another chance because I do like the clarity and color
Samsung monitors do indeed tend to be built around quite nice panels, but their front panel button menu interface is insanely annoying and they insist on wasting perfectly good screen time announcing which video input is in use at startup. Dell's Ultrasharp line is at least as good picture-wise and they also have much less annoying UI and better physical mountings.
posted by flabdablet at 1:38 AM on January 20, 2018
Samsung monitors do indeed tend to be built around quite nice panels, but their front panel button menu interface is insanely annoying and they insist on wasting perfectly good screen time announcing which video input is in use at startup. Dell's Ultrasharp line is at least as good picture-wise and they also have much less annoying UI and better physical mountings.
posted by flabdablet at 1:38 AM on January 20, 2018
Have you tried using a different cable?
posted by oceanjesse at 10:20 AM on January 20, 2018
posted by oceanjesse at 10:20 AM on January 20, 2018
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posted by selfnoise at 9:56 AM on January 19, 2018