Video Cards dying

Hi, can anyone offer some possibilities for me to explore the following problem:

First some basic specs: p4 3.2 socket 478, GA818pe1000 pro 2, HIS Excaliber 9800pro, 2 gig Ram, SB Audigy 2, 120 gig Sata. Cheap Hyundai 17" flat screen monitor.

No previous history of any problems, software or hardware. Rock solid. 2 1/2 years old.

The screen went blue, computer resets, then no video output. No boot up sequence begining. Dead. Room temp 38 C. It is Summer, after all.

Check spike protected powerboard-OK. Checked PSU outputs, all nominal. Monitor works on test machine- OK. Video card is dead. Check RAM and Sound card in test machine- OK. De-dust monitor, case and PSU, check fans, check M/B for heat damage/shorted /bent/damaged external board components-OK. Replace video card, machine boots.

3 days later, repeat of first failure. Much cooler day (night actually), room temp 25 C. Otherwise identical failure. Another dead video card.

Local geek shop hasn't got a clue. Doesn't want to know. Suggests buying a new machine completely, for lots of money...yeah, right!

The way I figure it it, could it be an intermittent PSU generated spike (but would'nt that take out other components too), a intermittent monitor fault (hard to believe-when monitors go, they go, right? All that KV) or a fault in the M/B ( Once again, would other things get damaged too?). It is an expensive way to use up video cards just to fault find!

Help?

 

Have you had a peer into the connector the video card slots into to make sure that you dont have any bits of crud that may be causing a short?

 

Thanks for the reply,

re checked slots-no crud/bent/misaligned contacts

 

Hi Blackadder's Mate
I hope you didn't get caught like me! In my excitement to install a new nVidia board I failed to unplug the computer. It was off, but still plugged in. When, the card began failing, my research uncovered that my mobo still powered the video bus/pci bus even though the power supply fan is off. There is an LED on the mobo that was supposed to inform me of this fact. I didn't notice. I was fortunate that my supplier let me return the "failing" card for credit. Whew!

 

Well the 1st failure happened in normal usage, no hands inside the computer at all. The replacement card was installed at the local computer shop, they insisted, so I can't claim credit for that one! It peeves me that they don't want to know now though. They say that since this fault is from a cause external to the video card and obviously killed it and the previous one, there is no warranty. However my reply was that they did the (errouneous) fault finding on it so should bear some responsibility. If they look at it now is an admission of liability, so they don't want to know. But that disagreement isn't getting me closer to figuring it out so I will deal with them later.

Thanks for the reply though.