my video card burnt

[Mysticlifex]

My card burnt out because I left my computer on too much, but In my comp I need to leave it on all night so I can sell things in my cat shop so what can I do so I can do this yet not have my video card die

[EvilAerosolCan]

1. How old is your video card?
2. Is it clogged with dust?

Your video card won't burn out just from being on all the time, unless it's been on for the past 10 years. I've had my computer running for at least a couple years. I've reset it plenty of times, but it's never off for more than a minute or two.

[Thund3rball]

As said usually only two things will kill a card under normal circumstances; heat (caused by a buildup of dust/dirt etc..) and faulty or sub-par components (something fails on the card). And of course if you are overclocking or stressing the card 24/7 with 3D apps then you can considerably shorten its lifespan, but I would not consider those normal circumstances. Just leaving your computer on 24/7 and running as a web server, cat shop, whatever... shouldn't cause any extra wear & tear on your video card.

[LordXenophon]

Shouldn't, but it could if your computer is not well ventilated and/or you have been running graphics-intensive programs which ought to be run on a faster card. I burned out a Ge-force 4 that way, replaced it with another Ge-force 4 and added a second fan to blow directly on the card, and have had no trouble since.

Of couse, all we have to go on is that you say it was "burned out." You haven't described how it was acting before it failed, so we can't really tell if it was heat or some sort of catistrophic failure. 99% of the time, the culprit will be heat management, but that other 1% includes some pretty nasty problems which could fry other parts of your computer if you don't attend to them.

[Mysticlifex]

hmm well ill go with the dust maybe clogged it up, ty

[BlueEyesWhiteGirl]

If the dust got into your fan, maybe. Video cards don't have moving parts unless there's a fan attached to them.

Usually, the only problem with dust and cards is that when you try to put in a new card, the dust gets into the slot. You have to clean the slot before you put the new card in. Dust shouldn't matter for a card that was already there.

[Svoboda]

That's actually not quite true. Dust can do more than just muck up the moving parts. There's all sorts of stuff in dust, and some of it is conductive. If iron filings, steel wool, aluminum oxide, glitter, or many, many other conductive dusts got on there, you could get a short.

It could also be water. If you have a lot of humidity in your home, there might be condensation in or near your computer where it could drip onto the video card. It could also be a pet, a drip from upstairs, a spilled drink, or spit from you blowing on it.

In other words, you DO need to keep your computer equipment clean and dry.


...but Xen is right. 99% of the time, it's heat. Dirt is in that other 1%.

[EvilAerosolCan]

Dust can do a lot of damage depending on how much there is. Dust is an insulator, it will cause components to get hotter as it builds up. If you're not overclocking, dust build-up will pretty much be the only reason that parts overheat.

Get some pressurized air and blow all the dust off/out of it and see if it doesn't work. Sometimes the heat will keep it from working, but it's not actually broken. If you get rid of the dust, and it still doesn't work, then you'll probably need a new video card.

[LordXenophon]

If you think dust is the only reason heat will build up, then you've never tried to run Second Life with a ge-force 4.

[EvilAerosolCan]

I never said its the only reason heat will build up. I said "pretty much be the only reason that parts overheat". If your card is straining to play your games, then it will obviously warm up pretty good. But when you add a layer of dust, or clog the fan with dust, that's when it will start overheating. Not to say a perfectly clean system couldn't overheat.