gu661aa-abu

[warwick-2744]

After years of trouble free running, my Pavilion Elite m9070 PC no longer sends a signal to the monitor. I suspect the video card has failed after a large thunder & lightening strike above my house. The card in the PC is NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT TurboCache with Purevideo.  I have looked on ebay for a card and while there are several closely matched cards there is nothing with the the same precise name. I would like to know please the generic name of all video cards that wil be compatible with my PC - alternatively if anybody can tell me where I can buy the exact card I would apprecite this. 

[Malygris1]

Hi there @warwick-2744,

May the Forums be with you!  I understand that you are having a problem with the graphics output to the your display after a thunderstorm.  I am happy to give you a hand with this.

Before doing anything else I would recommend that you test your display connected to another device to be sure it is good.  While it is certainly possible the issue is purely the computer, it is always possible the display is damaged.

Please let me know, what you find.

[warwick-2744]

Thank you for that. yes I have tried the monitor and the HDMI cable with othe PCs and they work fine. The problem is with the HP Pavilion.

[Malygris1]

Thank you for the update. Try powering down your system and removing the graphics card. Then connect to the ports built into the board and use the integrated graphics adapter.

If that works then the issue is with the graphics card you removed, otherwise there is a problem with the motherboard  of the computer.

I hope this helps.

[warwick-2744]

Thank you for your ongoing interest in my PC problem

I am OK with the first part of your advice and I can see the sensible logic of finding out if it is the motherboard (in which case I will retire the machine) howver I do not understand what you mean by 'Then connect to the ports built into the board and use the integrated graphics adapter.' I am ok about taking out the video card but the rest has me baffled!

I should explain I am not an engineer and have never before had my head inside the innards of a PC

Thanks

Clive 

[Malygris1 · Accepted solution]

No worries and thank you for the information.

Many desktop computers have what is called an integrated graphics adapter, and connections for that graphics adapter built in to the motherboard itself. Now when a "discrete" graphics card is installed, those systems will commonly disable the integrated graphics automatically, once the system BIOS detects that a separate graphics card was installed.  That means the only graphics connections that will work will be the ones that are part of that new card.

If later you remove that card and restart the computer, the system BIOS will again check and since the card is missing it will activate the integrated graphics once more as well as the connection built into the motherboard.

So what I am proposing is a test to see if the integrated graphics work or not. If they do, then the card that was previously installed is defective.

To help with this here are both the: HP Pavilion Elite m9070.uk-a Desktop PC Product Specifications and the HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Motherboard Specifications, IPIBL-LA (Berkeley). On this last one there is a section in "I/O Ports" Expand it, and it will show the various connections built directly into the motherboard as they should be seen from the back of the computer case. The only graphics connection shown is a VGA connector labeled as 12.  Since you are using an HDMI cable currently for your graphics, does your display also have a connection for VGA?  If not then you may need to get an adapter to switch to VGA.

[warwick-2744]

I am most grateful to you.

I did as you suggested and the computer worked with a VGA display. (so it was the graphics card that failed)

Now all I need is a replacement graphics card and I don't know what to buy or where to get it.

I note there are certain  graphics cards on eBay

Can you plaese tell me what graphics card will be compatible with my system?. I suppose many years on there are now better options for graphics cards than the one I have removed. (which was NVIDIA GeForce 8500 GT turboCache with pure video.)

Also the card I took out had a small thin twisted wire connecting the card to the motherboard - will this need to be replaced too?

You can imagine the smile on my face when my PC came back to life!  🙂

Clive

[Malygris1]

I am glad to hear that the on-board graphics still work, and clearly so does the display. 

When it comes to a replacement graphics card the limiting factors are going to be related to what the computer is a capable of supporting. Looking at the two specification links I gave you before:  You system should have a 300 W power supply, unless you previously upgraded it. The system board also has just the one PCI Express x16, but it does not specify the generation of PCIe it is, so it is probably safest to assume the Gen 1.0. The power supply and the generation are both going to be concerns. In practice if a card has a Gen 3.0 interface, it should step down its performance.  I cannot make a recommendation on what to get, as it comes down to what you need, what you are willing to spend, and what your system is capable of. You will probably be best looking for graphics cards that are in a similar range of performance to the card you are replacing. Be sure to look at the minimum recommended power supply requirement, and be sure that your system exceeds that, or you will also want to upgrade the power supply. Also check the type and number of supplementary power connections required, and be sure that your power supply has those connections available.

[warwick-2744]

I checked and my PC has a 300 watt poweroutput

I have looked at ebay and there are loads of graphic cards but nothing matching the spec of my old card. I don't do gaming and I don't require anything more than a basic HDMI display via a normal TV monitor. So I guess I need the lowest specification graphics card that displays HDMI and is compatible with my HP computer. The question is which cards do this?

Can you tell me please if there is a generic card identifier I can go for?

Also do I need software (e.g. a driver) to make a replacement card work? Which may be a concern if I buy something from ebay

I am quite happy to buy a new card but I don't know where to go. I looked at the NVIDIA Site but they don't seem to sell to the public

[warwick-2744]

I bought a GeForce GT 710 Graphics Card

I was assured by the shop assistant this card would fit my motherboard.

Having got the card home and opened the box (that I couldn’t open in the store) and compared it with the old card, I see that this card is much smaller than the card it is to replace. Clearly it will plug into the motherboard. The arrangement of the gold pins on the right side as I look down at the card will line up with the right side of the connector socket. But what about all the other half of the pin receptacles on the left of the motherboard connector socket which will be empty. Is this a problem?

I have some questions. Can anybody tell me please?

Can I try the card without damaging the card or the motherboard?

Am I wasting my time because the replacement card must be the same size as far as the gold connecter strip of pins is concerned?

Clive