computer components & hardware - GEFORCE 6800 GT intermittant power on

Harvey Walker wrote:
I have a bit of an intermittant power on problem.
Have an ABIT AN8 fatality m/b with a leadtek 6800 GT graphics card. On a
cold power on the graphics card does not power on (fan is still and led off)
Motherboard starts up and fans etc are ok. After 4 or 5 re-power-ons it
kicks into live and graphic card comes on but starts up in fail safe mode.

Thought it may have been psu so got a 500watt unit , still the same.... Ok
when hot though.

Have loaded latest BIOS s/w for motherboard.

This problem has only just started to occur in the last few weeks and is
getting worst, could it be a hardware fault on graphics card ?

Any help would be much appreciated !

Regards

Harvey

Low level power on problems and and the way it's getting progressively
worse are a known symptom of bad/leaking capacitors. Open your case and
take a look at the small cylinders soldered to your mobo. Check for any
brown leaking ooze and see if the tops are "pregnant" (bulging outward
where you see the cross on top).

I've had 2 slightly older motherboards fail from this problem and they
both failed the same way. Massive power on failures, random errors and
blue screens that got worse and worse, eventually not even starting
until powering off and on several dozen times.

This has mostly been an issue with motherboards, but conceivably a video
card (especially new ones with high voltage requirements) might suffer
too if the electrolyte was improperly manufactured.

As for RMA's, don't be afraid to ask, even if your warranty is up; many
companies will RMA anything so long as you pay for shipping.