"system failed vga test"

[whyrichard]

Hello good mac people,


this is a little out of context, but windows forums stink, and i've been a mac person my since an apple IIc, so please excuse this thread....



... my only windows computer, that i use for work, a desktop machine, is acting up....

the screen gets strange, i need to reboot, this happened twice... the last time during reboot the computer says "system failed vga test".

i reboot again and it starts up...



what gives? should i open the box and make sure the video card is secure?


is the video card on it's way out?

r.

 

[davegoody]

Sounds like Video Memory

Hello good mac people,


this is a little out of context, but windows forums stink, and i've been a mac person my since an apple IIc, so please excuse this thread....



... my only windows computer, that i use for work, a desktop machine, is acting up....

the screen gets strange, i need to reboot, this happened twice... the last time during reboot the computer says "system failed vga test".

i reboot again and it starts up...



what gives? should i open the box and make sure the video card is secure?


is the video card on it's way out?

r.

If your PC has built-in VGA then stick in an AGP / PCI / PCIe card to see if the problem goes away, if you already have a separate card (as it appears you have), then replace it. If the video memory goes faulty, this would certainly cause these sorts of problems, additionally, video cards are memory mapped, which can cause major problems if the video memory or the controller fails, blue screens (BSOD) is a common issue with dodgy video cards. You could also try updating the drivers ! - Hope this helps !