life span of video card (monitor, screen, overheating, work)

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Is this how it happens? One day the computer boots up fine, monitor on in the morning...later that same day boot up again and black screen of death.

So we figured it was the monitor because it works fine if I plug it in to the motherboard.

What is a normal life span of a video card such as the Nvidia GeForce 8600 series? Do they really die "just-like-that"?

[NHDave]

Yes they do, just like any other electronic or mechanical device, the can just up and croak without warning. What brand of card is it?

[hoffdano]

Video cards DO fail. They tend to run warm to very hot and that leads to component failure. Sometimes they have small fans for cooling that fail without telling you - leading to overheating. Then failure.

I would never buy a card that uses a small high speed fan. They fail most often. For non-demanding use (not heavy gaming) I prefer cards with no fan at all.

[oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots]

Zogis

My other question is what is the difference between the brands of the same product? For instance, Nvidia is found under several "brands". I do like the GeForce though so I'm afraid I did get another one...the 9500GT.

Also, the video card was partly my fault because when I opened it up and we blew all the dust out of it I realized that should have been done a LONG time ago.

All three fans inside my computer were bad enough to have caused an overheat, that I'm sure of.

Chalk it up to user neglect I suppose. Lesson learned.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by oldtoiletsmkgdflrpots

Zogis

My other question is what is the difference between the brands of the same product? For instance, Nvidia is found under several "brands". I do like the GeForce though so I'm afraid I did get another one...the 9500GT.

Also, the video card was partly my fault because when I opened it up and we blew all the dust out of it I realized that should have been done a LONG time ago.

All three fans inside my computer were bad enough to have caused an overheat, that I'm sure of.

Chalk it up to user neglect I suppose. Lesson learned.

The different brands of cards generally have very similar performance when the chip is the same. They differ in certain ways:

- overclocking
- memory
- output choices (HDMI, etc.)
- heatsink design

[NHDave]

Originally Posted by hoffdano

The different brands of cards generally have very similar performance when the chip is the same. They differ in certain ways:

- overclocking
- memory
- output choices (HDMI, etc.)
- heatsink design

Quality however can be a world of difference. Take EVGA for example, they're known for having low cost cards, and they're also known in the last 2 years, for having the caps blow on them. My boss used to use them for our new builds, in the last year we've had to replace about 40 to 50 of them due to blown caps.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by NHDave

Quality however can be a world of difference. Take EVGA for example, they're known for having low cost cards, and they're also known in the last 2 years, for having the caps blow on them. My boss used to use them for our new builds, in the last year we've had to replace about 40 to 50 of them due to blown caps.

I agree. But an ASUS and Gigabyte for example really don't differ much.