Is there an easy way to tell if AGP slot is working?

[zipswich]

Hi experts,

An AGP card (FX5200 Plus) is apparently not working on my computer now. The fan on the top of its GPU does not move at all. This card worked on this computer a few years ago. I am wondering if there is a quick way to tell if the AGP slot is working. I do not want to take the risk of concluding the card is bad and buying another AGP card only to find the slot is not working.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[jedimasterben]

Well, if the fan is no longer even spinning, I'd say it's the card.

The only way to test something like that is to put in another card.

 

[zipswich]

Well, if the fan is no longer even spinning, I'd say it's the card.

The only way to test something like that is to put in another card.

The reason I was suspecting the slot is that I thought the only requirement for the fan to spin is the connector has the voltage (12 V?) so even if the chip goes the fan should still spin.

I think I am going ot get a PCI card to avoid uncertainty.

Thanks!

 

[rockyjohn]

The simple way is the swap out - do you have another, known working card to try in that slot, or another computer with an AGP slot in which you can install the questionable card? Don't forget to update drivers when you make a test change.

The PCI slot is a lot slower than the AGP slot, which is why they basically stopped using them years ago. Off course now the AGP is ancient.

 

[zipswich]

Unfortunately I have only one AGP card and only one computer with AGP slot. All my other computers have PCIe.

However, fortunately the graphics demand for that particular computer is very light. I will use the onboard AGP port for the primary monitor and I have just ordered a cheap PCI video card on eBay for the second monitor.

 

[megamanx00]

If your board powers on and gives you the beeps for no VGA, then it's likely the card that's bad. If you don't get a beep code for that, then it's probably the board. It's unlikely that it's only the AGP slot. Even so, check around it to see if there are any blown or leaky capacitors.

 

[zipswich]

If your board powers on and gives you the beeps for no VGA, then it's likely the card that's bad. If you don't get a beep code for that, then it's probably the board. It's unlikely that it's only the AGP slot. Even so, check around it to see if there are any blown or leaky capacitors.

Yes, I heard beeps when I turned on the computer. Everything else works fine (I used Remote Desktop to check the computer since there was no display when the AGP card was plugged in).

Is it possible that the fan is controlled by one of the chips on the card? Originally I thought the AGP card just passes the 12 VDC from the board directly to the fan connector.

 

[jitpublisher]

The fan is controlled by the board. It does not run full blast all the time, it's speed is varied depending on how hot the card is getting. So if the fan does not run, it is most likely something to do with graphic card. Or, it could be the PSU. Do the hard drives spin up, the fan on the heatsink, case fans, etc? Do you have everything plugged in correctly to the board? Do you have the board mounted correctly so nothing is grounding out? There are many, many possibilities, and the least of them is the AGP slot being bad.

 

[zipswich]

The fan is controlled by the board. It does not run full blast all the time, it's speed is varied depending on how hot the card is getting. So if the fan does not run, it is most likely something to do with graphic card. Or, it could be the PSU. Do the hard drives spin up, the fan on the heatsink, case fans, etc? Do you have everything plugged in correctly to the board? Do you have the board mounted correctly so nothing is grounding out? There are many, many possibilities, and the least of them is the AGP slot being bad.

Thanks for the explanation.
Everything else works fine. I have been running the computer for hours by now after taking out the AGP card.