Is this a Graphics Card Issue?

[jumex]

Computer will not boot. I'm taken to a black screen with a blinking cursor which will move down a couple lines but nothing more. I see the normal boot stuff like my processor screen and the 'press w/e keys to do stuff,' but my computer then stops at a black screen with the blinking cursor and goes no further. I am unable to access the bios; I am always taken straight to the black screen with blinking cursor. I unhooked my hard drive and took out my ram and put them back in; still the same thing.

I showed it to a computer fixer store and they said it most likely is the graphics card that is the problem. It was a 4870x2 and it had been running pretty hot and I had been getting artifacting and a bunch of funky stuff for some time then. A lot of dust had piled up as well because I had the side plates of my case off. Microstuttering and artifacting had become most apparent recently while running crysis 2 or gta 4.

My computer stopped working though when I was just browsing with a few internet tabs opened. Some funky adware thing asked to be downloaded and as I closed it my computer restarted and went to the black screen with blinking cursor. So yeah, I'm skeptical if it's the graphics card and really need to know because I am planning on just buying a replacement card in the meantime before all the cool stuff hits the end of the year before building a brand new system. Of course I don't want to find out that something else was wrong the whole time though.

So does this sound like a graphics card failure or something else?

 

[MrBurns_20]

I wouldn't think its your graphics card since you are getting a display. I had the same issue were the computer would hang up before the windows load screen with the single blinking courser in the upper left. I was running Raid 0 at the time and I was having problems with on of the 2 drive. So in my case is was my hard drive. Hope this helps.

 

[inzone]

You need to go into your bios and under boot sequence make sure that the hdd that you have your OS on is listed first. Then make sure that your sata and power cables are plugged in. If after all that you still have the problem then you can consider the graphics card. If you had a way to test the card , say another computer maybe a friends comp. you could know for sure. How about the comp. fixer store , would they test it for you ?

 

[jumex]

I can't get into the bios no matter what I try and do. The cables are plugged in, but it I don't get why they would think it was the graphics card. If it was a harddrive issue, what would I need to do in order to fix that?

 

[photonboy]

I am a technician and don't believe that it's your graphics card. If you can see anything on the screen then you should be able to get into the BIOS.

It's most likely your motherboard or the Power Supply.

Unfortunately troubleshooting involves swapping parts.

You don't need much hooked up to test if you can access a computers BIOS. You need:
1) Power Supply
2) Graphics card
3) Motherboard
4) CPU (with heatsink and fan)
5) RAM?

I would unhook everything that you don't need when you go to test, but unfortunately my money's on the motherboard so I don't know what else to advise.

 

[jumex]

I was able to get into the bios and I tried changing my boot device priority. I actually think I had this problem one time long ago and I went through this same process before opening up my computer and finding out that the sata cable to my hdd had gotten disconnected. Now though, everything appears to be connected fine. The motherboard has a green light so it seems like it's good. I think it might be the harddrive or maybe the graphics card. Since the harddrive was a problem the last time, maybe it's another hardware thing with it. I don't really know what to look for in BIOS though except trying to change the boot priorities.