[Techtalk] mysterious pops driving me nuts--- OMG more!

[Alvin Goats]

Video screen and possibly your popping:

You can try removing and retightening your video cable, but I don't 
think it will help. Last time I had a screen like this, the video card 
bellied up.  Before it finally gave up it's sacred smoke, it made the 
monitor click and pop periodically, nothing consistent. If you change 
the resolution of your monitor, it often makes a popping sound as it 
changes sync frequency for the new resolution; if you're too far away 
it's a pop, if you're closer you can hear the coils hum and ring as they 
suddenly switch frequency.

Cause was a capacitor in the video card. They don't always explode, 
smoke and stink. They swell up and the little end of the can looks round 
instead of flat. Sometimes, you'll see a little goo on the board at the 
base of the capacitor.

I know my nVidia cards run awful hot, and heat does take a toll on 
capacitors. Most of the capacitors are AC (alternating current) filters, 
and if you add an AC signal to the video, it will shift the colors out 
of sync. As the electrolytic capacitors start to fail, they sometimes 
arc through the electrolyte and heal as the goo fills in the spark gap, 
another possibility for the pop sound. This can go on until the 
capacitor finally fails. 

Alvin

Carla Schroder wrote:
>  
> On Tuesday April 14 2009 12:45:39 pm Carla Schroder wrote:
>
> Ze plot thickens.... I came back from a break and my computer was locked up. I 
> had to power-cycle it, and this is what it looks like:
>
> http://bratgrrl.com/screen.jpg
>
> The monitor has both digital and analog connectors. I have an NVidia card and 
> onboard video, so I connected it to the onboard video and it looks the same. 
> So I guess I can rule out a failed Nvidia card.
>
> I took a took at the mobo for obvious broken somethings, didn't see anything, 
> and I'll take a closer look after work. 
>
> I've never seen a failure like this-- any bright ideas? This isn't the "other" 
> system that I was suspecting, this is my main workstation.
>
> thanks,
> Carla
>
>