Monitor switching off.

puppypants

Hi there, I'm having a little issue with my monitor switching off especially in the middle of a game etc.

It has just happened every 5 minutes and the monitor just says "no signal input" and I have to switch off my pooter and switch it back on again and reboot. As you can imagine, this is a pain in the bum. I am a complete and utter technophobe, so if you can give me any ideas how to cure this, please use words of one syllable. lol.:o
Thanks in anticipation.

Rosie x

macman

Intermittently faulty monitor, cabling, graphics card?
Try another monitor, another cable, check the connections at both ends, check the graphics card is properly seated.
The point is to narrow down the possible areas where the fault may be.
It would be helpful if you said what OS you are using, and what hardware.

SailorSam

I've just had to buy a new monitor, it was going off a few times a night and i needed to keep trying over and over again to start again. I checked all the wiring but finally bit the bullet and splashed out. It was about 4yrs old.

macman

From the limited info given it's not probably a monitor fault. If it wasn't the OP wouldn't get a 'no signal message'. But swapping the monitor is the easiest first check to do.

googler

macman wrote: »

Intermittently faulty monitor, cabling, graphics card?
Try another monitor, another cable, check the connections at both ends, check the graphics card is properly seated.
The point is to narrow down the possible areas where the fault may be.

Echo the above, also - could there be anything in the Power Save settings which is shutting down the graphics output after what the computer regards as inactivity?

puppypants

Thanks for replies so far, I even understood most of them!! I've used a different monitor, so it's not that. Will have a fiddle with cables next. I'm a bit wary of taking the cover off the pooter in case I do something drastic! I have a fairly new graphics card which was installed by a bloke who usually fixes things for me. I just wondered if it could be something simple and fixable by an idiot before calling my little man out. Thanks again.

Rosiex

p.s. whats this power save thingy?

macman

You can do no harm by removing the side panel. Indeed, you can do little without removing it. Check the cabling next.
Are you sure it isn't the PC itself shutting down, possibly due to overheating? Do the fans still run when the signal goes?

puppypants

No, the pc stays on and I can hear the fans still working. My little man put a heat sink fan in for me last time he had to sort me out. I have to shut the pooter down by pressing the button on the tower and then press it again to reboot. It only seems to happen during games, therefore must be something to do with erm...the graphics card?? Like I said, technophobe here..lol x

macman

Did he upgrade the PSU when he installed the graphics card? Did the problem only start then? It could be your PSU is peaking out on one rail as it's not up to the job?
You should not be having to shut down via the button on the base unit, in the long term this will shorten the life of your hard drive.

Figment

I'd suspect the graphics card. Possibly over-heating? Cover off, check fan (if it has one) on graphics card is working.

diable

Its computer....