can't tell if it's fans, graphics card, or PSU need replacing

catalina66

Quiet_Spark wrote: »

If the display driver keeps stopping like that, my money is on the video card already being stuffed (especially as Dell diagnostics has already flagged it).
When the noise starts, gently stop the fan by pressing down on the centre of it and see if the noise stops. If it does, replace the video card as it's already fried by the sounds of it.

Don't bother buying it from Dell, the last one I bought (PCI-E variant which is probably what yours is) for an old OptiPlex that now functions as a media centre was £28 from Amazon.



PS
My GT6200 ticks over at 38°C when in normal use (watching movies), so yours is quite high by comparison which is yet another indicator the video cards days are numbered.

Thanks, and I think you're right. 2 hours of WNE and not a sound, after switching to on-board, and immediate temperatures on game shut down:



The main fan, that I can see, isn't stiff at all. I'm not sure where the second fan is, but if it's in the box underneath (with the pc up-ended), it sounds a tiny bit 'chuggy', but temperatures seem okay. Probably a bit of paranoia, lol. This pc has to last a few months more. Amazon rule, so I'll look on there for a replacement Nvidia. :beer: