Hard disk error or Graphics Card error? And solutions if possible.

Question

Hi,   My Pc has recently begun to hang during the load up of windows 10.  I believe that the cause of the problem is either the Graphics card (The recent installation of the latest driver for my AMD graphics card) or the Hard disk has developed a fault.   I have a Dell XPS 8500 i7 3770 with 8192 MB ram that I purchased in 2012.  It has a RADEON AMD 7800 R7 series graphics card. The Pc, Windows and the graphics card have worked without issue since the time of its purchase.  However, during the past month the Pc had begun to freeze momentarily by producing a jarring sound that stalled any operation of the desktop for a brief instance but that afterwards allowed me to continue my work (this was not whilst gaming).  Finally, the Pc froze and shut down completely so making it necessary for me to reboot the pc.  When I did so the Pc wouldn't load up beyond the initial stages of the BIOS before then shutting down as though it had been put into sleep mode: the screen would go completely black with little noise of any internal function from within the case .  Forced to load the Pc up in safe mode I found that Windows was stable in its operation but the screen was corrupted with either two thick vertical green lines affecting the display or the display was corrupted with a large multitude of horizontal green lines. I assumed that the graphics card was the cause for this error and so attempted to re-install its latest driver: 21.5.1 - 04/30/2021.  When I attempted to do so it would successfully go through the process of removing the driver and then ask to reboot the pc in order to install the new version of driver.  The Pc would load up normally into windows and then begin to install the driver. However each time it reaches 72% it would hang and instantly shut down in the way mentioned earlier  (I have tried the Driver install 3x).  I have tried using earlier versions of the driver 21.4.1 but that hasn't worked either (the pc installs the Driver but does not acknowledge its installation).    In the belief that it might be the hard disk at fault I have formatted my Pc and re-installed windows 10 with direct12 and found that the problem is the same: the Pc fails to load into normal Windows mode and that Safe mode is accessible but with the corrupted display still being an issue.   Do you think this a fault with the graphics card (Or do you think that the Hard disk at fault) and can you offer a solution?  And, should your advice be to replace the graphics card, what card would you recommend to install into this PC that would serve as an upgrade to allow me to run the latest computer games and that is within a budget range of around £200?     Many thanks for your time.  Ben Wirral     PC Technical Specifications:   Dell windows 10.  Direct x12. XPS 8500.  Intel (R) Core i7 - 3770 CPU A 3.40 GHZ ( 8 CPUs). AMD Radeon A-10 7800 R7 Series Graphics card 2TB Seagate hard disk -model: ST2000DM001

fireberd · Answer

Based on your other post, nothing is suggested until you replace the hard drive and video card.

Tech0136 · Answer

Hi,does your pc comes with integrated graphic card? if it does try remove the external graphic card and run your pc on integrated graphic card and see if the problems occur.when turn on the pc, keep tapping F12 and then try do diagnostic check and see if there's any hdd error occur. otherwise if boots onto windows, download a free hddcheck freeware and do a harddisk diagnostic check and see if there's any error.

RoHe · Answer

@Ben_wirral The XPS 8500 has an onboard HDMI port. So, as was said, physically remove the add-in video card and try using the onboard port.

NOTE: You must physically remove the add-in card first because the onboard HDMI port is inactivated when an add-in video card is installed, even if a monitor isn't connected to the add-in card..

Tesla1856 · Answer

@Ben_wirral wrote:

I have a Dell XPS 8500 i7 3770 with 8192 MB ram that I purchased in 2012. It has a RADEON AMD 7800 R7 series graphics card.

PC Technical Specifications:

Dell windows 10. Direct x12.

XPS 8500. Intel (R) Core i7 - 3770 CPU A 3.40 GHZ ( 8 CPUs).

AMD Radeon A-10 7800 R7 Series Graphics card

2TB Seagate hard disk -model: ST2000DM001

Replace (mechanical spinning-platter) HDD
with a 2.5inch SSD (SATA-3/600 based, 1tb-2tb).
- This SSD has no moving-parts, is very reliable, and is about 5 times faster than any HDD.
- Samsung SSDs are good.
- It will also give your older computer a nice little speed-boost.

Run ePSA Diagnostics (outside of Windows). Should be F12 on boot.
- If it passes 100% good, continue.

Clean install Windows-10 (64 bit) with flash-drive ... created with microsoft.com Media Creation Tool (on a working computer). If it can fully install without problems, the rest of the machine's hardware is likely fine.

Do the Windows-10 First Time Setup.

The Windows-Key should be burnt-into BIOS, you have the Retail Key, or you can use the Windows-7 one on sticker attached to the machines case. Windows-10 should Activate as legit.

Let us know if you require further assistance.

Ben_wirral · Answer

Thankyou Tesla1856 and Rohe for replying.  The GPU was at fault and I have removed the hardware. Ridiculously my Pc is now loading up running its operations quicker than before!

RoHe · Answer

@Ben_wirral Glad to hear removing the video card solved the problem.

Of course, that doesn't tell you if the card's hardware failed or if AMD drivers/software got corrupted and that prevents the PC from booting.

If you're interested, manually set a System Restore Point, to be safe. Then open the Windows Add/Remove screen and uninstall all AMD/Radeon entries. Reboot and assuming PC still works properly, shut down, and reinstall the video card. Don't forget to move the monitor back to the card, and then reboot.

If boot fails again, that implies the card hardware is at fault...

XPS Desktops

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