[Urgent] Please help!

[clueless_gentleman]

Hello guys and girls, long time lurker in hwz, first time poster.

Need advise on what to do with my pc.

I think my graphic card is beginning to die on me. Was playing final fantasy 14 and monitor just went to sleep, had to do a hard reset a few times but pc won't start. 15 mins later i unplugged all my external hard drives and finally can my pc reboot.

After reboot, plugged in the external hard drives again and it works fine. Can surf, can watch movies and etc. Whenever i tried to play games again, it can load the game but once i tried to do some events (in game) monitor goes to sleep again and i had to repeat the process.

What made me suspect it's the cards;
a) monitor goes to sleep and can't wake it up via hitting keyboard or moving mouse, had to hard reset.
b) once i saw on screen while pc rebooting fonts for windows splash page becomes blurry.

This might not be definitive signs and any input is greatly appreciated on how to definitely tell it's a graphic card issue.

Lastly i hope experts here can give me advice on whether should i just change to a new graphic card, upgrade my gpu and get an ssd or get another gaming pc with a budget 1.3k. Which one is more cost efficient?

I have a ;
Intel (r) core (TM) i5 2400 cpu @3.10 GHz 3.30 Ghz
8gb ram
GTX 770 (driver 347.25)
Windows 7 (64 bit)

tl;dr Help me diagnose what issues i'm having with my pc and need advise on which is more cost efficient, upgrading current rig or get a new rig?

Thank you and apologies for the long post!

 

[-Synchronicity-]

Try this:

Remove your GPU and connect your monitor to the onboard graphic. If able to display properly, most probably your card is dead.

Regarding your rig, you can simply just get a new GPU as there isn't much performance difference between the Sandy bridge and Haswell.

Can I just check with you what is your current PSU? Would be good if you can provide us with the Model name & power.

 

[jtjt00]

TS, what power supply are you using and its age?

 

[clueless_gentleman]

TS, what power supply are you using and its age?

Forgot what brand but i got the pc built in mid 2010

 

[Jian19]

Maybe try to troubleshoot wads wrong first before deciding wad to do

 

[clueless_gentleman]

Btw, off topic question.

Is the asus g20 worth buying or is it an "overkill"? Given the specs and price tag?

 

[Jian19]

Not worth

10 char

 

[tungsten2]

Try turn off the Sleep Mode.
Click on the Start -> type "Power Option"
Under Select a power plan -> click "Change plan settings
Change "Turn off the display" -> never
Change "Put the computer to sleep" -> never

 

[clueless_gentleman]

Update:

Moved the games that i usually play from my external hdd to the internal one, no crashing and no freeze occur.
Tried launching a game from my external hdd, pc crash again!
Now i'm thinking it's the external hdd! Although i can load movie files from the external hdd (not sure if this is relevant)

Noob question: could this mean a bios issue?

Btw, thank you for the tips and suggestions, really appreciate it.

 

[vironix]

y are ur games on an ext hdd?

 

[clueless_gentleman]

y are ur games on an ext hdd?

no special reasons, mostly not enough storage
not advisable ah? serious question.

 

[jtjt00]

no special reasons, mostly not enough storage
not advisable ah? serious question.

USB storage is too slow.