On board video fault. Fit a graphics card?

[jaystarter]

Helping with a HP s3514 which wont boot as there is no video output on the screen.This happend with a normal shut down one evening then on start up the following day. Press the start button and everything whirs up but no signal on monitor. I have changed monitors so know that the monitor is ok. Have had a look inside case and no loose connections apparent etc. Looked on HP support site and tried finally a suggestion to re set BIOS http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/docu ... ct=3760530

Step 3: Resetting and updating the BIOS
You can use these steps even though you will not be able to see anything on the monitor.
In case an item was changed in the BIOS, such as the primary display device setting, use the following steps to reset the BIOS back to its default configuration:
1.Turn on the computer and repeatedly press one of the following keyboard keys. Press the key about once every second for 5 seconds after turning the computer on.
â—¦For HP and Compaq computers that came with Windows 7 and Vista, press F10 .
â—¦For HP and Compaq computers that came with Windows XP, press F1 .
â—¦For Compaq Presario desktop computers built prior to 2002, press F10 .
1.Wait another 5 seconds.
1.Press the F5 key. This restores the default settings of the BIOS.
1.Press the Enter key. This accepts the changes.
1.Press the F10 key. This saves the changes.
1.Press the Enter key. This saves the changes and exits from the BIOS.
1.The monitor should display the first screens received from the computer (the logo screens). If not, find and download the latest BIOS update if one is available for your computer.

There is no latest BIOS for this model so I am guessing the motherboard is duff, or maybe just the onboard video is duff, in which case I wondered if it would be worth trying a PCI graphics card to see if it would work. The only problem I'm thinking is I thought you had to install drivers for a video card then fit the video card? How can you install a driver when you cant boot the computer or am I wrong? Any suggestions would be welcome as this computer is les than 3 years old and suffices the people that use it.

[Argus]

If you have a PCIe (express; I think the model supports the usual "PCI Express x16 graphics cards") graphics card it could be worth trying. You don't need to install drivers to see if it works, and to see the BIOS Setup program.

I had a case this summer when the graphics card went bad; some capacitors popped. In that case it was an add-on card, with no onboard graphics (on the mobo) so I just had to get another card. In that case there were no sound from the PC speaker, not until I removed the faulty graphics card, then there was the expected sound since it couldn't find a device for video output.

So, if you have one you could try, and then disable the onboard graphics in the BIOS Setup. But it could also be something else on the mobo. If possible one could try removing some of the memory modules, check one at a time (it seems to have two DDR2 sockets), but apart from that I can't see other devices interfering in such a way that it doesn't show a video signal (though it's usually good to try with a bare setup; HDD, memory, video).

[jaystarter]

So it wil be worth trying. If it at least shows the bios set up without installing drivers it would be progress. I will look out for a cheap PCI Express card and if that doesn't work I think we can take it that the mobo is done for.

[Argus]

So it wil be worth trying.

Yes, but try to take another look at the motherboard.
As you may have seen there are some threads on the net about problematic (onboard) graphics etc. There is even one at the HP Support forum for the s3514; http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Hardware/N ... d-p/268523" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Before trying with a new add-on card for graphics, you could take a look at the memory modules, once again. Perhaps try with only one at a time, if more than one module. Since I mentioned bad capacitors (Wikipedia article), it could be worth taking a closer look at the motherboard, again, even though it may sometimes be difficult to observe, and thus to determine, before getting a new card.
Example images from Google: http://www.google.co.uk/images?hl=sv&so ... lder&gbv=1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;