vidcard's given up the goose

[Nalano]

...I think.

Ever since the heat got turned on in my apartment (best thing about living in the city is supremely effective steam radiators, worst thing about living in the city is how they turn your pad into a hot, dry sauna) my vidcard's gone dark. Literally. Computer still runs, sound still plays, but the monitor cuts out when doing something intensive like play Battlefield 3.

Turning the compy off and waiting a few minutes got video back. Software to up the fan speed was fairly effective at making sure this didn't happen... until now. Compy starts up fine, boots to Windows, just no way to invoke video. Vidcard gets power - lights up, fan spins - and monitor recognizes a signal, but no picture.

So I think my vidcard's dead. It lived a good life. But I have no way of testing - not without dismantling the computer I'm typing on now - as the mobo has no onboard video and I have no replacement vidcard or PSU.

So, to pose a question: Before I go out and start spending my hard-earned cash, could it be something other than the vidcard - faulty PSU, faulty mobo, perhaps? Should I start swapping shit out of this compy or would that be a waste of time?

[duff]

Definitely sounds like the gpu. Best thing to do would be borrow a GPU of someone and test it. That will save you having to switch PSU and Mobo which is much more of a kerfuffle. I would say it's 80% likely the GPU is at fault, but I'd probably make sure before I replace it.

[Nalano]

Alright, thanks. Now I have a reason to go out in this shitty weather.

Poor 8800 GT. You were a bargain at twice the price and lasted longer than any card in memory.

[Nalano]

Addendum: After dismantling my other PC and replacing the parts one by one, I've learned that it's not the GPU but the monitor.

Protip: Screensavers save screens. That's what I get for letting it run nonstop for three years.