my computer worked fine until i had to install a video card due to a new game i got for christmas. my brother put it in and after that my computer started freezing. we took it out a couple days later and it went back to normal and worked fine. we bought 2 more fans (currently 4 in my computer) and put in my brothers video card which is supposedly twice as good as the one i originally bought and tried. computer worked great for about a month. HOWEVER, all of a sudden, a week ago it started freezing again. I removed the video card again, but it continued to freeze. is it possible that the video card did permanant damage to my computer? i heard that it could be the ram, power supply, or even motherboard? if somebody could tell me what the heck is going on i would greatly appreciate it. thank you in advance!!!

If your computer started to smell funny its possible that yuor power supply is toast.

You may not have enough RAM or it may not have a fast enough frequency, your motherboard may be factory and may not have full support of the card. I need more info on your computer: Exact make and model of your motherboard How much RAM and frequency Video Card CPU speed and manufacturer Power supply #of watts any other add-in cards?

first off let me thank you both for getting back to me on this! i wasn't sure how to find out the make and model of my motherboard but i got the other information: RAM: 128MB / frequency: 133MHz video card: Gforce2MX400 CPU speed: 1300MHz/ manufacturer: AMD Duron power supply: 400 watts other add-in cards: the only other card i've installed since owning the computer is a sound card quite a long time ago.

Video Cards cannot cause permanent damage unless it wasn't installed properly. And that card you just mentioned is my first video card, and I've never had any problems with it. It appears (so far) that your computer CAN handle it (since mine's only a 1.3 GHz/1300 MHz) and you have enough RAM. Here's what I would do: 1) Make sure that ALL dirt and dust is cleared off 2) Make sure video card is in proper place (meaning, it sshould pop it without a fuss) 3) Reconnect the wires and put those in the proper place 4) Place installation disk in the drive and install And if your computer is still freezing, check your motherboard. Make sure there are no cracks or chips where the video card is.