Computer Help.

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A thunderstorm came through my area the other day and caused a power surge. I`m getting a computer from my partner that is a 500Mhz Pentium 3 w/ 128Mb OF RAM. The only problem is that the AGP Video Card is shot and he says i might have been the storm. All the other parts work and
he says the only thing i need to replace is the card. Is there anything else i should worry about. I don`t won`t the computer to only last 2 weeks..[I am also replacing the power supply.]

you should probably take the PC to a place, like BestBuy, and try having them get it checked for anything else that needs to be fixed or replaced

A 500MHz Pentium 3 is not worth taking to a PC place. For them to look at it will cost more than the PC is worth. Either find a Computer nerd friend or give/throw the Pentium 3 away since without being able to fix it yourself your really throwing money away paying any one to fix such a outdated PC.

Power surges Usually take out the Power Supply Unit first rather than the Graphics card. The fact that nothing shows on the screen when you push the power button could be cause by many other things other than just the Graphics card. Many of them not fixable.

I say if you really, really want to keep it, go ahead and attempt to replace those things. I would buy a good surge protector also. See if you can find the parts used maybe. That way you can save some money. And yeah MindOfOrderedChaos is right. I would consider just buying a new one.. you can get one of that performance fairly cheap.

If you're into fixing old computers, get a POST Card (power on self test). I don't know how this guy diagnosed the problem with the AGP card. If it powers on, but with nothing but a blank screen, it could just be the mother board, which means it's dead. AGP card failure alone, due to a power surge is very unlikely. The things that can be damaged by that are: PSU (power supply), Modem (lighting does go through phone wires), or mother board. I'd say salvage the parts from it, maybe use them in another ocmputer (like the hard drive, any pci cards, cd drive, floppy drive, heck, even the ram and processor might be reused, don't forget the heatsink and fan, and jumpers and... aw heck I love this s**t)

Repairing and fixing computers is my idea of a dream job... Ah if only there was a way for me to get a job.