Are PCI Diagnostics cards any good?

ElijahTW · September 24th, 2009, 14:19

TxMicro :: Motherboard Accessories :: Diagnostic PCI Card for Mboards

Anyone know anything about these types of cards? These things look like they'd be awesome to figure out wtf is wrong with PCs that don't POST.

Anyone have experience with these types of cards, reccomendations of particular brands... etc?

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KrossX · September 24th, 2009, 14:37

Never used one of those for such kind of situations.
I just look for things easy to spot, if I find nothing I just replace.

But looks cheap enough... buy it and make a review? =P

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ElijahTW · September 24th, 2009, 14:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by KrossX

Never used one of those for such kind of situations.
I just look for things easy to spot, if I find nothing I just replace.

But looks cheap enough... buy it and make a review? =P

Unless someone makes a post telling me that it's worthless I probably will just end up buying it.

Usually I just look for easy things to spot too, but when it's not so obvious it can be a real pain in the ass, because from time to time you have an issue that could be the powersupply..... wait maybe the ram..... then again it could be the video card.... or perhaps that new soundcard.... And trial and error can take forever in some situations like this.

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Smooth Criminal · September 24th, 2009, 14:57

so waht does these cards do in actually....i mean how do they work kinda thing

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gamefreak94 · September 24th, 2009, 15:20

Just by looking at the bullet points on the linked page, I'm guessing it checks your PC's vital components and if one of them isn't functioning properly, it generates a 2-digit error code (displayed on the LCD on the card), then the user only has to look up what that 2-digit error code means from the card's manual and replace the faulty component.

Sorry if it totally doesn't work like that, I'm just pulling stuff out of my @$$ here

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Smooth Criminal · September 24th, 2009, 15:36

yeah i thought about it that way.if it does work that way then its pretty neat i would say

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Quote:

and if I don't care , do I still get to suck your scrotum? please say yes xp

^^posted bysonic

**SCHUMI_4EVER** · September 24th, 2009, 16:15

Somehow I think this card won't be very usefull...afterall the second it for instance is in a system which a graphics card it does not know it would throw up an error...despite that mostly likely not being the problem at hand if there is another problem.....at least that's how I see things, don't know if it really is like that though.

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gamefreak94 · September 24th, 2009, 17:03

The only thing that makes me think this is borked is the ridiculously low price......then again this isn't really doing any processing to need a powerful chip or memory or something.

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Princess Garnet · September 24th, 2009, 17:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamefreak94

Just by looking at the bullet points on the linked page, I'm guessing it checks your PC's vital components and if one of them isn't functioning properly, it generates a 2-digit error code (displayed on the LCD on the card), then the user only has to look up what that 2-digit error code means from the card's manual and replace the faulty component.

Sorry if it totally doesn't work like that, I'm just pulling stuff out of my @$$ here

That's essentially how it works. Some motherboards had this built right in. That's exactly what this is. For the price, you probably can't go wrong, but how "good" it is is something I don't know. The only PC I had with any kind of diagnostic built in were the Dell PCs with their four light codes, which were helpful, but not perfect.

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snickothemule · September 25th, 2009, 06:46

Computer guy I know uses a diagnostic card similar to this and he swears by it, purely from the time saving aspect. It wasn't perfect, but it generally threw him into the right direction of where to start troubleshooting. His one only cost about 3 cents off ebay however and was a fair bit nastier than that one, but they can be pretty helpful.

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lagunareturns · September 25th, 2009, 08:49

all diagnostic cards are handy, its a matter that if you can find a use and if it explains errors properly... the best i found is ones that displays 2 hexidecimal characters on the pci card itself (so it doesnt rely on the system to the error reportin) which can be reffered to the manual to know the problem...

its all a matter of opinion and researching what type of features they can provide and knowing what features you want and need and based upon that decide how much should you pay for one

September 24th, 2009, 14:19	#1
ElijahTW Need more coffee. Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ohio Posts: 5,086	Are PCI Diagnostics cards any good? TxMicro :: Motherboard Accessories :: Diagnostic PCI Card for Mboards Anyone know anything about these types of cards? These things look like they'd be awesome to figure out wtf is wrong with PCs that don't POST. Anyone have experience with these types of cards, reccomendations of particular brands... etc? __________________ "I used to think gas was expensive, then I realized we're buying liquid exploding dinosaurs."

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September 24th, 2009, 14:37	#2
KrossX クロッスエクス Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Argentina Posts: 3,649	Never used one of those for such kind of situations. I just look for things easy to spot, if I find nothing I just replace. But looks cheap enough... buy it and make a review? =P __________________

September 24th, 2009, 15:20	#5
gamefreak94 Registered Anime Hater Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Karachi, Pakistan Posts: 8,678	Just by looking at the bullet points on the linked page, I'm guessing it checks your PC's vital components and if one of them isn't functioning properly, it generates a 2-digit error code (displayed on the LCD on the card), then the user only has to look up what that 2-digit error code means from the card's manual and replace the faulty component. Sorry if it totally doesn't work like that, I'm just pulling stuff out of my @$$ here __________________ "Don't worry about what people think. They don't do it very often." - Anonymous

September 24th, 2009, 16:15	#7
SCHUMI_4EVER Hackin 'n Slashin Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Most-expensive-Internet-on-the-Planet Land : South Africa Posts: 26,424	Somehow I think this card won't be very usefull...afterall the second it for instance is in a system which a graphics card it does not know it would throw up an error...despite that mostly likely not being the problem at hand if there is another problem.....at least that's how I see things, don't know if it really is like that though. __________________ Intel Core2Quad Q9550 (2.83Ghz stock) \| ASUS P5Q \| 2x2GB Transcend JetRam DDR2-800 \| ASUS ENGTX260\HDTP\896M \| Windows Vista Home Premium 64bit SP1 The Champ has retired but may his Legacy live on FOREVER !!!! No$GBA DS FAQ 2.0 Get it right fools! The glass is HALF-EMPTY, not half-full!!! !!! WARNING: Emulation requires a brain !!! WARNING: Emulation =/= Piracy !!!

September 24th, 2009, 17:03	#8
gamefreak94 Registered Anime Hater Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Karachi, Pakistan Posts: 8,678	The only thing that makes me think this is borked is the ridiculously low price......then again this isn't really doing any processing to need a powerful chip or memory or something. __________________ "Don't worry about what people think. They don't do it very often." - Anonymous

September 25th, 2009, 06:46	#10
snickothemule Hello Cudie Pie! Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Coffs Harbour, Australia Posts: 4,877	Computer guy I know uses a diagnostic card similar to this and he swears by it, purely from the time saving aspect. It wasn't perfect, but it generally threw him into the right direction of where to start troubleshooting. His one only cost about 3 cents off ebay however and was a fair bit nastier than that one, but they can be pretty helpful. __________________ My grass is the greenest.

September 25th, 2009, 08:49	#11
lagunareturns Registered User Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Australia Posts: 1,319	all diagnostic cards are handy, its a matter that if you can find a use and if it explains errors properly... the best i found is ones that displays 2 hexidecimal characters on the pci card itself (so it doesnt rely on the system to the error reportin) which can be reffered to the manual to know the problem... its all a matter of opinion and researching what type of features they can provide and knowing what features you want and need and based upon that decide how much should you pay for one