Graphics card sometimes work, sometimes it doesn't

Hi,
I'm going nuts with this, I have a Mac Pro first gen, running with a clean Snow Leopard, 5 gigs of ram, and an ATI X1900XT, and when I turn on my mac, sometimes I get video in my monitor, and sometimes I don't. The problem is, how can I be sure that the problem is the graphics card, or something in the OS?
Thanks
Message was edited by: diegoborgh

Swap out video card for something else. If you have a PC and have Windows installed; or for a "mere" $349 the ATI 4870 (but more support for later technology). And swapping monitors and cables.
If you had been keeping it dust free (every 3-4 months), AND running the fans slightly higher (800 rpm) while monitoring temps of the system... every new OS X has pushed both RAM and grahics slightly harder, more stress and heat, and what was working but maybe marginal then failing.
If you kept Leo or Tiger around you could boot from those and see if the issue is still present, though that seems unlikely.
I don't put much faith in AHT as being that useful or helpful, let alone definitive unless it does find something (not finding doesn't mean there isn't a problem).

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