Computer Hope

Hardware => Hardware => Topic started by: kinetica on June 04, 2008, 08:24:35 PM

Title: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: kinetica on June 04, 2008, 08:24:35 PM
Here is a link to a screenshot of what my monitor does.  It gets worse and better as I scroll or do anything really.  Sometimes it's really bad when I turn on my computer or come back from standby and I need to restart (sometimes twice) before it's even usable.  I think the video card is just crapping out on me, but I wanted to get some more knowlesgable opinions.  Any help would be appreciated.  Thanks.

http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/856/messedupmonitorvq4.jpg (http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/856/messedupmonitorvq4.jpg)
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: homer on June 04, 2008, 08:28:39 PM
two possibilities...

1. bad monitor
2. bad video card

try your monitor in another computer and see if that still happens. or you can try another known working monitor in yours and see if the problem persists.
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: brett74 on June 04, 2008, 08:31:08 PM
i would also open the case up and check for dust too and if there is i would clean it out but homer's right I think it maybe the video card going out do you have a real video card or is it a chip on the motherboard?
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: kinetica on June 04, 2008, 08:41:49 PM
Homer: I have dual monitors and it's doing it on both of them, so I don't think that the monitors are at fault. 

Brett: I just dusted out the video card, ATI Radeon 9800, 2 days ago so it should be pretty dust free.  That seemed to have helped, but now it's worse than it was before.  Originally it was just when I tried to play a game or do something that took up the whole screen, then I would restart and it would be OK.  Then all of a sudden it started doing it all the times, sometimes worse than others.

p.s. Thanks for the very quick help so far
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: brett74 on June 04, 2008, 08:57:21 PM
did you update your drivers?
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: DwayneZ on June 05, 2008, 12:33:30 AM
Its iehter you have bad monitor or bad video card.
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: homer on June 05, 2008, 12:33:57 AM
Its iehter you have bad monitor or bad video card.

we already covered that in the first response.
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: Broni on June 05, 2008, 12:38:46 AM
Quote
iehter
...and you're lucky, Dias is not around....LOL
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: kinetica on June 05, 2008, 07:32:36 AM
did you update your drivers?


I updated the drivers again (just to be sure, although I think that I had the most recent ones), and it didn't help at all.  It got to the point where it was unusable so I'm not on my laptop.
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: AzNVi3t2007 on June 05, 2008, 09:24:19 PM
Yeah try using another monitor.If it does the same thing It may be the video card.
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: ultimatum on June 05, 2008, 10:03:15 PM
Since you have two monitors and both are experience exactly same thing its obvious that its your video card. From what I understand you have a plug-in card, try to get a hold of another video card that you could use and swap them see if that fixes the problem which I hope it will because I remember experience the same with my Nvidia 6600 GT/OC during start-up.
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: homer on June 05, 2008, 10:09:11 PM
i suggest a replacement video card. what video card do you have in there right now?
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: ultimatum on June 05, 2008, 10:31:15 PM
i suggest a replacement video card. what video card do you have in there right now?

Quote
I just dusted out the video card, ATI Radeon 9800
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: stevejohnson1958 on June 05, 2008, 10:53:33 PM
If you boot into Safe Mode...do you experience the same issue?
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: homer on June 05, 2008, 11:28:06 PM
i suggest a replacement video card. what video card do you have in there right now?

Quote
I just dusted out the video card, ATI Radeon 9800

thanks for pointing that out.

kinetica, i suggest purchasing a replacement card as long as the video card does not exceed about $70. reason being, AGP motherboards are fairly old and its really not worth spending money on old technology.

for example: you have an old beat up car and the transmission dies. the transmission is going to cost you $500 to replace whereas a brand new car costs only $1000. sure its cheaper to buy the new transmission, but for an extra $500 you can buy a brand new everything.
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: transporter on June 06, 2008, 09:24:01 AM
ok we know for a fact it is the video card right...... no it cold aslo be other components going bad such as you mother board or even ram..... testing things is the only way.....

we have done this enough to suspect the video card the only way to find out for sur is to pop another card in there to see if it works..... if you cannot do this pop out that card and put it in another pc.... :)

things you could try instead of this before to purchase another card to see if it really is your card is the just reinsert your video card to make sure your connect to the mother board is good. can also try with ram.

if all that fails you could go a cheap route which if it is the graphics card will end up being more expensive. buy another really cheap crappy card just to see if it fixes the problem. or you could buy a really nice fancier card and hope that it's not a component other then the graphics card giving you problems.
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: kinetica on June 06, 2008, 08:06:26 PM
If you boot into Safe Mode...do you experience the same issue?

I will try this and get back to you.  Also, I will try taking the card out and re-inserting it (although that didn't help the last time that I tried...no harm in trying again)

Also, I was planning on getting a new, cheap video card as a replacement.  I was just coming here to make sure that it most likely was the video card before making a purchase.  Thank you all very much, I appreciate it.
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: hejlik on June 06, 2008, 08:26:40 PM
This is one situation where e-bay may be a good place to shop. Might find an old used agp card cheap.
Title: Re: Vid card bad...I think
Post by: fpsmitch on June 06, 2008, 09:55:42 PM
i like the example homer!