Slightly fuzzy images on monitor

[billpellett]

Hi,
I have WinXp SP3 on a Dell desktop and a Dell 19" CRT monitor.   I know that the previous owner installed a new graphics card (AGI, I think).  The desktop background appears to be crystal clear, however everything else is very slightly blurred (icons, spyder, and surfing on the internet) to the point that my eyes hurt after just a few minutes.  It seems to help when I sit back about 3 feet away.  My refresh rate is 60Hz and my resolution is set at 1024 x 768 (recommended by windows for this monitor).  I have tried two other monitors, including an LCD and it's the same thing.
Any ideas on what's going on and things I can try to sharpen the image?  There is no contrast setting adjustment available on the monitor either...
Thanks,
Bill

[Karnac]

Bill, you can try up your refresh rate to 75Hz and see if that makes a difference....remove the card and see if the condition persists with the onboard video.....reseat your video card ............make sure your monitor cable is good and well connected.

[billpellett]

Thanks Karnac,
I'll give those ideas a shot!
So when I remove the new video card, there is something else (onboard video) already there that will just automatically function?  Or do I need to reinstall an old card (assuming I can get it...)?
Thanks again!

[Karnac]

Shut the computer off, pull out the card, plug the monitor into the onboard video, boot to bios, enable onboard video, start windows....of course you can try another card and see if it solves the problem thus pointing to a problem with the newer card....You can try update your video drivers as well through the manufacturers' website.

[computeruler]

And I just wanted to let you know that its an agp card for the future.  If onboard doesnt help then try a different monitor or try the monitor on a different computer and if you still have a problem then its your monitor

[billpellett]

Okay,
Thanks again for all the good ideas!  I will try them out when I get home tonight...
Bill

[jimbo8098]

Yes , every motherboard has an onboard video card but you just can't see it. Its usually another chip (out of the thousands there seem to be on the board   ).

It will probably be a little or a lot slower than your new card but it should work since it is meant to be compatable with your motherboard and system.

You could try

1) installing the newest driver for your graphics card

2) Making sure that both of the refresh rates and resolutions match up in both of the windows (both start > control panel > display > settings and in the driver (either ATi Catalyst or Nvidia Driver) )

3) I used to have a problem with my graphics card and my moterboard which caused the screen to ficker , it was solved by installing a new BIOS update. These can be hard to find unless you know the manufacturer of your motherboard (this can usually be found on he board (search for the name of the board online in google)) Try installing the BIOS update.

[BC_Programmer]

Yes , every motherboard has an onboard video card but you just can't see it. Its usually another chip (out of the thousands there seem to be on the board   ).

Actually, this isn't true. On-board graphics is a feature often found on low and mid-range machines. Higher end machines do away with the integrated graphics (since it's so much slower).

Additionally, integrated graphics cards were far rarer before around 2002.

Now, if you were to replace "every motherboard " in your sentence with "most modern motherboards" it would not have been possible for me to nitpick