Video card going bad?

[grandpaof4]

  [smiley=huh.gif]After the computer has been running fine for a while, without warning the monitor image turns into a series of vertical, broken white lines with some color mixed in. I've tried 3 different monitors and 2 different cables. I've also updated the drivers and even tried a 3rd party driver. Nothing's helped. My video card is an ATI All-in wonder 9600. The whole system is about 3 1/2 years old. I've only been having trouble for a few weeks. If you restart the computer, It's OK again for a while. Any ideas? Thanks.

[Doomsayer]

You should provide a lot more information about your system before anyone can help.  what operating system are you using?  what Motherboard do you have?  how much Memmory?  also,  what drivers are you using now?  do you have catalyst?  

post something to work with, and someone will be glad to help!   [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

[Flame]

Do you have virus and Spyware protection? Which operating system are you using? Have you made any changes to your system recently?

Flame

[grandpaof4]

 [smiley=cry.gif] [smiley=cry.gif]I'm using Windows XP. I have McAfee and Sptbot running and updated. I ran a full scan on both. I also tried "System Restore" going back before the problem started. I have an AOpen AX4C Max motherboard. It has 512 meg of DDR400 memory. The drivers are what have always been there. I don't think any changes were made to anything. This is my teenage sons' computer so I can't be 100% sure what has happened.

[GX1_Man]

I would remove and reinstall the card, making sure it is snug in the socket. Then reinstall the drivers with the latest version from the ATI site. You should also try another monitor on this machine and try this monitor on another machine to isolate where the problem is. Let us know.

[grandpaof4]

I've tried reinstalling the video card and reloading all the ATI Catalyst software. I thought it was fixed because it ran OK for 2 days and then it screwed up again! Any more ideas? I hate to just start throwing money at it.

[patio]

A few things jump out at me...
1) You tried 3 other monitors and 2 cables  : I would say it's the vid card.

2) It runs fine for awhile on startup  : I suspect a heat issue.

Check and see to make sure the vid card fan is working.
While you are in there do some housekeeping and get rid of the dust bunnies.

How old is this card ? ?

patio 8-)

[GX1_Man]

Welcome back Patio!!  

[pcj240ross]

Being that its an ATI card its probably going bad. I can say this from experience. Ive owned three and they all crapped out. My 9800 pros' fan popped off frying the card and my x850 which was only 5 months old is already in ATI's shop getting repaired. I really dont think i will ever buy another ATI. When my 9800 pro was overheating i would get pixels all over the screen that were different colors. Funny thing is that they never even made it out of the warranty period before thay went bad. Maybe they knew something I didnt then.

[GX1_Man]

Keep in mind that it is probably not an ATI card, just an ATI chipset design made by Bob's Computer's or some Taiwanese company you have never heard of. Save with nVidia. They don't make the actual cards either.


Be that as it may, other people mistreat their cards by overclocking, bad PSU's etc. Everyone has a favorite, usually due to a bad experience with the other.  

[grandpaof4]

   [smiley=wink.gif]It apparently was the video card. I replaced it and after a week or so it's been fine. Thanks.

[GX1_Man]

Glad you are all fixed up and thanks for posting back.  

[patio]

Thanx for the Welcome GX1 Man...good to see you again.

patio.   8-)