Video Card Problem???

[George03]

Hello!
I hvae 2.2 Ghz Pentium 4, Windows XP, 512 MB RAM, and NVidia Geforce2 MX 100/200. For a long time I had 3 distinct problems occuring, and I think they are all related to video card:
1. Almost as soon as I turn on computer, I see some sort of waves or other distortions on the screen. In Windows, it happens when I move mouse over certian buttons or menus. It is kind of looks like as if the screen was under water, and there were slight distortions on the water, but it's not exactly like that.
2. Sometimes, but rarely when I would trun on my computer, the image on the screen woul appear to be shifted to either side. That is for example pixel rows 5, 13, 43, 74, etc would be shifted by say 2 pixels to the left, and other pixel rows would be shifted to the right. As a result, the image just becomes unredable.
3. Finally, it began to happen recently, when Windows would almost load, it would freeze a couple of times for a couple of seconds, turning off and back on my monitor, and then after about 30 s of doing so, it would eventually stop.
Does anyone have any ideas of what it all can mean?
thanks a lot.

 

[cdogg]

It could be any one of the following:

1) Power Supply - sounds to me like the #1 cause (video card blackouts or anomalies are often due to being underpowered)
2) Video Card - the other high possibility, but more expensive than the power supply to replace
3) Monitor - not likely to be the main problem, but could possibly be "part" of the problem

If it's an option, see if you can get your hands on a cheap video card that has at least 8MB of RAM. Swap it in place of the one you're currently using briefly as a test. It may be time-consuming, but it could save you the trouble of having to remove/replace the power supply, which is the next step. Just make sure the video card you decide to use is compatible with your motherboard.


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[George03]

Thanks a lot for replying.
I did in fact try a different video card - NVidia TNT, also with 32 Mb of RAM, but to my great surprise - all I saw was a black screen as soon as I turned it on. It didn't even show me the very first screen with CPU and memory info on it - just a blank screen as soon as I turrned it on.
I also tried it with a different monitor wityhout success - so I know for sure it's not a monitor problem!
Any other ideas?

 

[cdogg]

Well, unfortunately for you the next step is the power supply. You'll want to get one that's at least rated at 300W or more. The higher the better, but also make sure you go with a name brand like Antec or Vantec.

The only other possibility I can think of is a bad AGP slot on the motherboard. But of course replacing the motherboard would be more expensive than starting with the power supply.


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[George03]

Thank you for your suggestion.
However I'm curious as to what makes you think it's a power supply and not video card? I mean everything else functions perfectly. Can it be that my BIOS settings are wrong?
Thanks.

 

[cdogg]

A failing power supply - or one that is not putting out enough of a constant current - usually affects components that are the most demanding first. That would include your video card.

However, I guess now that I think about it, it is possible for you to have an incorrect BIOS setting of some sort. Normally, most of the settings are overridden by the OS or simply not present in the BIOS. But it doesn't hurt to check. Post back with whatever settings you can find for your video card.


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[George03]

Thank you for trying to help me out.
Here are my BIOS settings that I think may be relevent to this video problem:

Adv. Chipset Features:
-Video BIOS Cacheble = Enabled
-Video RAM Cacheble = Enabled
AGP Aperture Size = 128Mb

Power:
-Video Off Method = DPMS
-Video Off in Suspend = Yes

PnP/PCI Configurations:
PCI/VGA Palette Snoop = Disabled
AGP Slot Int Assignment = Auto

Frequency/Voltage Controls:
AGP/PCI Clock = Auto
AGP Voltage = 1.50V

Hope the above helps.

 

[cdogg]

Those settings look normal. You could try lowering your AGP Aperture Size to the default 64MB, but besides that there's really not a whole lot more you can do. Be sure not to set it below 32MB if you're experimenting. I suppose you could also try changing the Video Off Method to Blank Screen or V/H Sync, but this setting really shouldn't affect bootup - only sleep mode.

Just make sure that when changing either setting, you test one at a time. If changing one doesn't help, I suggest changing it back before going to the next.

Finally, it is possible that your main RAM has gone bad (not sure why I didn't think of that before). Since it's cheap, you might want to go ahead and buy a small 128MB stick and try it in your system by itself. Good prices out at Pricewatch.com. Also since you have 512MB, if you have more than one stick (say 2 - 256MB), then try each stick by itself.

Again, good luck!

 

[George03]

Thank you agin.
I did try to change some settings, though without success.
How can memory be causing such problems? I have 512 Mb of RAM, and in Windows if I add up used memory to free memory I get 512, so apparently it's working fine.
The problem with pixels being distorted happened again today. But this time, I took a picture of it so you can better understand what I'm talking about. Surprisingly, the restart, or even shut-down for 10s does not always solve this problem - sometimes I have to do it several times to get rid of it, whereas sometimes, when Windows takes over, it miraculously dissapears. I'm not sure if I can attach a file to this forum, but I would be greatfull if you can give me your email, so I can send this jpeg screenshot there.
Thank you again.

 

[cdogg]

You need to realize that the kinds of problems you're having aren't normal in the least. Abnormal experiences tend to point to unusual causes - power supply, motherboard, memory, etc. That's right, faulty memory may intermittently fail. It's not about showing up as the correct amount.

I wish there was more I could offer, but you're going to need to develop a systematic approach to replace components one-by-one until you find the culprit. Like I said, the best way to do that is start with the cheapest items and work your way up. Luckily, you were able to try another video card and monitor at no cost. However, I wouldn't cross the video card off your list just yet. You weren't able to even see a screen when you tried the TNT card, therefore the video card could still be the problem.


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind"
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884