Help a Novice PC Gamer: Sparkly Non-Native Resolutions

Lieutenant Dan

Lieutenant Dan

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I've been having issues with an Nvidia 7600gt I bought from ebay a few months ago. Ever since I got it, when I try to play anything on a non-native resolution, i.e. playing a game in 4:3, I get this sparkly/shimmering effect on my screen. It's kind of hard to describe differently. It's almost as if the pixels are shivering slightly on the screen. Other than this issue, playing in non-native res looks normal (color, framerate, etc.)

When I play in native res (1360x768 - my TV), everything is fine, and the card has no other problems. Do any CAGs have any idea what this could be? I tried a few google searches and I haven't found anything.

Thanks!

Edit: I forgot to mention, this happens when I am doing anything on my PC in a non-native res, not just gaming. It just so happens when I want to do anything in a non-native res, I'm gaming.
 
[quote name='Liquid 2']Why not run them in the native resolution or just run them in a window?[/quote]
I guess I just find doing that a little distracting - having desktop and window bars visible.
 
I think what you're describing is "tearing". It happens most commonly on LCD monitors. Try enabling v-sync for the games in question. If you aren't able to do this through the game itself, it can be done manually through your NVIDIA Control Panel.

Oh, I just saw your edit. Is this effect captured in screenshots?
 
Yeah, thanks for the suggestion, but it's not tearing. I could try getting a screenshot sometime this coming weekend, but even then I think it would be hard to see, since one really couldn't see the shivering effect.
 
overheating? Is the fan/heatsink on properly? or the thermal tape/goo too solid/not touching?

Does it ever lock up ?
 
[quote name='xycury']overheating? Is the fan/heatsink on properly? or the thermal tape/goo too solid/not touching?

Does it ever lock up ?[/quote]
I'm not having any of those problems. Other than what I described, I haven't experienced any overheating or poor performance. Although I am beginner with video cards, it doesn't seem like a physical problem with the card; it seems more like a setting on the card isn't jiving with my display, but I guess anything is possible.
 
Are the problematic resolutions actually accepted by the TV (720p LCD I assume)? Because if it's not 480i/480p/720p/768p/1080i then it could freak out the TV's video processor. Also have you selected the "HDTV" out option in the NVidia settings? If not try that outputting at 720p or native, then you can select preferred resolutions in your game programs. The card will maintain the aspect ration of the game while upscaling the output res to the TV's native, reducing sync problems.
 
Try changing the scaling method (in nVidia Control Panel). If your monitor is scaling it, try making your video card scale it. If your video card is scaling it, try making your monitor scale it.
 
Definitely a scaling issue but it's impossible to tell whether it's the card or monitor -- the TV plays fine because it's not being scaled, neither the TV nor card is scaling when output to the TV's native res, so that isn't necessarily indicative of a functional video card.
 
I was going to recommend scaling too. Most decent monitors have a 1:1 setting, but it'd hardly be ideal for very small resolutions on very large screens. I know when I tried to ply DMC2 on my 20" LCD at 1:1 it took up about 1/4 of the screen.
 
Thanks for the input guys. I figured out my TV just doesn't play well with the 1024x768 resolution (its native res is 1360x768); every other resolution I tried worked fine. I guess that would be a scaling problem.

Anyways, everything's running fine now. Thanks again!
 
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