Need a new video card?

yellowaznboy

yellowaznboy

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Not sure if this is the right place to post.

Yesterday, the display on my computer monitor has been screwing up. I see vertical lines of distortion across the screen, color issues, and redraw problems (I think that's what it's called). I can take a picture of my screen with my camera if that would help.

At first I thought this occurred because I updated the drivers on my video card, so I did a rollback on the drivers, but it still has display problems. I hooked up a different monitor and the graphic problems are still there, so I'm pretty sure it's my video card.

Can anyone identify the problem and provide a solution?

Computer specs:
Dell Dimension 4600
Windows XP
ATI Radeon 9800 Pro
1.5 GB RAM
Pentium 4 3.0 ghz processor

Thanks in advance.
 
[quote name='dodgeme']I think ur video card may have overheated. Does it start as soon as ur computer starts or after a while.[/QUOTE]

If I restart my computer, the problem is gone, but shows up after a few minutes. Sometimes, restarting the computer doesn't do anything and the display is still screwed up.

Here's a picture I took of my display:
dsc00007ns2.jpg

Is the card fried or can I do something to repair it?
 
that looks to be a hardware problem with the card (overheating, static, ...). Check to make sure the fan's spinning. If it's not clean the fan out, maybe replace it with a 3rd party fan.
 
I beleve it probably got lead on by overheating as thats what happened to my laptop after i was watching transformers. But it went away. Maybe try to make sure ur cooling is okay in the computer. If not the card is probably pretty well gone.
 
http://www.playtool.com/pages/artifacts/artifacts.html
[quote name='That Link']Unfortunately, there's not much you can do about bad video RAM. It's soldered to the video card and the video card manufacturers normally replace the whole card rather than try to rework individual chips. Sometimes you can make the symptoms go away by having an extra fan inside the computer blowing air past the video card. If it's an overheating problem then you can occasionally improve your situation by epoxying RAM heatsinks to the RAM chips but usually heatsinks don't help. Sometimes underclocking can help. But most of the time bad video RAM is permanently damaged and you just have to replace the video card.[/quote]
 
I am pretty sure a capacitor overheated and was destroyed. So unless you are really familiar with electronics, or know someone who is. Then you are out of luck.
 
something similar has happened to 2 of my girlfriends video cards now. she has really long hair on her head and that tends to get everywhere.
We figured out what stopped the fan on the video card and caused the overheating the first time was hair that got wrapped up in it. This time it must have gotten buried in there or something, cause the fan stopped again :lol:
So yeah, check your fans and airflow. At this point I think you need to try out another video card. ;)
 
Yeah, open your case, blow out any dust and make sure all your fans are spinning in your case and video card. Also try to remove the card and pop it back in. If none of that fixes it then you should just look for another card. Getting something better then a 9800 should be cheap and hold you over untill you decide to get a new PC.
 
I did what everyone said and opened up the case and cleaned it out as best I could. So far, the graphic problems have been lessened, but I still see artifacts where the display is screwed up. They look like little specs of blue and green and red. At least I can see what I type now. ;)

I guess I need to replace the video card. I know AGP card manufacturing has nearly ceased. What is a good and cheap upgrade? I don't really play graphic-intensive games.

Edit: It's still screwed up. I need a new card.
 
You could go for a Radeon 9800 pro on ebay for about $50. I was using one until about a year ago and it could run most games (Oblivion, Company of Heroes, Half-Life 2, Doom 3) reasonably well.

Otherwise you could get an X850 pro for around $100, which is what I'm running right now and would be about twice as fast as the 9800 pro. AGP cards are just way too expensive now...
 
You should get a new motherboard and videocard. If you're going to get another AGI card then you're going to waste more money in the long run.
 
Well, I just opened up the case again to check the video card fan and it seems to be functioning. The weird thing is, the graphics are perfect now with the case off. But, I am noticing a weird noise coming from the computer. It sounds like a high-pitched, chirping sound (like a bird). Now that I think about it, this sound surfaced when I began having these display problems. What does the sound mean? And why are the graphics fine when I have the case off (it is off as I type)?
 
The chirping is probably a bearing on a fan. The graphics are ok when you have the case off because more air is getting inside your PC.
 
You've probably best off buying a whole new computer, but there are some AGP cards still out there. AGP cards are overpriced in terms of power... you could spend the same money on a PCI-E card and have a better card. But, that might be worth it to you.

You may find better prices on these if you hunt around. This was done quickly. Good luck!

AGP Video Cards

HIS Hightech H26XF512ANP Radeon HD 2600XT 512MB 128-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail
$96
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161208

EVGA 512-A8-N559 GeForce 7600GT 512MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 4X/8X Video Card - Retail
$108
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130099

EVGA e-GeForce 7800GS but there aren't any on NewEgg right now.
$170
http://www.supereasybuy.com/ssproduct.asp?pf_id=1010479946

SAPPHIRE 100228L Radeon HD 3850 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X HDCP Ready Video Card - Retail
$172
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102730

Visiontek Radeon X1950 Pro / 256MB GDDR3 / AGP 8x / DL Dual DVI / HDTV / Video Card
$190
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicat...61-4040&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&CMP=OTC-GOOGLEBASE
 
[quote name='DrFoo']You could go for a Radeon 9800 pro on ebay for about $50. I was using one until about a year ago and it could run most games (Oblivion, Company of Heroes, Half-Life 2, Doom 3) reasonably well.

Otherwise you could get an X850 pro for around $100, which is what I'm running right now and would be about twice as fast as the 9800 pro. AGP cards are just way too expensive now...[/QUOTE]

Get your self a ok, AGP card like this poster said. Don't spend more then 70 bucks on it. Because at that point your might as well replace your Mobo and CPU. But a new PC is going to cost you at least $500 bucks. Just get an ok AGP card and keep using that PC as long as it does 95% of the stuff you want to do.
 
I had a radeon x700 AGP AND a Nintendo Wii die in exactly the same fashion. From what I have experienced, it looks like the GPU itself has usually been damaged somehow, and is, in turn, throwing corrupted data into the graphics RAM---common culprits are ESD and heat, but it's usually a manufacturing defect that took a while to present itself. With the RAM malfunctioning alone, you rarely see a progressive failure, in favor of persistent minor glitches.

Buying a videocard for a desktop is a pain in the ass, especially AGP. Almost all new AGP cards out there at the moment are really PCI express cards, coupled with a chipset that converts to the AGP bus. These nasty little hack jobs pretty much cripple any high-end 3D performance.

Furthermore, modern videocards tend to come packaged with terribly inadequate stock cooling, so that the card doesn't interfere with other expansion slots. The inadequate heatsinks and fans frequently lead to the same kind of damage you've already experienced.

If you've got gaming to do, I'd recommend going with a middle-of-the-road GeForce... a 7600 line, or even a 7300. The newer ATI AGP cards are poor overall performers among some of the newer games, and have ugly hardware and driver issues (especially when it comes to DVI and image scaling support).

If your gaming requirements are less strict, a mid to low 6000 series GeForce would be fine. But that'd probably be a little step back from a 9800 Pro.

In either case, I recommend shelling out the 20-30 for aftermarket air cooling. I like Zalman VF-900s, but the cooling fans are all fairly the same. I'd just pick whatever is on sale... Thermaltake, Coolermaster, et cetera. Just invest in decent thermal compound to mate the two. And at least you can take a HS/fan with you to your next video card.

WHATEVER you do, DO NOT invest in a current series card in AGP... Radeon 2000/3000 line, or even GeForce 8000 line. It's an absolute waste of money, and an incredible driver and hardware hassle in the making. The people marketing these current-gen AGP cards should be sacked.
 
I have similar specs, and my 7600GT handles pretty much whatever I throw at it. It even ran Crysis (on mostly low settings).

Wait, they're actually making Geforce 8-series AGP cards?
 
Actually, no... sorry for the slip-up.

8000-series AGP was rumored for while, but NVIDIA finally said no. Good thing, really. ATI should have done the same... motherboards with AGP have too many hardware limitations to be paired with the newest video cards anyway.
 
[quote name='KingDox']Get your self a ok, AGP card like this poster said. Don't spend more then 70 bucks on it. Because at that point your might as well replace your Mobo and CPU. But a new PC is going to cost you at least $500 bucks. Just get an ok AGP card and keep using that PC as long as it does 95% of the stuff you want to do.[/QUOTE]

You can build a good GeForce 8 system for around $500 (recycling old parts like PSU, case, etc). -- OP Be sure to get a GOOD case (can't go wrong with Thermaltake) if you build your own in the future. Can't stress this enough. And be sure to check your components for dust/hair etc clogging the heatsinks, fans, etc at least once a month.
 
Well, I'm a big dummy and I have a new problem. I took out an old video card (geforce 6200) from another computer and installed it into the computer with the display problems, but I don't get a display at all. So, I put the 9800 back in and uninstalled it from device manager first (because I thought it was conflicting with the 6200), shut down the computer, and tried the 6200 again. I still don't get a display. Shouldn't windows detect this new video card automatically? Now, the 9800 wont display anything, either. I know windows boots up (I can hear it). Help?
 
In theory, Windows should startup using standard VGA 640x480 mode.

When swapping graphics cards, especially from different manufacturers it is usually a good idea to uninstall the previous drivers completely.


Now, do you get any signal on your monitor during the boot up process? Are you able to go into bios and see anything on the screen. Does the monitor tell you it has no signal?

Are you using a DVI or VGA connection. If it is DVI, try VGA for troubleshooting.

Try booting in safe mode (press F8)
 
[quote name='BigT']In theory, Windows should startup using standard VGA 640x480 mode.

When swapping graphics cards, especially from different manufacturers it is usually a good idea to uninstall the previous drivers completely.


Now, do you get any signal on your monitor during the boot up process? Are you able to go into bios and see anything on the screen. Does the monitor tell you it has no signal?

Are you using a DVI or VGA connection. If it is DVI, try VGA for troubleshooting.

Try booting in safe mode (press F8)[/QUOTE]

1. There's nothing wrong with the monitor; there's definately a signal. I can go into bios. It's just that after windows loads up, there's no desktop, nothing on screen, no display - just a blank screen. I can hear the familiar log-in chime, I just can't see anything. It must be the drivers or something.

2. Even though I can't see anything, I can still play around with windows. So, what I did was I pressed the "start key" on my keyboard, pressed "R" for run, and typed in "Narrator" to turn on the speech program. Now, I could navigate around through sound. I eventually make my way to Contro Panel > System > Device Manager to check my display adapter, but there is none. What is usually below the "disk drive" and above "dvd/cd drive" is "display adapters", but the narrator doesn't mention it when I scroll through the list.

3. Whenever I try to start up in safe-mode, I get a bunch of gibberish and windows never starts up.

4. I have no on-board video if that's important.

Edit: I'm using a 20 inch crt monitor.

Edit: When I try safe-mode, I get this:

multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows\system32\drivers\etc
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows\system32\drivers\etc
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows\system32\drivers\etc
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows\system32\drivers\etc
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(2)\windows\system32\drivers\etc
...
 
It sounds like you somehow disabled, uninstalled, or deleted the Standard VGA driver on your machine. How exactly did you uninstall the 9800?
I'm not sure how to fix this as I've never come across this problem. I do have some suggestions/options:

* I would bet that a repair install of XP would restore the standard vga driver and detect your graphics card.
* You could try an old PCI video card for which XP has built in drivers.
* You could try to load up a recent system restore point if you have one.
 
[quote name='BigT']It sounds like you somehow disabled, uninstalled, or deleted the Standard VGA driver on your machine. How exactly did you uninstall the 9800?
I'm not sure how to fix this as I've never come across this problem. I do have some suggestions/options:

* I would bet that a repair install of XP would restore the standard vga driver and detect your graphics card.
* You could try an old PCI video card for which XP has built in drivers.
* You could try to load up a recent system restore point if you have one.[/QUOTE]

I uninstalled the 9800 video card through the device manager. Actually, there were two devices there: one called ATI 9800 Pro or so, the other ATI 9800 Pro Secondary something. I uninstalled both of them.

I think you are right in that the standard vga driver was deleted some how. If option 1 causes a deletion of all of my files, I'm not ready to do that yet - I want to find a way to back-up my files before reinstalling windows.

Anyway, thanks for you help.
 
I have an AGP Radeon 9800 Pro w/ 256 MB of RAM. Last time I used it it was functioning perfectly but I wanted to upgrade to a PCIE Nvidia GeForce 7900 GS so I could max out the games I was playing and play some newer games. If you are interested, give me a PM, I would be willing to sell it pretty cheap as it is just sitting in a box in my closet now.
 
A repair installation will not erase your files. But, there is a potential to do so if you choose the wrong options...

I agree with you and would recommend backing up data before proceeding.

IMHO, the easiest way to back up data from a non-booting PC is to use Knoppix plus an external hard drive. Knoppix is a linux distro that runs off of a CD or DVD. It will give you access to your files and will allow you to copy them.
http://www.knoppix.org/

Good luck!
 
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