Assorted problems (blurry text, drivers) w/GeForce2 Ultra - please help?

[adinar]

Ok..I suppose the best way to do this is to explain what I did, and what problems I encountered to see if anyone has any solutions.

I was previously using an ATI Rage II+ PCI card, so before installing my Visiontek Geforce2 Ultra, I added Standard VGA to display adapters in my device manager, removed the ATI adapter, and rebooted into Standard VGA mode. Then I shutdown, removed my ATI card, and installed my Ultra in the AGP slot. Turned on the system, and installed the drivers (5.32) that came with the card. Rebooted again, and ran the application which installed the 12.41 drivers I d/l'ed from the Visiontek site. Rebooted again, and then tried to set up my resolution/refresh rates.

I am using a KDS 19" AV-195TF trinitron monitor. At 1280x1024 @ 85Hz (16-bit), the text on the desktop looks fine & text within any application I run looks fine, but in any window I open from the desktop (i.e. Windows Explorer, or Control Panel) the text looks fuzzy. This is also true for any text displayed within a dialog box drop down menu (i.e. selecting the refresh rate).

It seems like the text gets worse with the higher resolutions - At 1024x768 it looks pretty good. I'm not sure if it's better or worse at 32-bit (maybe a little worse).

Also, when I changed to the 12.90 drivers I d/l'ed from Guru3d.com, I lost the Geforce Ultra "tabs" in the Display settings so I couldn't go in and set all the 3D options. These tabs were only there when I installed the 5.32 drivers & updated with the 12.41 drivers.

Update: Ok..I'm thinking I d/l'ed the official drivers...do I need to use the "unofficial" ones to keep the tabs?

So...the blurry text - is that a video card problem or a Windows problem? I don't have "Smooth edges of screen fonts" selected. Any ideas how to fix it?

And is there any workaround for losing my Ultra settings tabs with the 12.90 drivers?

I'm hoping that I don't have to do a reformat & reinstall everything from scratch again, but if you guys think that might be a good idea, then I will.

Any help would be appreciated.

My system:
AMD Duron 750 (not o/c'ed), Abit KT7A, Windows 98SE, KDS 19" AV-195TF monitor, Visiontek Geforce2 Ultra

 

[BFG10K]

I was previously using an ATI Rage II+ PCI card,

Did you go to add/remove programs and uninstall ATi's drivers?

Update: Ok..I'm thinking I d/l'ed the official drivers...do I need to use the "unofficial" ones to keep the tabs?

No, the tabs will work with any drivers so it's unusual that you're having such a problem. All I can suggest is to make sure you correctly remove nVidia's old drivers before you install a new set (go to add/remove programs).

So...the blurry text - is that a video card problem or a Windows problem?

I'm afraid it's very likely to be your card. Again this is unusual because your case is the first bad one I've seen from VisionTek.

I'm hoping that I don't have to do a reformat & reinstall everything from scratch again, but if you guys think that might be a good idea, then I will.

I'd do that as a last resort, and even then it probably won't fix your blurriness problem. The first thing I'd do is to reinstall your monitor drivers and play with the refresh rates. Other than that there's not much you can do with the fuzzy text problem, because it's likely to be your card. If you can't fix it, RMA it.

You could also search your registry for "ATi" and "Rage" and delete anything you find.

 

[Compellor]

Taken from the GeForce FAQ:

Q. My 2D image quality is poor (fuzzy, ghosting, smeared bold text). How can I fix it?
Q. I have 2D image quality problems with jittery text. How can I fix it?
Make sure that your internal and external power cables are not too close to your GeForce and your monitor signal cable.

It is possible that this problem only turns up after recovering from your monitor's power saving mode. Try rebooting.

Try changing the 'Monitor timing' under 'Device Selection' / 'Device Adjustments' / 'Display Timing' in the NVIDIA control panel to first GTF and then DMT.

Try changing the refresh rate - you may want to try just altering it by 1hz or so by setting up a custom refresh rate to see if the problem goes away. See the 'How can I manually set refresh rates and force the refresh rate above 60hz?' question for more details

Make sure that there are no electrical devices near your PC and monitor that may be causing interference.

Try manually adding the following switch to your pstrip.ini in PowerStrip 2.62+:

[Options]
ClkDeviation=n

where n is an integer between 5 and 1000. If set, the PowerStrip will post-process all mode changes in search of a close, but hopefully more stable refresh rate. A lower n is more likely to reduce jitter but also likely to vary more from the desired refresh rate. Try a value of 250 and work downwards until you arrive at something suitable.

You can download a demo of PowerStrip at the following website:
http://www.entechtaiwan.com/

Try reversing the polarity of the monitor using PowerStrip. You can download a demo of PowerStrip at the following website:
http://www.entechtaiwan.com/

You may also be able to reverse the polarity of the monitor with hztool under Windows 9x.

It may be that your monitor does not have 75 ohm terminators on all unused D-subs and BNC inputs. Some monitors may have a (very small) switch on the back which will allow you to switch this on (one example is the Eizo Flexscan T562). It may have an infinity sign at one end and 75 ohm at the other end. Switch this to 75 ohm.

If you have BNC inputs to your monitor try buying a lead that will allow you to use them. They must be 75 ohm BNC cables.

Try using RF chokes on the monitor cable.

Try using an external VGA signal amplifier between your GeForce and your monitor. There is information on such a buffer at the following website:
http://www.extron.com/product/product.asp?id=p-2da2plus
Be warned, however, that these buffers are expensive!

You might want to read the information on the following website - it details how your card may be poorly designed and give a bad signal:
http://www.geocities.com/porotuner/

It could be a dodgy card. Try replacing it if it's still under warranty.

Try another monitor and cable. This issue seems to turn up especially with Trinitron and DiamondTron monitors, and unfortunately there is no current fix.