Got a bad video card...

[pvrbulls]

I have been putting my new system together and made a couple of mistakes. First, I went with Vista... second, I was unlucky enough to get a bad, at least partially defective, video card. It was a cheap one by MSI just to get me by for a short time while I tried to figure out what I really wanted. Anyway, the card will only do 1024x768 with any kind of stability; anything higher and it just flashes on-and-off and is completely unusable. It has caused me to have to repair Vista 5 times while I figured out the problem. I took the old Matrox card in my sig and put it into the new build.........everything is fine. I put the new MSI into the old computer and it won't even post!

I don't do any gaming; photo editing, slide shows and home videos account for my most critical uses for a video card. Accurate color with a minimum of heat and noise is what I'm looking for. Oh yes, I also need to drive two 20" LCD monitors. It would be nice to get something ordered today, if possible, so as to have some hope of getting it by the weekend. What do you think of this one EVGA 384-P3-N851-AR ....? I don't know the first thing about video cards, but this card seems to have pretty good reviews at Newegg. I know that's a pretty lame way to pick a card, but I it's either that or throw a dart!

Thanks for your help.

pvrbulls

 

[kmmatney]

Your bad video card problems sounds like what I had, and what a lot of other people have had. If it's an ATI card, then look for an option in the CCC software called "Use Alternate DVI frequency" and "Reduce DVI Frequency" anbd play with those settings (assuming you can get it to POST back in your new build). I had the same flickering with my 2900XT at any resolution above 1024 x 768, but playing with those settings fixed it (and it's been fine ever since, at all settings).

The card you selected as a new one looks fine...

 

[MarcVenice]

Here's what you're looking for: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121243

2 dvi out, silent as they could posisbly get, and 512mb of ram. The 8800gs you picked is overkill.

 

[pvrbulls]

Originally posted by: kmmatney
Your bad video card problems sounds like what I had, and what a lot of other people have had. If it's an ATI card, then look for an option in the CCC software called "Use Alternate DVI frequency" and "Reduce DVI Frequency" anbd play with those settings (assuming you can get it to POST back in your new build). I had the same flickering with my 2900XT at any resolution above 1024 x 768, but playing with those settings fixed it (and it's been fine ever since, at all settings).

The card you selected as a new one looks fine...

Thanks for the info. It is the old computer that will not post with the MSI(ATI) card. Right now the card is in the new system @ 1024x768 and seems fairly stable. I do not have anything but the drivers that Vista retained when I uninstalled the ATI software yesterday. That software seemed to make the situation worse as far as Vista is concerned. I am literally afraid to reinstall it for fear of having to do another Vista rebuild.... but I will give it a try. Like I said in my first post, it is running stable right now, but the resolution is just unacceptably low; the problem gets progressively worse with each incremental increase in resolution.

You wouldn't have a link to thread or know of a forum where this problem is discussed in more detail....would you?

Thanks again for the help.

Zane

 

[pvrbulls]

Originally posted by: MarcVenice
Here's what you're looking for: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814121243

2 dvi out, silent as they could posisbly get, and 512mb of ram. The 8800gs you picked is overkill.

I agree, it is overkill. Do you have any direct experience with the card you refer to? While the specs are certainly adequate for my needs, I am a bit concerned with the very low ratings that card is getting in feedback.

Thanks for the help.

pvrbulls

 

[daveybrat]

Here's a nice XFX Nvidia 8600GT video card with Dual-DVI that runs very cool and quiet thanks to it's aftermarket Zalman heatsink/fan.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814150258

Gets great reviews on Newegg, the only negative one seems to be on the rebate, not the card.

Will be plenty of horsepower for what you need and i've used the Gigabyte branded one with the Zalman fan and it's very nice......very quiet and cool running.

 

[mfh6375]

Originally posted by: pvrbulls
I have been putting my new system together and made a couple of mistakes. First, I went with Vista...

Why do you say that? Have you had any problems that are directly related to Vista? I built my current system about 6 weeks ago, and have not had any problems with Vista 64. The only problem was a faulty gpu, and it had nothing to do with Vista. In fact, I didn't even have to "repair" Vista. I just exchanged the gpu and everything has been fine. So far...

 

[pvrbulls]

Originally posted by: kmmatney
Your bad video card problems sounds like what I had, and what a lot of other people have had. If it's an ATI card, then look for an option in the CCC software called "Use Alternate DVI frequency" and "Reduce DVI Frequency" anbd play with those settings (assuming you can get it to POST back in your new build). I had the same flickering with my 2900XT at any resolution above 1024 x 768, but playing with those settings fixed it (and it's been fine ever since, at all settings).

Update:

I have just attempted to "fix" the problem using the"Reduce DVI frequency on high-resolution displays" setting under "DVI Settings"...to no avail. It did reduce the frequency of the flashing on-and-off...meaning that there were extended periods of 5-10 seconds with the screen being completely black; and that was at just 1280x1024. Unless I can find some more detailed information, that's all I can see to try. Fortunately, it did not seem to do any damage to Vista this time.

Thanks again for your help.

pvrbulls

Update #2

"""Fortunately, it did not seem to do any damage to Vista this time."""

I wish it were so!

I have just spent the last three hours trying to get Vista back to normal without a full-blown repair...and it is still messed up. It didn't show up until I did a restart after trying the Catalyst Control Center and increasing the resolution to 1280x1024. Now, it just will not successfully restore from any of the many restore points created over the last 24 hours. So...now it's time for Vista's install disk. :|

 

[pvrbulls]

Why do you say that? Have you had any problems that are directly related to Vista? I built my current system about 6 weeks ago, and have not had any problems with Vista 64. The only problem was a faulty gpu, and it had nothing to do with Vista. In fact, I didn't even have to "repair" Vista. I just exchanged the gpu and everything has been fine. So far...

You are probably right. I have been using Win2k for the last 6 years and am completely unfamiliar with Vista. It's a whole new world to me! I had most of my difficulty with its tendency to want to sleep or hibernate... or what ever it was doing. I just could not wake it up. Also, whenever it needed to restart, it would just go into some sort of suspended state and nothing would wake it up.... time after time after time..... I now believe(hope) that the cause of the problem was my video card and/or its software.

Mostly, it's that I am getting old and don't like change! Everything about this new build is...well... NEW. There's the I can't even seem to figure out how to create a document in MS Word now that I have upgraded to Office 2007 from Office 2000. And then there is Windows Mail. Geez! And I haven't even gotten to Quickbooks 2007 yet(Quickbooks 99 won't run on Vista).:disgust:

Ain't "progress" fun?

 

[MarcVenice]

I hope it's your videocard, and not motherboard related or something else. As for the other suggestions, the 8800gs and the 8600gt, they are overkill, or WAY to expensive, 73$ for a 8600gt is ridiculous. You can get a HD3850 for $80...

The reason the videocard I suggested gets poor reviews is because it's passively cooled. If you stick it into a case without airflow, chances are it will overheat. It's not a gaming card either, so people expecting to game with it will be dissapointed. You could always buy a actively cooled HD3650, because in 2d mode you won't be able to hear the fan anyways. Just like my 8800gts 320mb, I don't hear it at all when I'm on the desktop. Here's another option btw: http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814102728 it's dual dvi, cheap, fanless.

 

[Keysplayr]

EVGA 512-P2-N756-TR GeForce 8600 GT 512MB 128-bit