Horizontal fluttering in ATI 9500, 9700 AIW cards

[Blowtorch]

I have noticed light horizontal fluttering lines in the analog output (via DVI-to-analog adaptor provided) of my 9700 AIW only when running 3D applications at 32 bit, high refresh rate 72Hz or higher and at all resolutions. I built a another system with the same model video card and experienced the same thing. Having mentioned this to friends who had both just purchased 9500 cards based on my otherwise positive review of this card, they later responded that they also noticed the same distortions on their own systems. The distortions are most definitely not 60 or 120 Hz hum bars, but may be power related.

We all noted that they were not evident when reinserting the old video card. Naturally we all have high quality surge suppressors/power conditioners and power supplies (Antec True Power 550 and the like).

I have searched various forums for this topic, but I have not seen it pop up yet. ATI does not specifically acknowledge the problem on their site or by problem report, but they are willing to swap the video card. But based on these various experiences, I do not expect to see an improvement. We all are running different drivers, one even now running the Omega driver. These are all on new systems with the commonality only being the same brand of video card and processor (AMD XP series). Naturally, we all have different monitors as well.

I am hoping you all come out of the woodwork on this, so I can substantiate this claim. Its definitely annoying. Its most visible when images are darker on the screen.

 

[paperfist]

Welcome to the forums

Are you speaking of what looks like rolling waves that you can see on light colored backgrounds or the little black line that starts at the bottom of the screen and slowly rises to the top? If you are I remember reading 2 lengthy topics about this here at Anandtech, but I can't seem to find them when searching. I also have seen a few posts at the Rage3d forums. I used to get both of these problems on my 9500Pro and it drove me nuts, but since I switched to a new Antec Sonata case both problems have gone away.

 

[Blowtorch]

It really is a light horizontal fluttering on the entire screen and not rolling defined lines (i.e.-hum bars). Given the diversity of the cases, cards and power conditioning that I described, the problem is not likely to be resolved by swapping cases. The one thing that is different about using this card is the need for direct power from the power supply to the video card instead of via the AGP bus. As I also stated, the problem is not evident when returning to my Geforce 2 or 3.

 

[Glitchny]

i think i had this problem once with my 9700pro... looked like everything was scrolling in the background, i just enable some ATI smart thing under services and it was gone... dunno if it is a global fix but it worked for me