Monitor loses connection

[Encephelon]

1. Overview of the problem
   Monitor turns off randomly. Sometimes freezes image on screen temporarily.
   
2. Full description of the problem and symptoms
   I rebuilt my computer last week, using all new everything except my video card, power supply, and hard drive. It works perfect in every aspect except for when I'm playing World of Warcraft. At random times the monitor will seemingly lose communication with the video card and go to the "Cable Not Connected" screen. Ctrl+alt+del, alt+tab, etc. have no effect, and the only way I've found to fix the problem is to hard power down the computer and turn it back on. When it boots back up, it runs fine, but takes longer than usual to load all programs and the fans stay full power the whole time.
   
   I should also note that all other peripherals may lose power as well, as I've tried typing messages to people while the problem was occuring, and they told me after the fact that they never got them. Up until now I've thought that it was a problem with my video card but now I'm thinking it could be my entire setup. But then, I can't see what's happening onscreen, so I could be way off. =/
   
   
   
3. Did it work normally at one time, or has the problem always existed?
   Didn't have any problems with the video card or PSU before the rebuild.
   
   
   
4. Is the problem consistent and repeatable, or entirely random, or semi-random?
   Semi-random, I suppose. I can leave my monitor on all day and nothing will happen, but if I boot up WoW, it won't last longer than a half hour.
   
   
   
5. I already tried these steps:
   I swapped out the monitor; no dice. I tried turning down graphics settings, lower than where they were prior to rebuild, again nothing doing.
   
   
   
6. My software:
   • Windows XP Home Edition with SP3
   • Antivirus
   • Norton Antivirus 2005
   
   
   
7. My hardware
   • GIGABYTE GA-EP45-DS3L LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
   • Intel Core 2 Duo E7200 Wolfdale 2.53GHz 3MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor (not overclocked... yet)
   • Radeon x1950 Pro video card
   • OCZ Platinum Edition 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
   • Liberty ELT500AWT 500W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
   
   

Let me know if I can provide any more information. Thanks for your time, guys.

 

[mpilchfamily]

Well just a couple of questions.

Was there a fresh install of XP or did you repair the old install to work with teh new hardware?

Have you reinstalled the video card drivers?

I've had similar problems in the past with Wow. My monitor wouldn't shut off but the system would freeze up and have similar problems to what your describing. It turned out i needed to use a diffrent set of drivers. I was using an older set which allowed me to OC the video card better and yeilded better bechmark results. So i updated to a more recent set of drivers and everything is fine now.

If you didn't perform a fresh install with the new build i recomend you do that otherwise you'll continue to run into problems.

 

[Encephelon]

Ahh yes I knew I was forgetting something in my post. I'm using my old copy of XP but I don't know how. My little brother somehow disabled the need for activation after the rebuild. It appears to be normal, but I'm unsure. I'm getting Vista as we speak.

 

[mpilchfamily]

New systems always need a fresh install of Windows. The OS ties itself heavly to the motherboard. So when the motherboard is changed out it needs to have a fresh install. Otherwise the OS tries to use the old drivers to run teh new stuff and the old drivers will almost always be in conflict with the new ones. So back up any important files on the HDD and do a fresh format and reinstall of the OS. Don't exspect an upgrade version of vista to fix the problem. Get a full boxed version and start from scratch.

 

[Encephelon]

Thanks for the tip, but what do you mean by an upgrade version of Vista?

After further use of computer, I have ruled out full-screen programs as being a culprit. It still only jews out during WoW. Also, it's not just the monitor/video card connection getting lost, it would appear everything freezes up. I had Winamp in background today and when the screen went out, the music stopped as well. Again, nothing would get it back up except a hard restart.

It's like the OS shuts down, but the computer stays running. It probably does need a format.

 

[mpilchfamily]

There are upgrade versions that take an existing XP install and upgrade it to a full vista install. You need to have a full version and do a complete reformat of the drive and install the OS. Like i said you will continue to have problems untill the OS is reinstalled on the system with a fresh format.