Mysterious graphics problem (long)

[FBNStealth]

Greetings all

For the last few months my video card has been acting up (it worked fine for 6+ months). Seemingly at random I get bad artifacts in 2D mode (browsing, on IRC, etc) and the screen sometimes goes black for a second. Occasionally when the artifacts get very bad or the black screening happens very fast my PC reboots, at which time I get no video output at all (monitor acts like it?s disconnected). I also get no video output at random bootups, like when I turn on my PC after its been off for several hours. When I get no video output & try a reboot my PC gives out one looong beep, no beep, or a normal beep. Sometimes after the video locks up I will get a bluescreen (a long time after video lockup) which points me to the nVidia drivers, "nv4_disp" I think.

The video card seems to react to any kind of motion, if I pull my PC out of its little cove in my desk to try to fiddle with the card and push it back in the video will be frozen. If I move the CRT cable even slightly or put any pressure at all on the graphics card when the PC is on it will emit a long beep, followed by locked up video. Also any sudden motion while the PC is on will stop video output. Any kind of load on the graphics card will initiate the artifact/blackscreen problem, like playing a video file or anything 3D.

Also lately I?ve been noticing decreased performance all around, for example DVDShrink requires almost 2 hours to process a DVD, normally takes 26 minutes. Under medium CPU load my mouse jumps around the screen instead of moving smoothly.


Here is my setup (tell me if any other info is needed & I?ll add it):

AMD X2 4400 & XP-90c heatsink
MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum with 1.B BIOS (latest)
1GB PC3200 Crucial memory
AGP BFG 6800 Ultra
Ultra X-Connect 500w PSU
32bit XP Pro SP2 with latest updates


Things I've tried & know:
- Its not a problem with the cable or monitor, artifacts show up in screenshots: http://img25.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ughh24fy.jpg
- Both DVI connectors on the card show the same problem.
- Tried various different BIOSs, didn?t help.
- Tried half a dozen versions of the Forceware drivers, didn?t help. I can list the versions tried if needed.
- Its not an overheat issue, GPU & CPU temps are always normal.
- I tried swapping 6800 with a Radeon 8500 from another PC. The 8500 worked fine in my PC, the 6800 worked fine in the other PC.
- PC is virus/spyware/etc free.


Things I haven?t tried (because I doubt they will help):
- XP reinstall (seems like a hardware issue, hence the motion sensitivity).
- Replace mobo (the Radeon 8500 worked just fine).


This video card & mobo are being replaced pretty soon but I?m giving the card to a friend and would like to fix the problem if possible.

Thanks for reading this far, and for any help you can offer

 

[orangat]

At first thought, it seems like maybe the heatsink got loose somehow and jiggling this around might help. But you mentioned performance decrease all around which seems very odd.
Is the cpu throttling which is screwing up performance?

Personally I would never use a psu which start with X and has lights, colored modular cables and x-connect has a bad reputation anyway. Swap psu's (preferably a better one) and see what happens.

 

[emilyek]

Originally posted by: FBNStealth

Ultra X-Connect 500w PSU

I call that the culprit.

 

[FBNStealth]

Heatsink is on well, tightened the screws (which have springs holding the heatsink in place) a little to make sure.

The PSU, hmm. I read several reviews of this PSU prior to purchase, none said anything bad. Will try swapping it out none the less.

By CPU throttling do you mean that AMD Cool n Quiet thingie? If so I have it disabled.

Thanks again for the help!

 

[imported_nocturne]

Originally posted by: emilyek

Originally posted by: FBNStealth

Ultra X-Connect 500w PSU

I call that the culprit.

I was about to say the same thing... Ironically, I have one in my pc, too.

 

[mountcarlmore]

to make the situation temprarily better try a few things. first off, make sure the card is locked in the agp port, not just inserted, there should be a lever on the mobo that helps keep it secure. second, make sure the vc has the extra 4 pin molex connected to it. last, if you already have that molex connected, make sure its not feeding anything else that eats a lot of power like an optical drive or a hard drive. in the end though, replace your x-connect if you bought it recently, their quaility plummetted after their initial release, so the reviews are talking about a psu that is much higher quality than the ones theyre making now.

 

[FBNStealth]

Card is locked in the AGP port & has both molex power connectors plugged in. The card was sharing a power cable with a DVD-R, now have it on its own... seems better, but it might be too early to tell.

This is going off on a tangent from the original topic but what PSU in the 500-600w range would you gentlemen recommend? Are the OCZ Powerstream/ModStream reliable, or should I go with a good ol' Antec?

 

[mountcarlmore]

i have a modstream and its good, but for a dual core and a 6800u, i would go for the powerstream, or a psu around that level. there are a whole bunch that are good: fortron, enermax, seasonic, etc... if you want modular, check the hyper type-r 580 or something close to that. also, pc power&cooling make a modular psu i think if ya wanna go all out