I've posted before about my problem on these boards, and the last time someone mentioned that maybe TMDS transmitters being weak on NVIDIA cards contributed to an issue I've been having with DVI and a flickering line in the top right area of the screen, along the top line.
My hardware:
ASUS K8V Deluxe, A64 3200+ S754
2x 512 MB Infineon DDR400 (though I'm looking to upgrade in the next day or two to low latency QUALITY memory)
GeForce FX 5900 NU by XFX (also tried by BFG and a Ti4600 by LeadTek, all produce same exact problem)
Samsung 930B SXGA TFT display (replaced my "faulty" Viewsonic VP171 that I took to CompUSA with a 2 year carry in warranty)
Well, after a ton of screwing around with Powerstrip, I may have found something.
Though I have tried using CVT - Reduced Blanking mode in NVIDIA drivers, I do not believe it ever actually worked. Every time I clicked the apply button, it would revert to "custom settings" as read from E-EDID (I believe). Thus I do not think I was ever actually able to test any settings other than default on either of my LCD monitors.
Upon realizing this, I started messing with the settings in Powerstrip. 5 hours later, it appears that by setting the Vertical Back Porch setting to 10 lines for the 1280x1024 native resolution, I am able to virtually eliminate the problem entirely. I say virtually because in my high-tech running around in CounterStrike and running 3DMark05 testing, I have not noticed anything that I can distinctly recall, but I have vague moments of thinking I may see the flicker.
Other ways of doing the same thing include reducing Front Porch to 1 line, Sync Width to 0 lines, and Back Porch to I think 12 or 13 lines. I can play with the 3 numbers, but I figured for simplicity's sake it was best to stick with one number.
By default, my settings read for vertical as 1024 active lines, 1 Front porch line(s), 3 Sync Width lines, 38 Back porch lines, and a total of 1066 lines. When I say default, I mean according to E-EDID default.
Reducing my Back porch from 38 lines to 10 lines SEEMS to have no negative impact, but all I really know about what I'm doing is that I'm reducing the Blanking, and to be honost I am not even sure entirely what Blanking is.
Can anyone help perhaps explain what these settings and blanking actually mean (an hour and a half of google doesn't help)? Are there any possible ill effects? Any signs of negative effects I should look for?
I need to mention that if I set the Back porch and whatnot too low, I DO get screen corruption, starting at slight and increasing to MASSIVE INDISCERNABLE corruption. Nothing at all I can see at 10 lines.
Also, on my laptop native 1680x1050, the vertical serttings are DEFAULT Back Porch of 11 lines, total of 1065. 1065 on a 1050 native as opposed to 1066 on a 1024 native for my main computer.
Not messing around too much on the laptop as it has no problems (and incidentally an ATI video card with DVI output that produces flawless results on my monitor).
I just don't know what to think. It SEEMS alright, but I don't want to damage my hardware, or at least any worse than things already are. I heard today that by not having a UPS (uninterruptable power supply), I could be damaging my computer. I have just a standard surge protector as things stand. This may or may not be relevent.
Thanks a lot! This has been the most helpful forum by far I've tried so far, hopefully to keep with the trend.
My hardware:
ASUS K8V Deluxe, A64 3200+ S754
2x 512 MB Infineon DDR400 (though I'm looking to upgrade in the next day or two to low latency QUALITY memory)
GeForce FX 5900 NU by XFX (also tried by BFG and a Ti4600 by LeadTek, all produce same exact problem)
Samsung 930B SXGA TFT display (replaced my "faulty" Viewsonic VP171 that I took to CompUSA with a 2 year carry in warranty)
Well, after a ton of screwing around with Powerstrip, I may have found something.
Though I have tried using CVT - Reduced Blanking mode in NVIDIA drivers, I do not believe it ever actually worked. Every time I clicked the apply button, it would revert to "custom settings" as read from E-EDID (I believe). Thus I do not think I was ever actually able to test any settings other than default on either of my LCD monitors.
Upon realizing this, I started messing with the settings in Powerstrip. 5 hours later, it appears that by setting the Vertical Back Porch setting to 10 lines for the 1280x1024 native resolution, I am able to virtually eliminate the problem entirely. I say virtually because in my high-tech running around in CounterStrike and running 3DMark05 testing, I have not noticed anything that I can distinctly recall, but I have vague moments of thinking I may see the flicker.
Other ways of doing the same thing include reducing Front Porch to 1 line, Sync Width to 0 lines, and Back Porch to I think 12 or 13 lines. I can play with the 3 numbers, but I figured for simplicity's sake it was best to stick with one number.
By default, my settings read for vertical as 1024 active lines, 1 Front porch line(s), 3 Sync Width lines, 38 Back porch lines, and a total of 1066 lines. When I say default, I mean according to E-EDID default.
Reducing my Back porch from 38 lines to 10 lines SEEMS to have no negative impact, but all I really know about what I'm doing is that I'm reducing the Blanking, and to be honost I am not even sure entirely what Blanking is.
Can anyone help perhaps explain what these settings and blanking actually mean (an hour and a half of google doesn't help)? Are there any possible ill effects? Any signs of negative effects I should look for?
I need to mention that if I set the Back porch and whatnot too low, I DO get screen corruption, starting at slight and increasing to MASSIVE INDISCERNABLE corruption. Nothing at all I can see at 10 lines.
Also, on my laptop native 1680x1050, the vertical serttings are DEFAULT Back Porch of 11 lines, total of 1065. 1065 on a 1050 native as opposed to 1066 on a 1024 native for my main computer.
Not messing around too much on the laptop as it has no problems (and incidentally an ATI video card with DVI output that produces flawless results on my monitor).
I just don't know what to think. It SEEMS alright, but I don't want to damage my hardware, or at least any worse than things already are. I heard today that by not having a UPS (uninterruptable power supply), I could be damaging my computer. I have just a standard surge protector as things stand. This may or may not be relevent.
Thanks a lot! This has been the most helpful forum by far I've tried so far, hopefully to keep with the trend.
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