Shimmering vertical lines on screen

[martensite]

I get really bad shimmering vertical lines in windows and other 2d apps. It is a recent phenomenon, just began showing up in the last one week. It happens all over the screen, and starts after about 15-20 min of booting up the PC. Makes the desktop look as if it on 256 bit color at times.

viewsonic VP730b on DVI @75Hz refresh rate. The problem appears even at 60Hz, and sometimes appears to be worse at that Hz.

Leadtek GeForce 7800GT. Forcware 84.43. Not overclocked for the past 2 weeks because of high ambient temps. NVtemplogger shows idle temps between 43 and 47 C depending on ambient temp. 3d load temps ~ 58-59 C.

Is it a video card or a monitor problem?

Any advice is much appreciated.

UPDATE: changed to FW 91.31, and the problem persists. Infact it occurs even without any drivers installed (in safe mode).

 

[BassBomb]

try another monitor and then see if its the monitor problem... try reseating the video card in the slot (after dusting of course)
try the video card in another computer also

 

[martensite]

Tried reseating the card etc, to no avail.
I dont have access to another monitor or PC in which I can try the swap test at this time. Earliest is by monday.
I was hoping that some had heard of or was familiar with this problem.

 

[martensite]

bump.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Have you tried enabling VSYNC. It sounds like it may be vertical tearing.

Also it sounds like your card may be having heat and/or power problems. It may be overheating or you may have power spikes. What PSU are you using at present.

-Kevin

 

[Job]

There might be a grounding problem in the wiring of the monitor cable or an adapter (if ur using one) - have a go with a different cable and check there's not electomagnetic interference near it

 

[martensite]

Does vsync affect 2d apps too? I will change it to check. Anyway, all my video settings have remained unchanged for weeks, and this problem has surfaced just recently. Its not tearing because I have experienced tearing in games when v-sync was not enabled.

This is happening on xp desktop as well as 3d (RTHDRIBL) and 2d apps like image viewers. its like the whole desktop just switches to 256 color mode slowly over a period of a few mins, and color gradients are not displayed correctly. Horrible color banding on screen and the areas where there are gradients of color start shimmering heavily and change color.

The problem persists for a long time. If I shut down for half an hour or so and then reboot, it is absent for the initial 15-20 min and then reappears.

I have a small UPS and two Altec Lansing speakers on the desk. Both these have been in the same location for the past 6 months without any problems. No cables, components etc have been shifted in this time period. I am using the DVI cable which came with the monitor. No adapter.

As suggested above I will try with a different cable. I might be able to get a Samsung 740B from my friend later in the evening, so will test with that too.

PSU is a Cooler Master Real Power 450W unit. No issues like BSODs or lock ups on my system so far. Rock stable so far..this is the first problem I am having with my PC after the Dec 2005 build.

Temps are well within limits as mentioned in the first post. Besides, this problem starts on the plain old vanilla Xp desktop itself, not even when the gfx is stressed out.

Thanks for all the advice so far. It is appreciated.

 

[martensite]

Update: I monitored the voltages using Asus probe and it seems to be fluctuating as follows:

11.968 to 11.776 on +12V

4.919 on +5V

3.264 to 3.28 on +3.3V

1.408 to 1.424 V for VCore.


Does this indicate a problem with the PSU, or are these within limits?

Edit- AMD Cool n' Quite is On, by the way.

 

[Gamingphreek]

Originally posted by: martensite
Update: I monitored the voltages using Asus probe and it seems to be fluctuating as follows:

11.968 to 11.776 on +12V

4.919 on +5V

3.264 to 3.28 on +3.3V

1.408 to 1.424 V for VCore.


Does this indicate a problem with the PSU, or are these within limits?

Edit- AMD Cool n' Quite is On, by the way.

Well if you are seeing it on Asus Probe than it is fluctuating too much. But nevertheless all of those voltages are still well within +/- 5% ATX spec.

Despite that, the only way you would be able to see the voltage spikes that i am talking about is through an oscilliscope, a volt/multi-meter isn't going to pick it up.

Even though it is within range, it makes me uneasy. I would try a different PSU to rule it out first.

-Kevin