Strange video problem

[stever1888]

I have a problem with my display crashing into gibberish (seemingly) randomly, and cutting off completely in some games. Here's the setup:

P4 3.06 w/ hyperthreading
512mb (one stick) Corsiar PC2700
Intel D865PERL (formerly Asus P4S8X-X)
Asus G4 Ti4200 V-9280/TD
Seagate 120gb/8mb/7200 (formerly WD "Special Edition" 80gb/8mb)
Soundblaster Live
Pioneer DVD
Lite-On CDR/RW
ViewSonic G90f monitor
Antec TruePower 430w
Windows XP Professional

I note the parts used formerly because I had the same problem (but the display died completely previously). I had RMA'd the Asus mobo once and the video card twice, and the PSU once with the same problem. The old Asus mobo reported my 3.3v rail at about 3.21 consistently (why I RMA'd the PSU), but the Intel mobo reports the 3.3v rail right at 3.3. The 12v is right at 12v, the 5v is at 5.026, the CPU core is at 1.588, and the CPU I/O is at 1.445. I have no intention of overclocking, so that's why I went with the Intel board for stability - but its not doing good enough. So, I am not overclocked at all, and temps stay save in the 30s, with the CPU going into the 40s under heavy use. Current on all drivers.

I can't imagine a 430w PSU isn't enough to run this system w/o overclocking. But, I'd welcome an attempt to prove me wrong, and I'd go and get a strong PSU. I doubt this could be it, but please let me know if you believe this might be the case. I've run the system (with the Asus mobo) through about 11 hours of Prime95, so I don't think its a CPU or RAM issue, especially since the rest of the system runs when the display crashes or goes blurry.

The machine runs Quake3 and Medal of Honor just fine, but will crash in little old Alpha Centauri. In that game the screen goes dead black instead of fuzzy (the monitor shows its "no signal, powering down" type message.

The problem has been run past several techies, with no real help. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Let me know if you need more information. Thanks.

-Steve

 

[amdskip]

Try some different memory.

 

[stever1888]

Could the system survie Prime95 even if the RAM stick in it was bad? Or is this one of the things where the general response is "wierd problem - replace RAM"? Thanks.

-Steve

 

[amdskip]

Just try it, don't know without trying.

 

[stever1888]

Well I bought a 512mb stick of Crucial DDR400. Aside from the fact that the BIOS recognizes it but the POSt info still says DDR333, the display problem is persisting. When it happens next I'll take a picture (it had gone several days without happening).

My case temps are good, between 36-45 depending on load for the processor, and in the lower 30s elsewhere.

I am not sure this could be heat-related on the video card, because often the display will be messed up when the screen comes back on after idle (it other times happens during active usage).

My thinking still is it may be a power supply thing, but I still can't imagine that 430w isn't enough for this system, especially since nothing is OCd.

Any further advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks.