problem with new gtx 260 core 216? HELP!

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randomhero189

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Feb 23, 2009
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well i just got a new gtx 260 core 216 today, upgrading from an ati x1950pro

my main problem is that with this new card, my monitor(24" sony gdm-fw900) becomes really fuzzy and unclear at high refresh rates at any resolution, and only looks nice and sharp at 60hz(which can be unbearable for me at times, especially with a crt monitor)

im almost 100% sure it has to be something with the video card or drivers, since things were perfectly fine and clear at all resolutions/refresh rates with my ati x1950pro

ive tried 3 different drivers (182.06- came with card, 182.50-latest WHQL, and 185.68-latest beta) and all the same result

ive tried adjusting all monitor settings and whatnot

anybody have any idea what is wrong, or is this normal with nvidia?

i can provide any other information that may help.

and on a side note, for some reason i do not have access to 1400x900 resolution anymore with this card/drivers like i had with my x1950pro

any help will be much appreciated.
 
I would try DriverCleanerPro.

Boot in to safe mode, run that removing any nVidia and ATI drivers. Then reinstall nVidia latest's drivers for the GTX260 and hopefully that resolves the issue.
 
The 1400x900 problem I think you can fix in the NV control panel, just add a custom mode. If not, worst case you can use something low powerstrip to add it.

As for the fuzziness, I'm hoping I won't have the same problem. This used to be an issue with some gaming cards back around the GF2 days. Card makers would cheap out on or screw up the analog filters, and they'd look terrible at 1600x1200. At the time ATI sold most ATI cards under their own name, and they only had a couple of other brands so ATI didn't have much trouble with it. NV eventually put their foot down and basically forced card makers to stop being cheap. I'm worried the problem is coming back now that analog output is obsolete as far as the industry is concerned.

Just out of curiosity, which brand of GTX260 did you get?

edit: One thing you could try is using the DVI-VGA adapter from the Radeon card if you haven't. They're all the same, so it will work.
 
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the brand of it is xfx

and ya i have tried the dvi-vga adapter that came with the card and the original one i was using

well i was always planning to go lcd someday...just hoped i could get another year or 2 out of this sucker, cause its an absolute beauty(when performing good of course)

but i can tell you right now my friend has a 4870 that is perfectly crisp and clear at high refresh rates on the same exact big ol crt as mine, and probably others of the 4000 series too
 
Dang. I just ordered an XFX 260 last night. I've got an FW900 too, so I'll see how mine looks.

There's been some complaining about ATI-based boards with blurry output in the big FW-900 thread.
 
Just as an FYI, I'm using an EVGA 260GTX on an FW-900 and its fine at 16X12 and 1920X12 @ 100hz.
 
I guess if mine's a dud it'll send it back & get an EVGA. If not, I guess either the OP has a bad card or something else is wrong. My board probably won't arrive until Monday, and I may not get around to installing it until the end of next week. I'm in the middle of exams, and I just ordered it so it'll have it ready as soon as exams are over.

I just thought of something. It doesn't really make sense for the filtering circuitry to cause a clear picture at 60Hz and a fuzzy picture at other refresh rates regardless of resolution. The filtering problem I was talking about was caused by filters that couldn't handle high dot clocks. It's basically the same problem you get with bad cables, excessively long cables, KVM switches, etc. Higher dot clocks mean higher frequencies, and the higher frequency the signal is the more susceptible it is to degradation. If that were the problem and the screen looks ok at 1920x1200@60Hz, it should be fine at lower resolutions with a higher refresh rate. 1600x1000@85Hz uses about the same dot clock at 19x12@60, so if 19x12@60 is ok 16x10@85 should be too.

What refresh rates & resolutions have you tried? Which ones were clear?
 
zandor said:
I guess if mine's a dud it'll send it back & get an EVGA. If not, I guess either the OP has a bad card or something else is wrong. My board probably won't arrive until Monday, and I may not get around to installing it until the end of next week. I'm in the middle of exams, and I just ordered it so it'll have it ready as soon as exams are over.

I just thought of something. It doesn't really make sense for the filtering circuitry to cause a clear picture at 60Hz and a fuzzy picture at other refresh rates regardless of resolution. The filtering problem I was talking about was caused by filters that couldn't handle high dot clocks. It's basically the same problem you get with bad cables, excessively long cables, KVM switches, etc. Higher dot clocks mean higher frequencies, and the higher frequency the signal is the more susceptible it is to degradation. If that were the problem and the screen looks ok at 1920x1200@60Hz, it should be fine at lower resolutions with a higher refresh rate. 1600x1000@85Hz uses about the same dot clock at 19x12@60, so if 19x12@60 is ok 16x10@85 should be too.

What refresh rates & resolutions have you tried? Which ones were clear?
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well as a matter of fact after doing more testing, the lower the resolution i use, the higher refresh rate i can go while still keeping the clarity and sharpness

so is what ur saying mean that it could potentially be my vga cable since its like that?
 
randomhero189 said:
well as a matter of fact after doing more testing, the lower the resolution i use, the higher refresh rate i can go while still keeping the clarity and sharpness

so is what ur saying mean that it could potentially be my vga cable since its like that?
Click to expand...

It's possible, but that would mean the cable just suddenly went bad if it was fine before. A different cable might still help though if yours is marginal. If it's a nice thick cable with ferrites on both ends it probably won't help. If it's a crappy thin one like LG shipped with my LCD it might make a big difference. Signal degradation accumulates if you have multiple problems. It could also be a bad connection as Mega666 mentioned. Make sure everything is tight. Also, if you haven't tried it already, try the other output on the board.

I expect my stuff will be here on Monday, but even if it shows up I won't get around to playing with it until Tuesday evening.
 
Ok, my XFX GTX260 board came in today so I installed it a few minutes ago. My FW900 looks as good as it did at 1920x1200@85Hz on the 7900GTX it replaced, and perhaps even a little better.

I think maybe my second monitor's picture (a 21" CRT) isn't quite right though. I thought it used to be sharper than the FW900, but now it seems like the FW900 is sharper. I'll have to mess around with it at some point & see.

I don't have much time to mess with it now though, so it'll have to wait about a week. I'm not going through the hassle of an RMA even if the second output is a little off. It's probably a design flaw, it's not that bad, and I'd probably just get whacked with a restocking fee for a non-defective part. I also have 3 screens and I've been thinking about picking up a second card. Actually I already have one, but it's a 5200PCI and it doesn't work in Vista with a higher series card installed. It worked out of the box with the drivers included on the Vista CD, but as soon as I install an up to date version of Forceware it stops working.

OP: Try the other output if you haven't just in case they botched the design & only one output has good analog. You might also try either taking your rig over to your friend's place or asking him to bring his machine over to yours so you can either rule out or identify your monitor/cables/etc. as the problem. You could also put your old ATI card back in for testing.
 
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