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Replaced Video Card, Same Problem Occurs, Squares On Screen From Boot On, Help!

B

Boogalou

Weaksauce
Joined
Jan 10, 2005
Messages
101
Would REALLY appreciate some advice.

Rma'd my 4870X2 due to having tiny squares on screen from boot on/sometimes no screen at all. Eventually screen would just go black. Assumed it was the vid card.

Just received new card, same problem occurred after it was seemingly stable for a day or two. From boot on I'll have tiny squares or clusters of them on the screen, or it will occur after the boot sometimes, but the screen always turns black not long after. Sometimes the characters (letters) during boot are wrong. I don't have extra parts to trouble shoot so I'm really in the dark.

Case has amazingly good airflow, Xclio with 250mm fans. Heat is not a problem.

Here are some pics, note in the 2nd the characters are messed up as well. Sorry about the poor quality, can't even get it to boot atm. http://imgur.com/JBBba.jpg http://imgur.com/0KlNL.jpg

I would think that the odds of receiving a new card with the exact same problem would be very low?

Steps taken so far; updated bios, switched ram around, cleaned case, reset card, made sure all connections were secure, ran memtest for 14+ hours.

I upgraded the system 1.5 years ago (cpu, ram, vid card) kept the old motherboard. Up until now everything has been stable. Should also mention that while my power supply is high quality, it just barely meets the system requirements.

The monitor is a Dell 2008 WFP 30" which is only about a year and a half old.

Any ideas on how to proceed? Would very much appreciate any advice.

Thank you!
 
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This? = "Should also mention that while my power supply is high quality, it just barely meets the system requirements"
 
spacing guild said:
This? = "Should also mention that while my power supply is high quality, it just barely meets the system requirements"
Click to expand...

You may be right, but why would it work for a year and a half with no problems if that was the issue? Do psu's degrade over time or something? Would hate shell out the $$$ and have it not fix the issue :(
 
Yes, psu's do degrade over time. The more load the faster it will degrade.

Ex: using 835W of a 850W will kill it faster then a 500w of a 850w.
 
did you know for a fact that you actually got a new card? ...and they didn't send the same one back. Sometimes they reject your parts and send them back...
 
...It's not Visiontek, is it? I have heard of RMA nightmare stories of Visiontek 4870x2 RMAs.

Anyway, it's interesting that those text characters are being displayed in correct positions, just not the right ones. My opinion is that the two problems aren't related.
 
Warrior said:
did you know for a fact that you actually got a new card? ...and they didn't send the same one back. Sometimes they reject your parts and send them back...
Click to expand...

Yup, new one actually looks different and has different serial number.
 
lobski2 said:
...It's not Visiontek, is it? I have heard of RMA nightmare stories of Visiontek 4870x2 RMAs.

Anyway, it's interesting that those text characters are being displayed in correct positions, just not the right ones. My opinion is that the two problems aren't related.
Click to expand...


It's a Sapphire. And the character thingy really threw me as well.

I'm tempted to just go ahead and order a new psu, but I can't fathom how low power on start up would change the characters while leaving them in the correct locations.

I'm so confused... :confused:
 
Revdarian said:
Fubared MOBO?
Click to expand...

Have you actually seen a mb do this before? I was considering it might be the mb, but am leaning towards the psu.

Please tell me SOMEONE has had this situation happen to them before? In 10+ years of building computers I've NEVER seen anything other than the vid card cause artifacts.
 
the only way to tell for sure is get a completely different card and test it. Do you have another PCI-E Slot you can try?
 
http://i.imgur.com/0KlNL.jpg

I'd hardly say this looks like a video card problem. No way that would actually switch the characters around like that. Wouldn't really bet on the PSU either.

Tried switching around the RAM or running just with one chip? Updated bios?
 
Raap said:
http://i.imgur.com/0KlNL.jpg

I'd hardly say this looks like a video card problem. No way that would actually switch the characters around like that. Wouldn't really bet on the PSU either.

Tried switching around the RAM or running just with one chip? Updated bios?
Click to expand...

Just updated Bios, switched ram around, tried them separately, no dice :confused:
 
It could be the moniter itself.

I would test the moniter on another pc.
 
Boogalou said:
Just updated Bios, switched ram around, tried them separately, no dice :confused:
Click to expand...

Well, that makes it interesting. I doubt it's the monitor, too inconsistent. Also wouldn't explain character switching.

At this point my next step would probably checking the HDD; it shouldn't be causing those odd pixels in your first picture, but it could possibly explain the odd characters? Could be a corrupt install or just a bad HDD. Maybe just try starting the computer with a boot disk inserted, i.e. Windows installation disk, and see if any of the issues appear there as well? If you noticed, the character thing is pretty consistent, meaning it's not artifacts. Many of the "t"'s for instance are switched out with the same symbol.
 
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Raap said:
Well, that makes it interesting. I doubt it's the monitor, too inconsistent. Also wouldn't explain character switching.

At this point my next step would probably checking the HDD; it shouldn't be causing those odd pixels in your first picture, but it could possibly explain the odd characters? Maybe just try starting the computer with a boot disk inserted, i.e. Windows installation disk, and see if any of the issues appear there as well?
Click to expand...

Sincerely appreciate the help! Thank you everyone!

Tried to boot with a disk just now, screen is just black atm. It will do this for awhile, then the next day for instance it will boot a few times (was lucky that I was able to update bios), and then nothing. Comp sounds like it's starting up just fine, but I'll have a black screen and the monitor tells me it's not getting a signal.

If it was the hdd, it would at least show me the bios screen right?
 
You're right, you should be getting a BIOS screen. Well then, guess you're back to either a bad MB or a bad/insufficient PSU. Or possibly, though not likely, bad (default?) settings in the BIOS. Suppose you've tried using the reset button on the MB to reset the BIOS? I've experienced MB's which would use wrong settings for the RAM by default too, but I'd say it's unlikely since the PC has been working fine for a longer period of time. Assuming you've also tried switching the PCI-E slot for the video card( in case it's bad on the MB)? Maybe try disconnecting all other non-essential devices like sound cards, all but one RAM stick, non-boot HDDs, and such from the PSU and MB, leaving only the video card and one boot device? Might free up some power and tell us if that's the problem.
 
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Raap said:
You're right, you should be getting a BIOS screen. Well then, guess you're back to either a bad MB or a bad/insufficient PSU. Or possibly, though not likely, bad (default?) settings in the BIOS. Suppose you've tried using the reset button on the MB to reset the BIOS? I've experienced MB's which would use wrong settings for the RAM by default too, but I'd say it's unlikely since the PC has been working fine for a longer period of time. Assuming you've also tried switching the PCI-E slot for the video card( in case it's bad on the MB)? Maybe try disconnecting all other non-essential devices like sound cards, all but one RAM stick, non-boot HDDs, and such from the PSU and MB, leaving only the video card and one boot device? Might free up some power and tell us if that's the problem.
Click to expand...

After trying every suggestion in this thread, I'm done lol. Broke down and ordered a nice Corsair Psu from newegg. If that doesn't fix it, plan B involves tears.

Thanks again for all the help!
 
Well, let's hope it solves it. Please do update once you've got it installed. If it does work, then I'm really left wondering how insufficient power can scramble the characters like that. It's definitely consistent with the other symptoms though.
 
I have seen these problems before.Two times actually.
Both times were the keyboard ,after having something spilled on it.
 
That looks like videocard problem to me. Does your system at least finish booting? Can you read voltages in the BIOS? The motherboard voltage regulators could be malfunctioning and may be damaging the videocards.

Also, make sure the heatsink on the CPU is installed properly. I want you to remove it and inspect that the hardware brackets are not cracked preventing proper mating of the heatsink and CPU.

To eliminate a corrupt Windows installation, can you gain access to a Linux CD-based operating system? You can download something like Ubuntu and burn the CD. You can run the OS off the CD this way.
 
I hate it when you can't properly troubleshoot something. The first set of lines on your start-up screen suggest video card or bad cable. Since you tried a new video card I would try another cable if you can.

Another thing, I really doubt it is the PSU as inconsistent power or a faulty PSU would manifest itself in other ways besides random window characters.

It could be a corrupt OS installation or your HDD going bad as I've seen both of those cause character issues like that.
 
This is insane :(

Now have a new psu and mb. Still have scrambled characters, artifacts during bios, occasionally no screen at all. Will occasionally boot fine and then run fine for several hours.

Is the following logic sound?

Not the video card because it's new and I ran Fumark for 60 mins today with no problems.
Not psu because it's new.
Not mb because it's new.
Not hdd -Because sometimes it won't even boot, occasional corruption at bios screen. Hdd/install errors would manifest themselves AFTER post right?
Not memory - Ran memtest for 14+ hours with no probs, switched chips, booted with a single chip
Not monitor - Because it wouldn't switch characters around.

That leaves the CPU or possible a faulty dvi cable? Can a cable scramble characters?

Or possibly the memory is fried? But wouldn't memtest have found something after 14 hours?

I think it's simply possessed.
 
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