Hey Everyone,

I am having a problem with the graphics on my computer. I have a 128mb GeForce 5200. When i turn my computer on the on-screen display of pretty much everything that comes up is messed up... for example, when the computer is booting it normally shows a spash screen of the manufacturer and behind the splash screen it is naturally going through the BIOS checklist - checking the RAM etc etc. Booting is fine, the only problem is the graphics i see when its booting, the splash screen for instance is not intact on the screen - the picture itself has pixels all over the place.... everytime i turn the computer off and back on the way in which the pixels are all scattered around the screen is different. As the computer tries to go into Windows a black and white screen pops up - its actually two stripes of black and white vertically shown.

I'm guessing there is something terribly wrong with my graphics card, i've tried taking it out - cleaned it a bit and placed it back in and the result is still the same. Sometimes it works fine, the graphics sometimes displays fine and it goes into Windows.... from there i sit and wait for the screen to flash on and off which it sometimes does when it goes into windows. I thought it was the monitor, so i tried the monitor on another computer of mine and it works fine. I also tried a different monitor on the computer giving me hastles and the result is the same - deranged graphics are shown. I haven't had the chance to replace the graphics card with some other graphics card, i am going to try that soon by borrowing a graphics card from a bud - but i just thought i'd post to get a second opinion from you guys - maybe someone has experienced somethign similar to this and perhaps could share some light on the subject. Resetting the computer all the time to see if the graphics will come out ok is basically like trial and error because sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. What do you guys think?

Thanks for your time ,

- CK

Sounds like either the card is borked, or its coming loose from the slot on a regular basis.

Still, I definately try another card in there for a few days under normal use and see if the problem reoccurs. If it doesn't, then you need to go shopping for a new card my friend

Quote: Originally Posted by Dex Sounds like either the card is borked, or its coming loose from the slot on a regular basis. Still, I definately try another card in there for a few days under normal use and see if the problem reoccurs. If it doesn't, then you need to go shopping for a new card my friend

Hey Dex ,

Thanks for the prompt response. I thought it was loose too, i noticed it has a clip on the side - it holds the graphics card in place - kinda like a small lock to keep it from moving. I can't imagine it being loose - i will definitely try a new card.... now i just gotta find somewhere i can buy a decent graphics card. I live in Madeira, not sure if you know where that is but its an island just outside portugal.... computer hardware here isn't as cheap as it is in the UK - I'm thinking of going with amazon.co.uk to purchase a graphics card and have it sent here (i just hate buying things over the net though...lol). What do you recommend i get if i can't get this graphics card i have here fixed?

Ive been to Madeira on holiday, nice place. Can't remember much, think I was about 5... but still I think I enjoyed it

Whats all this about computer hardware being cheap in the UK?! When did that happen?

I assume your running a mobo with an AGP port, so id recommend an ATi X800 GTO if you can get one, or an ATi X1600.

I would recommend a 7800GS, but they are expensive and I havn't heard highly of them. Hope that helps. Maybe some other members could give some input on this?

Quote: Originally Posted by Dex Ive been to Madeira on holiday, nice place. Can't remember much, think I was about 5... but still I think I enjoyed it Whats all this about computer hardware being cheap in the UK?! When did that happen? I assume your running a mobo with an AGP port, so id recommend an ATi X800 GTO if you can get one, or an ATi X1600. I would recommend a 7800GS, but they are expensive and I havn't heard highly of them. Hope that helps. Maybe some other members could give some input on this?

That's really cool , i think you should make a return trip because Madeira has certainly changed dramatically over the years - it would probably look totally different now compared to when you were 5...lol... but this place is cool for holidays - not to live (unless you're gonna retire) - which is why i want to move to the UK . I have a friend there who told me hardware is cheaper than what it is back from where we used to be (South Africa) - he gave me some prices and they're more reasonable than here. Take a look at this graphics card...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/...262013-7807138

- this is basically an upgrade of the graphics card i currently have. The price is MUCH more better than what they want for a graphics card like that over here. Here i think they want +/- 200 euros for that graphics card. Since a graphics card weighs less than 1kg i won't have to pay import duties - which makes me think they overcharge for computer hardware here like crazy - damn leechers.

200 Euros

Damn thats expensive... and I thought we get ripped off in this country!

If you can find a retailer in the UK that would ship to Madeira then id highly recommend doing that! Or you could try eBay, many sellers will ship internationally.

What do you mainly use your PC for? Those cards I recommend would suit you well for moderate gaming, but would be overkill if gaming is not in your plans.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dex 200 Euros Damn thats expensive... and I thought we get ripped off in this country! If you can find a retailer in the UK that would ship to Madeira then id highly recommend doing that! Or you could try eBay, many sellers will ship internationally. What do you mainly use your PC for? Those cards I recommend would suit you well for moderate gaming, but would be overkill if gaming is not in your plans.

Gaming is definitely in my plans . I'm a Software Engineer - graduated about a year go - so i use the computer every day to complete projects. I play games on a regular basis when i have free time - not to mention my brother is a game fanatic so getting a better graphics card was already discussed even prior to my current graphics card bogging out on me. There is this one particular game called F.E.A.R. that my graphics card cannot support, i'm not sure if the graphics card i found on amazon will be sufficient for that game, if it is then i'll definitely get it. My bro should know - he games more than what i do. It looks to be like the retailer i found on amazon only ships to people within the UK.... oh well i'm just going to have to find another retailer .

Getting ripped off here when buying computer hardware, esspecially computer hardware, is so common. Many of the country folk here where i live buy computers for their kids, and the majority don't know anything about the hardware side of computers - not to mention prices. So they're easily dooped into being overcharged for computer stuff. They certainly won't see the colour of my money .

Well, in an effort to help you out, ive sent an email to my favourite retailer here in the UK, OcUK, asking if they would ship an item to Madeira for you.

I know they ship to many EU countries, and they are priced extremely reasonably, never had any problems with them.

Quote: Originally Posted by Dex Well, in an effort to help you out, ive sent an email to my favourite retailer here in the UK, OcUK, asking if they would ship an item to Madeira for you. I know they ship to many EU countries, and they are priced extremely reasonably, never had any problems with them.

Geez dude, thanks a bunch! I will most definitely browse around that website in pursuit of a new graphics card.... but above all else thanks for going out of your way and sending that e-mail! I highly appreciate it . I'm just about to go out and test my computer with another graphics card as well as test my graphics card too... i will let you know how it goes .

Thanks once again for the help .

i have a question, what is your motherboard model (or at least age), you might be trying to run a 1.5 volt AGP card in a 3.3V agp port, even though i was pretty sure newer cards (Ti 200 class) supported both...

Everything Dex told you was 100% on the mark, the only other suggestion i would make is for you to consider maybe upgrading to a platform that supports PCI-E, as graphics cards for the PCI-E interface:

-support a much faster interface than AGP
-are actually quite a bit cheaper than their AGP counterpart
-open the possibility up for SLI/Crossfire
-are, at the moment, very available

older socket 754 mobos are dirt cheap right now, and so is a decent Sempron 64, just make sure you find a 754 mobo WITH a PCI-E x16 port....i dont know how expensive things like that are in the UK, but over here, the cost of all that together with an X850XT is just around $300USD

Quote: Originally Posted by Fu3lman i have a question, what is your motherboard model (or at least age), you might be trying to run a 1.5 volt AGP card in a 3.3V agp port, even though i was pretty sure newer cards (Ti 200 class) supported both... Everything Dex told you was 100% on the mark, the only other suggestion i would make is for you to consider maybe upgrading to a platform that supports PCI-E, as graphics cards for the PCI-E interface: -support a much faster interface than AGP -are actually quite a bit cheaper than their AGP counterpart -open the possibility up for SLI/Crossfire -are, at the moment, very available older socket 754 mobos are dirt cheap right now, and so is a decent Sempron 64, just make sure you find a 754 mobo WITH a PCI-E x16 port....i dont know how expensive things like that are in the UK, but over here, the cost of all that together with an X850XT is just around $300USD

Hi Fu3lman ,

The model of my motherboard is - P5P800S and it has a Intel 848P + ICH5 chipset. The computer itself is around a year and a half old. I bought my computer from a computer retailing store so i mean i'm assuming they wouldn't put anything in there that the motherboard can't handle. Even so the computer's warranty hasn't expired and so if the graphics card truly is giving the problem then i will return it and ask them to replace it. Thing is i've formatted my hard drive a couple times and i've changed the operating system from a portuguese version to an english version so i've tampered with the machine in that way - i'm assuming by doing so my warranty has fallen away. If thats the case i'll remane discreet about that little bit....lol.. i can't imagine formatting my hard drive and changing the operating system would cause the graphics card to mulfunction the way it has.

I have actually just come back from a friends house, he happens to have the exact same graphics card i have and so i've swapped them around - i have placed my graphics card in his computer and placed his in mine. When i was at his house testing the graphics cards out everything worked perfectly, my graphics card worked fine as if nothing was wrong.... thats just murphy's law i guess ... so i asked my bud to stay with my graphics card for a few days to see if he experiences any problems and i have stayed with his to determine if it really is the graphics card that is causing the problem. I suppose at this stage only time will tell. I can't believe how cheap things are there..... i guess living on an island does come with some disadvantages .

If i were to buy a new motherboard it would certainly be one with PCI-Express - i agree that it would be the logical choice .

Thank you for your reponse .

- CK

Madeira.... WoW.... the wife and I have put it on our "Wish List" of "Islands to Visit"...
We've met a few Portugese here in the NL and I must say there was an instant "click"....

Must be our Nations shared 'Naval history.... (plus our love of the Fado...)

Anyway.... I'd try one of these shops;
http://www.frozen-silicon.de/index.php
http://www.pc-cooling.de/en/index.ph...6a31f5b36b42d6
http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...a6ca506b2fc566
http://www.alternate.nl/html/index.html
http://www.sallandautomatisering.nl/
http://www.cool-prices.nl/
http://www.komplett.nl/k/k.asp

I've got good expieriences with all of these shops.... and they deal in Euro's...

TDR

Well, got an email back from customer services at OcUK earlier on...

Quote: We are only able to ship to Spain for certain products that do not exceed a low shipping weight.

You might have more luck with other UK based companies. Not sure how expensive things on on mainland Spain or Portugal, but you could try that too

Quote: Originally Posted by The Dragon Reborn Madeira.... WoW.... the wife and I have put it on our "Wish List" of "Islands to Visit"... We've met a few Portugese here in the NL and I must say there was an instant "click".... Must be our Nations shared 'Naval history.... (plus our love of the Fado...) Anyway.... I'd try one of these shops; http://www.frozen-silicon.de/index.php http://www.pc-cooling.de/en/index.ph...6a31f5b36b42d6 http://www.caseking.de/shop/catalog/...a6ca506b2fc566 http://www.alternate.nl/html/index.html http://www.sallandautomatisering.nl/ http://www.cool-prices.nl/ http://www.komplett.nl/k/k.asp I've got good expieriences with all of these shops.... and they deal in Euro's... TDR

Hi The Dragon Reborn,

Thank you very much for those links! I will take a deep look into each one of those links, i'm sure out of the list there is bound to be one that can accomodate my situation . Wow i had actually never thought you guys would like Fado's....lol... some Fado's are nice - i just never thought Americans would actually like them .. thats cool. Coming to Madeira is certainly a 'wish' within the grasp of pretty much anyone (provided you know who to talk to) . My dad and I are actually in the tourism business and so if you are seriously planning to come here for a while i may be able to help you out. I'm currently saving to build a lodge for tourists - kind of like a haven for tourists who can enjoy Madeira to the fullest without having sleepless nights about their bank account taking a hit because accomodation is really expensive here. If i were to put myself in a typical tourists shoes i would naturally turn to Google to look for accomodation - or perhaps a travel agency to help organize some of the basic necessities.... well the majority of the websites indexed by Google here in madeira are the big hotels or large tourism companies. The smaller ones aren't normally indexed by google. I design websites for businesses and i've noticed that esspecially here in madeira, the smaller tourism businesses either don't have websites or aren't indexed by Google.

Anyway i just thought i'd give you some heads-up regarding trying to get accomodation here ... The big hotels aren't the only means of accomodation here in Madeira. My msn messenger handle is in my public profile if you'd like more info or help .

Thanks once again for your help!

- CK

Quote: Originally Posted by Dex Well, got an email back from customer services at OcUK earlier on... You might have more luck with other UK based companies. Not sure how expensive things on on mainland Spain or Portugal, but you could try that too

That's alright Dex, thanks a million for your help on this . I will look into other UK companies, or get in contact with a bud of mine i have there in the UK - perhaps he can purchase the graphics card and send it to me.

Thanks once again for your time and effort .

- CK

I had a similar problem with an old computer a couple years back. I was seeing "artifacting" on the screen and like it was already stated, it was the voltage issue. I even upgraded my PSU and got a replacement motherboard, but that didn't help. The problem was even though I had disabled my onboard video, it wouldn't let go of the IRQ, so I was only able to use onboard video with it.

Hope this helps

You're Welcome... Clark_Kent!

I do, however, come from the Netherlands... lot's of us Dutch visit Portugal... my wife did... She still
has to take me there... lol... Anyway... she introduced my to the Fado & Portugese port & food....
which go nicely together...imho....

Thanks for the links! I'll sure check them out!

TDR