Asus P5W DH Deluxe - Weird freezing/unfreezing problem

[thrillhouse24]

Hi,

I was working on my comp which I got less than a month ago when all of a sudden the screen started to turn on and off and freeze and unfreeze. So I restarted the computer and noticed that the picture started to get grainy in some areas. The graininess is there from as soon as the computer starts up to logging into windows and the screen starts to turn on and off and the computer freezes/unfreezes randomly. I'm not sure what the problem is. Is it a motherboard or power supply problem? How to find out whats wrong with it and how to fix it?



Thx.

My computer specs are:

Asus P5W DH Deluxe Motherboard
Core 2 Duo 6400
BFG GeForce 7600 GT (ForceWare version 93.71)
ATI TV Wonder PCI
2GB DDR2 PC-6400 memory
450W power supply
Windowx XP Professional SP2
Direct X 9.0c

 

[31computers]

Adjust your screen refresh rate if necessary.
Also, are you using a PSU that came with your case, or one you got separately?

 

[evongugg]

When monitors start going bad, they start flickering. Try a different monitor.

 

[kcrush]

My first instinct is a refresh problem, but then I notice that the monitor is powering to standby.

Unless you recently changed drivers there shouldn't be any issues that you hadn't noticed before.

Its looking more like you need a new monitor. You might want to check the power plug and make sure it secure and make sure there is no burning smell coming from the tube.

 

[Alyarbank]

I would suggest to test the RAM as well. :idea:

 

[thrillhouse24]

Hi

I tried changing the refresh rates and resolutions but am still having same problem.

Also tried another monitor but same problem on that.

I also checked the memory and it is in place properly. Also checked the video card which is in place.

The problem is that along with the video display problems the computer locks up so I think the monitor is not the problem. I suspect its either the motherboard, powersupply or video card that is causing the problem but not sure what specifically and how to find out and fix it.

Also should mention that my computer was on pretty much 4-5 days straight ( might have rebooted a couple of times but it was on continously) so maybe there was a overheating problem? I was installing Quicktime when it all of a sudden started giving the video problems and freezingup.

I'm guessing it could be a hardware problem?

 

[Alyarbank]

I meant test the RAM with Memtest86 or some other testing software. If your ram is dying you can have symptoms like your having. If you have more than one module try taking one out to see if the problem stops. Then try the other one.

 

[thrillhouse24]

Ok,

I decided to take out my ATI TV Tuner card and restart the comp and when I did it seemed to fix it. I put the ATI TV tuner card in another PCI slot and tried and its working ok for now. But still getting some of that graininess on the windows startup screen which I didnt' get before but the freezing and flickering stopped when logged into windows so I suppose its fixed for now.

Weird that my TV Tuner card or that PCI slot was the problem I wasn't using it.

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions.

 

[Alyarbank]

Glad to hear you found the culprit.
8)

 

[thrillhouse24]

ARGGGGH!

Well, I thought it was fixed. Guess not.

So I was watching the basketball game on the computer with the TV tuner when all of a sudden the screen just messes up and the computer freezes.

So I'm thinking I guess the TV tuner is officially dead and just remove it from the computer and restart the computer and use it normally.

Nope. It can't be that easy.

I removed the tuner card and restarted the computer but it still gives me the same problem and I can't even log into windows! The screen is just messed up during the startup and then a black screen with the monitor light flashing on and off.

Here is a video of the bootup process:

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ja4fde
http://download.yousendit.com/5699391551ADB2A1

I guess it can't be the tuner card that is the problem then? Motherboard problem? Video card? Power supply?

 

[BustedSony]

Ok,

I decided to take out my ATI TV Tuner card and restart the comp and when I did it seemed to fix it. I put the ATI TV tuner card in another PCI slot and tried and its working ok for now. But still getting some of that graininess on the windows startup screen which I didnt' get before but the freezing and flickering stopped when logged into windows so I suppose its fixed for now.

Weird that my TV Tuner card or that PCI slot was the problem I wasn't using it.

Thanks for all your replies and suggestions.

I am also using a P5W DH motherboard with E6400. My ATI Theatre 550 will simply not work in the system. In any PCI slot. Either the system won't boot or there are artifacts onscreen, as you describe. The video card is a Pinnacle 1900XT but even when using an Nvidia 6600GT the problem is the same. The ATI 550 works perfectly in a P4, and the P5W DH works for weeks on end (Sans the ATI tuner card) without a hiccup; under XP SP2 they just don't seem to want to work together, so you're not the only one.

 

[thrillhouse24]

that definitely looks like a video card problem.my x1600 pro did that kind of crap.no driver updates fixed it either.can you rma the card?it looks like the card isnt processing the video feed correctly.

take the card uot and reseat it.you dont oc your cards do you?

also your drivers are old.fw 94 has been out for a while.are you sure the ati tuner drivers are not conflicting?
uninstall them if that was the rig with the 7600gt.
FYI oc's on midranged cards have never been all that great for me.i dont oc mids any more.

I didn't overclock the card. I have a 30 day direct replacement on the card so I have like another 5-6 days to replace from the store i bought it from if the problem is the video card.

For the moment I can't get to the login screen to update the drivers or remove them. I can't get my hands on another PCI Express video card so I can't put another one in to get into windows.

I'm going to try and get the video card working and login into windows but if I can't then i'll take the card and either try to get it replace with the same card or exchanged with another that is around the same price.

Anyone have any suggestions for a new video card around $170-$200 that i can replace this 7600GT with?

http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProdList&cmd=pl&id=999.243&mfg=all&start=0&numPages=9

There is a list of video cards i can choose from if they allow me to replace with another video card.

Something with decent gaming performance or maybe get a tv tuner/video card all in one card?

I'm looking for some good combination of tv tuner and video card that give good perfomance and don't conflict with each other. I originally bought a Hauppauge WinTv-PVR 500 dual tv tuner with the bfg video card but the picture quality wasn't that good so i returned it. Was thinking of an all in wonder card but don't think those cards have onboard mpeg2 recording rather than using cpu power for recording. Also like dual tuners but not many options availabe. So i'm leaning toward an ati 650 tuner card. Any better options?

 

[thrillhouse24]

I am also using a P5W DH motherboard with E6400. My ATI Theatre 550 will simply not work in the system. In any PCI slot. Either the system won't boot or there are artifacts onscreen, as you describe. The video card is a Pinnacle 1900XT but even when using an Nvidia 6600GT the problem is the same. The ATI 550 works perfectly in a P4, and the P5W DH works for weeks on end (Sans the ATI tuner card) without a hiccup; under XP SP2 they just don't seem to want to work together, so you're not the only one.

Oh man! I was just thinking of getting an ATI TV Wonder 650 but now there could end up being a conflict .

Now I'm not sure what to do or get.

 

[BustedSony]

Oh man! I was just thinking of getting an ATI TV Wonder 650 but now there could end up being a conflict .

Now I'm not sure what to do or get.

do some research.i am glad some one could help with what i could only guess.

@ busted sony;is this a driver incompatibility or hardware;card /mobo?

I don't know, after a week I gave up. It COULD be a driver issue since I've had something similar in a P3 with an M-audio AP-192 card. The system would freeze when running sound, or not boot into the GUI, until the latest drivers, apparently optimized for XP SP2, became available. Now that P3-1000 works with the 192 perfectly. Or it may be unresolvable resource conflicts. The system may just be stuck in a resource allocation mode that does not work. I won't say the Theatre 650 won't work (assuming its bugs have beeen fixed) or that my problems are reflective of ALL P5Ws with Theatre 550s.