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Baffling Graphics Corruption problems

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  • Graphics Cards
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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September 26, 2007 11:06:15 PM

Hi, Ok where to start... I know this will be a long read but I would be grateful for your help.

First, about a 2 weeks ago I upgraded to the following (same hdd etc.): (using xp sp2)

1 x ASUS P5LD2 SE R2.0 i945P Socket 775 6-channel audio ATX
1 x MSI 8600GT Silent edition 256MB DVI HDTV PCI-E
1 x Extra Value 1GB DDR2 667MHz PC2-5400 240pin Extra Value Ram
1 x Intel Core 2 Duo E6320 (1.86Ghz) Socket 775 FSB1066 4MB Cache Retail Boxed Processor
1 x Extra Value Gold 600W 12cm Fan Silent PSU - PFC 20+4pin

all went fine for about a day then i got problems:

Vista + latest drivers - "Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding, but has succesfully recovered."
XP + latest non-beta drivers - freezing + eventual BSOD saying something about nv4_mini.sys.
XP + beta drivers - just freezing.

I put the card in my friends PC for about 30min and that seemed to run fine, bizzare. A few days later i RMA'd the card and asked for a 2600XT in return (didn't know what else to try), they said they did find a problem and they sent the 2600XT.

Again all went fine for about a day... then i got pretty much the same problem:
Crazy colours with both xp and vista and eventual "vpu recover errors"

Again I try my card in my friends pc and again its fine. I now try RMA'ing the motherboard. Even though i ask for a different (actually slightly more expensive one) they return a brand new exactly the same board as before (again they claim they found a problem (they never tell you what it is though...)).

Hoping it was the board i try again, but again colour freezes etc.

I've messed around with it a bit and it basically only ever effects 3d applications: any games (even their menus), the dxdiag tests, and windows vista aero theme BUT NOT xp/vista basic theme or half life in "software mode" - what the hell....

Now I've put my old parts back in my pc while this is being sorted and the problem goes away (as you would expect).

My 1st question is does anyone have any ideas what this could be?

my 2nd is Clearly its one of the four parts i bought (i used the new power supply with my old parts nothing else is compatable), is there any chance it could be the ram or cpu? (just trying to limit what i keep sending back..)

More about : baffling graphics corruption problems

September 27, 2007 6:35:57 PM

anyone? :( 
September 27, 2007 6:45:05 PM

New RAM?

First thing you should do is to run MEMTEST from a bootable CD or USB drive.
Related resources
September 27, 2007 7:30:33 PM

memtest was fine :S
September 27, 2007 7:35:22 PM

Is it a local place you bought from?
September 27, 2007 8:04:56 PM

no, online company :( , returning any part takes about 1 week. from returning the 2 parts and testing it myself I've already lost about a three weeks
September 27, 2007 8:11:47 PM

From what you've said I'd blame the CPU or mobo. Can you test your CPU in your buddy's machine?
September 27, 2007 8:12:55 PM

for some reason I couldn't edit my last post:

From my knowledge, I don't see how it could be either the cpu or ram since they shouldn't be able to discern between "graphics" and "non-graphics" applications i.e. works fine with firefox, windows, half life in software but not in something like the directX spinning box test.

Clearly, its a hardware problem, since I'm testing always on a fresh install of xp+sp2 / vista. But I would just really love to tell which part was wrong.
September 27, 2007 8:18:10 PM

sorry didn't see your post, no I cant. Both my old parts and my friends are AMD and both pre-date DDR2 so I cant even test the ram beyond memtest. But I just get the feeling that the CPU would cause non-3d programs to crash or exhibit something bad too.
September 28, 2007 11:37:53 AM

I'm gonna try and get a refund on the motherboard and buy it somewhere I can easily return it (though it will probably cost me more). Just such an annoying problem, its easily reproduced and seems impossible to diagnose without other parts to exchange :( 
September 28, 2007 12:50:28 PM

what software are you running when the problem arises? look at everything, including utlities and background programs
!