Graphics glitches on boot + in windows

[alan_anderson]

Hi all,

I'm looking for some help.

I am currently running a Dell Dimension 8300 desktop (4 years old!)

I decided to try souping up the graphics.

The card is a Nvidia 7300 GT by PNY.

I also upgraded the PSU. However I have had alot of problems. I will list the steps I have taken -

First I ran the card with a new 350w CHEAP psu. This worked fine for 2-3 hours of gaming before the display corrupted and froze.

After this whenever I tried booting with the new card I would get slight glitches on the windows boot screens (some horizontal white lines/dots).

The PC would get to the windows login then display a bunch of black and white stripes.

I figured a high end PSU would fix this problem, so I invested in a 500w 'Bluestorm II'.

I still get exactly the same errors on booting, the glitches are even in the same location on the screen every time. However I am now able to login to windows;

...only now wherever I move the cursor tiny little red/grey lines appear, then the graphics will start to crash.

I have updated my graphics drivers and even the BIOS.

Is this most likely a hardware or software problem?

If it could be a driver problem, should I format the HDD?

I don't think the card is damaged as it will display things ok for a while then starts to corrupt.

 

[emp]

What is a 'Bluestorm II'? Never heard of that 'High end' PSU. However that card shouldn't draw too much power, if you had other graphics drivers before, then there's a chance that the drivers are making a move on you, which should be corrected by a clean installation.

EDIT: I see now that it's an FSP unit, probably a good unit but by no means high end, that's why I had never heard of it before. However that should be plenty for your machine, so the PSU is not your problem.

 

[alan_anderson]

Thanks for the reply EMP, I returned the card for a new one and now it's all good