- Sep 15, 2009
- 9
- 0
- 18,510
First of all, hi to everyone and thanks in advance for any help you can provide. I am a relatively long time reader of this site but never actually registered, so now's a good time as any to register and make a first post.
My problem is rather interesting one, and I can't seem to think of a plausible solution.
The system specs are as follows:
CPU: Pentium 4 Prescott 3.0 GHz
MBO: Asus P5GDC-Pro
RAM: 2 GB DDR2 667MHz
GPU: Galaxy Geforce 8600 GTS
PSU: Cooler Master Real Power 500W
Windows XP SP3
A week or so ago, I the PC wouldn't come out of standby. Tried pressing keys on the keyboard, tried the power button, no luck. I restarted it, and it wouldn't show the post screen, but no beeps from the motherboard. Cleaned all the connectors to the monitor, the PCI Express slot and card, the RAM modules, everything, but no luck. After searching on the internet for help, I did a bios reset and the PC turned on, but with severe corruption even on POST. It sometimes went on to Windows, but sometimes crashed during the boot up procedure. When in windows, the screen corruption was visible in dark areas as a blueish flickering vertical lines. Comparing it with the examples on this site (http://www.playtool.com/pages/artifacts/artifacts.html) it was very similar to the pic showing the HL2 menu screen except for the unexpected spikes. I didn't have any such problems, only the bluish lines. Anyway, they were visible in both Windows, POST, 3D and video rendering (whatever I opened in VLC Player). It worked like that for a while, until it decided it won't boot ever again, no matter what I did. A strange thing was that before that happened the PC booted even without the graphic card connected, and the P5GDC Pro doesn't have onboard graphics. I could hear the Windows and start up program sounds but with no display to the monitor.
Anyway, it was time for some testing. Taking the 8kg Cooler Master Mystique to my friend was not an easy feat, but it was worth it. Side by side with his PC, we switched video card and voila! My PC booted perfectly, and his failed miserably, with no display and no motherboard beeping. The culprit was found and I was off to buy a new GPU for an old PC.
I bought a new Geforce 8800GT with 1 gigs of RAM. The card fit perfectly and my system looked fine as the POST showed everything fine and booted into windows. After installing the newest drivers, I decided I'd test Wolfenstein. The game ran perfectly, on high graphics and 1680:1050 resolution. Happy with it, I thought I'd try some Half Life 2. This is when trouble began. At the first loading screen the refresh rate was off and the monitor flickered like water. I reset the PC afraid it might damage to my monitor - ViewSonic VG2030wm LCD, not really friendly when it comes to high refresh rates. So I ran the game again and there it was - the graphic corruption I had earlier, the bluish vertical flickering lines. In game they would be visible in different places. Tried GTR 2 - again some video corruption, though slightly less noticeable (in smaller areas). Tried playing a movie - again video corruption. Tried PES 2009 - same story.
Thinking it might be the RAM, I tried running with only one stick of 1GB DDR2, but to no avail, both of them showed the corruption. Now I'm thinging either PCI-Express Slot, Motherboard RAM Slot, or anything you guys can come up with. Any, any help and ideas will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
My problem is rather interesting one, and I can't seem to think of a plausible solution.
The system specs are as follows:
CPU: Pentium 4 Prescott 3.0 GHz
MBO: Asus P5GDC-Pro
RAM: 2 GB DDR2 667MHz
GPU: Galaxy Geforce 8600 GTS
PSU: Cooler Master Real Power 500W
Windows XP SP3
A week or so ago, I the PC wouldn't come out of standby. Tried pressing keys on the keyboard, tried the power button, no luck. I restarted it, and it wouldn't show the post screen, but no beeps from the motherboard. Cleaned all the connectors to the monitor, the PCI Express slot and card, the RAM modules, everything, but no luck. After searching on the internet for help, I did a bios reset and the PC turned on, but with severe corruption even on POST. It sometimes went on to Windows, but sometimes crashed during the boot up procedure. When in windows, the screen corruption was visible in dark areas as a blueish flickering vertical lines. Comparing it with the examples on this site (http://www.playtool.com/pages/artifacts/artifacts.html) it was very similar to the pic showing the HL2 menu screen except for the unexpected spikes. I didn't have any such problems, only the bluish lines. Anyway, they were visible in both Windows, POST, 3D and video rendering (whatever I opened in VLC Player). It worked like that for a while, until it decided it won't boot ever again, no matter what I did. A strange thing was that before that happened the PC booted even without the graphic card connected, and the P5GDC Pro doesn't have onboard graphics. I could hear the Windows and start up program sounds but with no display to the monitor.
Anyway, it was time for some testing. Taking the 8kg Cooler Master Mystique to my friend was not an easy feat, but it was worth it. Side by side with his PC, we switched video card and voila! My PC booted perfectly, and his failed miserably, with no display and no motherboard beeping. The culprit was found and I was off to buy a new GPU for an old PC.
I bought a new Geforce 8800GT with 1 gigs of RAM. The card fit perfectly and my system looked fine as the POST showed everything fine and booted into windows. After installing the newest drivers, I decided I'd test Wolfenstein. The game ran perfectly, on high graphics and 1680:1050 resolution. Happy with it, I thought I'd try some Half Life 2. This is when trouble began. At the first loading screen the refresh rate was off and the monitor flickered like water. I reset the PC afraid it might damage to my monitor - ViewSonic VG2030wm LCD, not really friendly when it comes to high refresh rates. So I ran the game again and there it was - the graphic corruption I had earlier, the bluish vertical flickering lines. In game they would be visible in different places. Tried GTR 2 - again some video corruption, though slightly less noticeable (in smaller areas). Tried playing a movie - again video corruption. Tried PES 2009 - same story.
Thinking it might be the RAM, I tried running with only one stick of 1GB DDR2, but to no avail, both of them showed the corruption. Now I'm thinging either PCI-Express Slot, Motherboard RAM Slot, or anything you guys can come up with. Any, any help and ideas will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.
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