Display Issue

[grhallen]

Hello,

I put a Gforce 8800 that I got from a friend into my computer and it was working great for about a week. Then I some funny display issues where all I see are black and white boxes. I took out the 8800 and put in my old 6600 and everything worked okay. Does this mean that my video card is shot or is there some kind of fix for this?

Thanks

 

[the_thr34t]

It could be related to overheating. If you could post your system specs that would help a lot.

 

[grhallen]

Here are the specs

Intel Pentium 4, 3ghz I am not sure if I am over clocking. There are times when I get an over clocking failure but things boot up just fine afterwards.

1 gig of ram

Asus Motherboard (not sure what type)

windows XP


There has been a high pitched noise coming from my power source. It happens right when I turn it on then it goes away.

I booted it up about 10 min ago and it worked until I got to the windows boot up stage and then it gave be black and white squares.

Need any other info?

 

[the_thr34t]

Do you know what power supply you have? It sounds like that could be the source of the problem.

 

[grhallen]

The label has kinda faded a bit on the power supply. Its about 4 yrs old and it is a 450W power supply. I am also running 2 DVD drives off the power supply. The GeForce 8800 required connecting to the power supply where my old 6600 did not.

Do you recommend a decent power supply that isn't terribly expensive?

 

[the_thr34t]

What is your price range?

The Rosewill HIVE series is great, I just got mine today.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817182133&Tpk=rosewill%20hive%20750

They have 650W and a 550W versions also but tbh I'd just go with the 750W since it can support multiple GPUs for future upgrades.

 

[grhallen]

Well I just put in the new power source, an Antec 650W, and I still got the same display issue. It is strange because I am able to get too the widows boot up screen and then there is the black and white squares. I tried booting into safe mode and still there is an issue with the display. This leads me to think that it is the video cart that is the issue.

So, I am looking for a new video card that isn't expensive and could run Diablo 3. I don't need amazing graphics but I would like something that would hold up if I do choose to upgrade the other parts of my comp (processor and stuff like that). I know I have the new power source that works

thanks for the help

 

[the_thr34t]

Well at least we isolated the problem haha. How much are you willing to spend on a video card, maybe I could recommend something.

 

[grhallen]

After looking at the best cards for your buck section on Tom's I have narrowed it down to 3 cards:

Radeon HD 6790
Radeon HD 6850
Radeon HD 6870

The question is: what am I gaining when I got from the 6790 to the higher cards? I am looking to spend about 150 but if I could get away with spending less that would be nice. I am really trying to get my system to run Diablo 3 and not much else.

Also, what brands are the best for video cards?


Thanks

 

[the_thr34t]

To be honest, the 6850 is the best bang for your buck on that list. What you can try doing is, contact newegg support before you order and tell them you want to get some type of discount because you only have so much money to spend and you haven't had the best experience with their service in the past but you want to support them. They should offer you a $10 refund once your order ships. Combine that with a rebate and you can potentially pay about $125 for the card, which is pretty good.

 

[grhallen]

Thanks a lot for the help!