Solved - Whacked out video card - help?

[Ummon]

I have this ATI X800 that has been running fine since I got it a week or so ago, and then all of a sudden, I was in the middle of Gunsmoke (kickin ass, too!) and this weird glitch occured: the audio stuck and stuttered and the video went out. I rebooted and I started getting these weird lines. I un- and re-installed the drivers and the behavior got more interesting actually.

The first image is after re-installing the drivers and rebooting. I rebooted again and got the second image in the time between bios screen and Windows (I have the boot.ini set to not display the Windows screen), and the third is in Windows.

[Hoopz]

My two guesses would be overheating or a power issue.  Is your power supply new/old and does it produce enough power for everything?  May try taking the side off of the pc case and see if additional air flow helps.

[Ginsu Victim]

The small version of pic 2 looks like a Mugen character select screen shot.

[steveh]

The small version of pic 2 looks like a Mugen character select screen shot.

lol your right!

[Turnarcades]

I've had similar symptoms (particularly the blue screen) when old graphics cards have died. It's likely the card has overheated and cooked some of the circuitry or had a fult along one of the tracks to begin with that has been aggravated with minimal use. I'd reccommend testing it on another PC and returning it for a replacement if necessary; it shouldn't die that quick.

[ark_ader]

Is it a Sapphire by any chance?

[Ummon]

My two guesses would be overheating or a power issue.  Is your power supply new/old and does it produce enough power for everything?  May try taking the side off of the pc case and see if additional air flow helps.

I thought of the heating issue, and did remove the side of the case but it didn't change anything. I went into the bios and checked on the mobo and processor and both were well within safety range. I thought about the PS, and perhaps that is it, although given what's been said, it might be too late. Hmmm. Not a big deal, as it was under twenty dollars including shipping on ebay, but we'll see. Thanks.

Sapphire? I don't think so. Doesn't say it on it.

[Hoopz]

How about trying an older version of the drivers?

[Kevin Mullins]

Have you tried re-seating the card or possibly a different slot ?

[Ummon]

I actually tried a couple/few different drivers.

I think I did pull and reseat the card. I can't further test it because it's PCIe and I only have one computer with that interface. Other cards work fine in it, so I'd guess the PC is fine.

[8way]

I had a similar problem before with an older Nvidia 5xxx FX series(bigest pos series Nvidia ever made). To fix it i had to reflash the bios on the card. Not sure how this happened i was in the middle of just surfing around and BSOD, then WindowsXP would just BSOD every time at startup and restart. My other guess is the RAM on the card got cooked. I experienced a lot of that back in my overclocking days, i frayed a lot of  in my day. All for a higher 3DMark score it was all really stupid and a big waste of $$$ now when i look back on it. Anyways can you RMA the card?

[Hoopz]

I had a similar problem before with an older Nvidia 5xxx FX series(bigest pos series Nvidia ever made). To fix it i had to reflash the bios on the card. Not sure how this happened i was in the middle of just surfing around and BSOD, then WindowsXP would just BSOD every time at startup and restart. My other guess is the RAM on the card got cooked. I experienced a lot of that back in my overclocking days, i frayed a lot of  in my day. All for a higher 3DMark score it was all really stupid and a big waste of $$$ now when i look back on it. Anyways can you RMA the card?

He bought it off Ebay so an RMA is out.  Perhaps contacting the seller but we know how that goes sometimes.

[protokatie]

One quick way to to see if the PSU isnt giving it enough power: Just unplug the power from everything you dont need to start the compy up (DVD drive, extra HD's, as well as anything hooked external). If you have a sound card, or (for whatever reason) a card slot modem, unhook them too. If the thing works after this, then it is either the PSU not giving it the juice it needs (most likely) or a compat issue with other hardware.

Too be honest, sounds to me like either heat, or mis-manufactured... In which case you may now just have a paperweight...

[Ummon]

I thought of contacting the seller, but they didn't appear too knowledgable through their communication, and besides it wasn't a lot of cash that I feel it's worth that hassle. I haven't done any more trouble-shooting on it, though I did use an online PS calculator, and with that particular mobo/chipset, that card, and more devices than I have hooked up, I came in at about 320 watts usage. My PS is 380 watts. I'll consider the suggestion. As well, I know someone who may test it for me further, though.

[Ummon]

Well, I went an disconnected my aux HD and DVD drive and after running for hours there were no issues. Then I ran mame, DDraw+hwstretch, and I got those screwy lines and stuff. I dunno. Maybe it does need a bios reset - but, at least with XP, that seems a hassle - one needs to make floppy copies and do weird things. Hmmmm. (It didn't work with Advancemame anyway, but it would be nice to be able to sell it if it worked properly.)

[DeLuSioNal29]

Perhaps it's the system ram?  Have you tried running Memtest on the machine?  http://www.memtest.org/

~ DeLuSioNaL

[Ummon]

Thanks, I'll try that out.

[Gehrig]

You said you tried a few different drivers.. did that include the Omega drivers?

[Ummon]

Um, I think so. For regular operation though, vs Advancemame compatibility, I don't think that's the issue, as without drivers I got the same behavior.

[Ummon]

Essentially, I asked my computer guy about it and he said it might be in warranty. Though I got this on ebay, I sent it in - all I needed to give were part and serial numbers from the sticker on the back - and they fixed it and it's workin just fine. Horray.