Small lines in monitor-interference-

[Black Ops]

I just finished my new computer and when I'm playing games with dark night sky I see ripples in my monitor. This is some type of interference but I'm not sure, I'm thinking fans..... I'm not sure if they all are Ball bearing or not, there is 1-60mm, 2-80mm,and one in the power supply,Video card, plus the P4 stock cooler. Also a CC neon light in the case. I added one of the 80's and I know its a BB fan but not sure about the rest. I have already discoed one fan at a time (all but the power supply, CPU fan,and onboard video fan.)and the neon light, powered it back on and the lines are still there. my video is a Radeon 8500.
Any Idea's ????

Thanks...

[frostmeister]

It's unlikely to be your fans unless they are mains AC powered and the side of your case is off; I would have thought it's related to some interference on your monitor cable possibly, or something related to the refresh rate you're running at. See if changing the refresh rate of your video card can duplicate this effect outside of any games. Try also de-gaussing your monitor to eliminate any possibility of magnetic feilds nearby causing interference. It only seems to be very slight, so see if changing various settings on your video card has any effect, such as gamma level correction (not likely IMO) vertical sync on/off. Moving your monitor away from the PC will probably tell you if it's something in your PC that's causing the problem.

[Black Ops]

sounds like something to try, I had also covered the window in the side of the case with foil, still no luck..

[frostmeister]

From what I've heard about successful magnetic sheilding, it needs to be a ferrous material to stop it, as a magnetic field would induce eddy currents and a magnetic field in opposition to the interference in, say, a steel case, rather than thin sheet aluminium foil. It does sound more like interference on the ramdac or a video card problem, or something related to the video stream from what I can gather. Something I've just thought of - try getting a screen capture in a game, I think F12 prints a screen shot in quake3, into your quake directory. If the screen shot shows interference when you're not playing the game, then it's pointing towards your video stream end of things rather than interference solely through the monitor / VGA cable...

Edit: List your monitor / graphics card / any vga lead extensions or differences from a "normal setup" and any other electrical equipment in the vicinity of your monitor. Might give you an edge on things.

[Black Ops]

I have a Sony 19" CRT,Radeon 8500 retail, no other vga lead extensions.... I have noticed it only shows in one game so far, even in the start up screen of the game before its online. I tryed different res, tweeking the settings with no change. it looks about the the same as what you would see with a dirty power burner near, like a fan, or moter. I'm thinking maybe a bad CPU fan( I running the stock) or maybe even a poor power supply. the sticker on the ps says RAIDMAX 350... Here is a url of the case..
http://www.pcextreme.net/raidmax-a288.php
Thanks for the help...

[frostmeister]

Hmm (scratches head...) apart from what I've said already, I'm scratching my head on this one... I did notice that you've got a sony monitor, and if it's a trinitron screen, then you'll notice two very faint dark lines about 1/3 and 2/3 the way up the screen, on a bright, plain image; These are there due to wires to hold the aperture grille in place, but then you're saying about a dark screen, when you wouldn't see those... It does sound specifically related to the game - have you looked for any patches? is there a game .ini file with res / options / tweaks that you can write in manually? What is the game by the way? If it's only that game, then it's the weirdest software glitch I've ever seen...

[funnyperson1]

if youre using windowsxp or 2000 the refresh rate default to 60hz when playing a game...you will need to download Refreshlock or refresh fix to fix this....powerstrip works for me too...

[xbiker321]

Originally posted by funnyperson1
if youre using windowsxp or 2000 the refresh rate default to 60hz when playing a game...you will need to download Refreshlock or refresh fix to fix this....powerstrip works for me too...

What would be a good Refresh Rate Fix program for my setup *see sig* also where can i download it?

[Black Ops]

Refreshlock did it, I'm running at 100Hz now and the lines are gone, the monitor will do 150Hz max, Thanks..

[funnyperson1]

Originally posted by xbiker321


What would be a good Refresh Rate Fix program for my setup *see sig* also where can i download it?

try refreshlock

[alinosa]

also, make sure you don't have flourescent lighting near your moniter, i had one before and for the longest, i couldn't figure out why i got similar interference to what you describe. i moved it about 6 inches away and i was good to go.