What the heck is up with this?

[Cupe|ix]

I've got an Evga GF4 4400, WinXP with SP1, on a 1800+ Tbred and Asus A7N266 motherboard.

Sometimes when I simply start up windows, I immediately get stripes of blue artifacts running across the screen! Sometimes, it only happens after the comp has been running for a little while.

Yet, sometimes, this never occurs at all, even after a couple hours of heavy gaming.


Is this a compatibility thing with Windows? I can go into the BIOS and there are absolutely no display issues. I have the latest drivers from Nvidia's website, and the latest updates to Windows XP.

I have also checked my temperatures, the proc is under 50C, and I even touched the GPU heatsink while it was running...wasn't even warm to the touch. The case is a bit cramped, but I took things apart and ran it. The overall temps went down, but I still had the artifact problem.

I'm going to quickly try uninstalling the drivers to see if that is the problem...but in the meantime, does anyone have an idea what this could be? Anyone have similar problems and knew how to fix it?


:EDIT: I tried fixing the drivers...no help there. Also, I tried the onboard video of my motherboard, it worked with no problem. I then switched back to the GF 4, and it worked fine for a little while playing Morrowind. Then the textures started breaking up again, and more artifacts...and when I quit, I got some kind of device failure message from Windows. So what's going on here?

[Cupe|ix]

Also, how much give should there be in an AGP slot? Like how much should the card be able to move side to side in the slot? The case I got just this new PC was on the cheapo side, and the thin metal inside isn't too sturdy. When I installed the GF4, I had to push part of the case to get the screw hole to line up on the card edge. I didn't hear any sounds of stressing when I tried it, so I guess it's not damaged in any way. And I KNOW it's not getting too hot, the GPU heatsink barely gets warm after long periods running highly GPU intensive games.

I noticed once when I tapped the case by accident, some of the artifacting went away. Another time I thumped the top of it when the problem was really bad, and it completely went away for a while. I think the problem with having to force the case and stuff might have been pulling the card slightly out of the proper position, so I took out the mounting screw.

Currently as I only have 1 monitor and 2 computers to worry about, I'll have to wait until later to test this theory.

I think this is probably the problem, but I'd still appreciate any suggestions as to what else this could possibly be.

[Cupe|ix]

Well I was right. The case I'm using now has a cheapo really thin aluminum plate in the back. I don't know why they did this with the case...it warps REALLY easily...it got bad enough that the backplate for the mobo hardly fits at all, and the screw holes line up poorly for add-in cards.

This makes my GeForce not fit properly and secure. It locks tight into the AGP slot, but it can still move a bit from side to side, and without something else to really lock it down, the simple act of plugging the monitor cable into it can throw it off. I tested this...when the card was in the right position (hard to do with nothing to lock it down) there was no more desktop artifacts, and 3D apps had a perfect display. Still I don't get this though...it's not being pulled out of the slot at all, right now it's screwed in tightly and doesn't budge at all when I touch it. Plus, it worked perfectly the first few times I hooked it up...then it started with the weird artifacting stuff.

I have another case built with some pretty solid steel, but unfortunately it's old. It only has pre-placed cutouts where the backplate would go that won't fit my mobo...and it has no reset button :(

Does CompUSA have some nice, solid cases, prefferably cheap...don't need included power supply.

Bah...between this and having to replace a dead monitor, I'm out another 200 bucks...this computer hates me!

[Wommalong]

I have the same problem with my GeForce4 Ti4400, it is a rather thick single pale blue stripe that appears (Horizontal line)... what gives?:(

[kevmarks]

It's a common problem with cheap cases. I have never heard of the back plate warping before :eek:. But pushing the case in to hook up the graphics card screw happens all the time.

[JimmyG]

The CompUSA in my area (Detroit northern suburb) has LianLi and Antec cases.

[Cupe|ix]

Actually, the backplate itself didn't warp, but the hole where it goes did. So did a couple case openings where expansion cards face out...haha this cheap POS case...I'll replace it eventually.

But...this problem with my GF4 really blows! This case won't lock it into position properly. (And the mobo is cramped too...the edge of the card barely fits in front of the RAM clips! In fact it looks like it might bend slightly, hmmm...)

At least the board has built in GeForce 2 graphics...and yeah it suxors, but it can still run Morrowind at a nicely playable framerate and has OC options in the BIOS, so that'll keep me happy until I replace this crappy case and can use my GF4 again :)