Colored vertical lines

[gravitywell]

I turned on my system today, and I was welcomed by a full screen of vertical lines! I opened the side, everything "looks" okay. I restarted, this time, I got different colored lines, but still....lines. I dont know what to do. I took my GeForce4 ti4600 out, and I'm running off of my onboard video (ewww Geforce2 :()

I don't know what to do, I'm still under warantee (I think) Could anyone help me? Maybe something is just wrong? I've cleaned the card up (dusted) and reinstalled it, but I'm getting the same effect!

I'm not overclocked at all.

[El<(')>Maxi]

Did you try unplugging the PS at all?

[gravitywell]

I flicked the kill switch when I was taking it out...I never unplugged the PS from the wall, or the mobo.

The card is still under warantee through Alienware until February. I'd rather just "fix" the card if its something little and stupid that I've done, rather than run through hoops trying to get a replacement on something they don't carry anymore. I'm just afraid they'll try to pawn a lower-end GeforceFX on me. I wonder if they would upgrade me to a 5900U lol ;)

I'd rather just get this one to work, if at all possible.

[DaddyB]

Try a different driver version and try that card in another computer if at all possible. If it still has the lines then I think your best bet is to contact Alienware, reseating the card and cleaning it may help in some cases like this but seeing as you have already done both there is nothing more to do on your part. Fixing the card would be next to impossible and any attempt at doing so would void your warranty.

Just email (or phone) Alienware and tell them about the problem, they will probably email you back and say try this, try that...blah blah blah. Once that is done they will probably (hopefully) ship you a card to replace it and once you receive it you can ship the faulty one back to them, many times this is done at no cost to you (I don't know about Alienware's policy, you may have to pay to ship the faulty card to them). I think they will be able to give you another Ti4600 but if they say they are out then don't let them send you anything less then a FX5600 ULTRA, you may want to ask what you will be getting before they send it to save some hassle.

[gravitywell]

Thanks for the input, I'm too sleepy tonight to call em, I'll give them a ring tomorrow. I checked their site, they have listed (on their systems) the following cards

NVIDIA GeForce™ FX 5200 Ultra 128MB 8x AGP w/DVI & S-Video
NVIDIA GeForce™ FX 5600 256MB 8x AGP w/DVI & S-Video
NVIDIA GeForce™ FX 5900 Ultra 256MB 8x AGP w/DVI & S-
ATI RADEON™ 9800 PRO 256MB 8x AGP w/DVI & S-Video

I want something compariable to the 4600, or better. I haven't kept up with the graphics cards in the new family. I paid $400 for the 4600 when it first arrived, and I know you can get em for $200 now, but its still a $400 card to me :(

So, basically, jump on a 5900 or 9800 ;) be happy with a 5600? or is the 5600 actually worse than my 4600? And, correct me if I'm wrong, if they have a few 9700pro's around, that's better than the 4600, right? :)

[DaddyB]

A 9700 is definetly faster then the 4600, The 5600 ultra is comparable to your card. The 5600 will not do as well in regular gaming (or 3dmark for that matter) but it will do better then your 4600 with AA and AF on, you may want to try to push for a 5800 or better if you have to stay with an Nvidia card. On the ATi side (and this may be your best bet) a 9500pro would be pretty good. Again it may not do quite as well as your 4600 for regular gaming but with AA and or AF on it will do better then your 4600. Both the 5600 and 9500 are DX9 cards.

You may want to have a look at the numbers yourself to see exactly what you can expect from your replacement card, here are a few links which will help in your decision (keep in mind the Ti4800 is a ti4600 with AGP 8x, it performs the same as a 4600 and the Ti4200 is about 10% slower then your Ti4600):

http://www.tomshardware.com/graphic/20030311/geforcefx-5600-5200-03.html#unreal_tournament_2003

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1797&p=6

One last thing to note is that there is an issue with all of the GFFX cards and Half Life 2 (due out in sept), none of the GFFX cards will be able to use AF for that game, the ATi cards should be OK. If you intend on playing that game it is something to keep in mind while deciding on what card you want.

[gravitywell]

Okay, update to my situation, I contacted alienware, did some troubleshooting (that's I've already done, but was necessary). I get a card for the same price I paid for mine, roughly $400 (I bought the 4600 when it first came out). So, the options are basically 5900U or 9800pro. I'm leaning towards the 9800pro, but I've never owned anything except nVidia products...I dunno, any input?

I've checked those links, but none compair the 5900U. From the tom's link, it looks like the 5800U and the 9800U are even competetors. But you did mention the AF on the 9800U...hmm

I searched over tom's site, and found the Doom III challenege, or whatever they called it. The 5900U outperformed the other cards in almost every test. They did mention the AF problem and related it to the drivers, not the chip itself. And to be honest, I dont think I ever used AF on my 4600, lol. I'm leaning towards the 5900U at the moment. I just can't decide.

[DaddyB]

Yeah it's a tough choice, both cards are really good. I think the deciding factor between the 2 are the games that haven't come out yet, mainly doom3 and half life 2 (makes it hard to say which is better now). I think ATi would be a better choice for HL2 and Nvidia would be a better choice for doom3 (dont put too much stock in the recent doom3 benches though, the game is far from finished. I think ATi will catch up a bit but Nvidia will still play it a bit better). If you plan on playing games based on both engines..hmm...well flip a coin?

Whichever card you get you will be happy with and either card will be 40% or more faster then your 4600, there is no wrong choice.

If you are interested in benches check out these:

http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.html?i=1821&p=24

http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=NDg5LDM=

And if it has any effect on your decision don't forget that nvidia has been cheating in some benchmarks recently:

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,3973,1150289,00.asp

http://firingsquad.gamers.com/news/newsarticle.asp?searchid=5313

The cheats don't affect performance that much, its more a question of whether you are willing to buy a card from a company that is lying to you about the performance of the card.

[gravitywell]

After a long week of sitting on hold and talking to countless tech support and customer service representatives...I'm getting a 9800pro. Its a pretty long story, to sum it up...three people said I was getting the upgrade, another said they had 4600's in stock. They originally "substituted" a 4400, to which I was upset (because it wasn't the upgrade I had been promised three times). I called, and used their online tech support chat, finally was upgraded to a 9700 non-pro. I was satisfied with this, as the chat guy said that I would be being contacted to futher fix the issue. I entered the room again today, to find out when they were going to be contacting me, I chatting with the same Tech Support member, he checked my account, they decided instead of talking to me, they've upgraded my order to a 9800pro (their most expensive card). I didn't have a choice between that and the 5900ultra, but I got a new card, I'm again, happy with Alienware, and I can start thinking about upgrading the rest of my computer :)

[gravitywell]

I have another question regarding my new card...
Its listed as 8x AGP
I'm fairly certain, that my mobo is 4x AGP

Will this cause any problems? or will it just half my performance?

[TheMatrixHasYou]

It doesn't really matter, AGP 8x doesn't make a difference. It will have the same performance running at AGp 4x.

[gravitywell]

Well, a very recent update, I called Alienware again to get the RMA number on the new card...they are -now- shipping a 9800 non-pro.

Yes, I'm getting an upgrade, and I may sound like I'm whining and being ungratful for getting an upgrade in the first place...but I was told I was getting a 9800pro...THREE TIMES, once in text!

I just don't understand, should I even call them back? or just take the 9800 and be content? I wouldn't really care, if they hadn't told me on three seperate occasions I was getting a 9800pro.

/sigh

so far, I've been told I'm being shipped:
9700 non-pro
geforce4 ti4600
9800pro
9800 non pro

to my knowledge, they don't even carry the 9800 non-pro.

/double sigh

[gravitywell]

/screams

Now I'm getting a 9800 pro, again...

I think I'm going to stop for a week, til it gets here!

I'm going to collect these posts that I've made regarding Alienware and put them in the Vendor discussion...because that's what this turned into, I just wanted to keep everyone up to date with the situation!

I know most people here don't like AW to start with, but I didn't know any better when I bought the system.

[Overclocker550]

wow I cant believe you are even complaining, I would be grateful for a 9700 non pro. your ti4600 is worth $130 right now, seriously. you are getting a card worth more than double that

[gravitywell]

I know, I sound ungrateful, but if someone promised you a 9800pro, then took it away, then promised it again, and took it away and promised it again, and took it away...

I have a new question about 9800 pros...are they made with 128mb of ram? My online shipping invoice is for:

1 | ATI RADEON 9800 PRO 128MB DDR

I wasn't aware that the 9800 Pro was made with 128, I thought the pro was 256mb.

Can anyone clarify this?

[snyper1982]

they make both