Display Problems - Graphics

[wardy_1972]

Hi guys

Please can somebody give me a clue as to what is causing my display problem on my PC?

I have an ATI Radeon 4850. About 2 months ago I started getting fuzzy vertical lines (the same distance apart) about 2 inches wide.

I swapped the VGA cable, tested with another monitor etc etc and eventually re-installed the drivers. This fixed the problem but as of 3 days ago the same thing has happened. Once again I re-installed the drivers, which worked first time but now the problem is continuous. Again i've swapped the vga cable, tried on another monitor, checked temp of graphics card but cannot get these lines to disappear.

This problem occurs as soon as I switch the PC on and also occurs in VGA mode. I do keep getting the message about 'no input signal check video cable' but as i've said i've tried 3 different cables and two different monitors. Any other ideas cos i'm stumped

 

[renz496]

maybe your card is damaged. i assumed this after you switching with two monitors and three VGA cables but the problem still persist.

 

[wardy_1972]

I'm not sure. I just thought though that because it happens as soon as I turn on the PC and in VGA mode that it wouldn't be a card problem? Every now and again it will work fine and then it returns

 

[pluke the 2]

Trying running in safe mode and see what happens during windows.

 

[hero9989]

This happenned to my dads old ATI 9800, it basically means your card is broken.. either that or it isn't seated properly in the motherboard or something along those lines.
Maybe when you played with the VGA cables you reseated the card in its slot, then somehow it's become loose again, make sure it's in its slot properly.

When this happened to my dads PC though he had to replace the card...
Is there any way you could try the card in a friends computer?

 

[coozie7]

It could just be the card is not seated properly, just take it out and put it back and see if this helps but it looks like the video RAM is at fault:

http://www.playtool.com/pages/artifacts/artifacts.html

If the card is still under warranty you should RMA it.
If not you might try this:

http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1421792.

At least one poster has used this 'home workshop' method with success but it is a last resort if the card is out of warranty.

A video RAM fault will be seen as soon as the system powers up, it has nothing to do with Windows or the drivers, it is a hardware issue with the card itself.

 

[wardy_1972]

OK, thanks for your answers guys. Was hoping it wouldn't be the graphics card because I haven't had it long and i'm not sure i've still got the receipts. Any suggestions about a card to replace the HD4850? I'll probably avoid ATI this time around.

 

[hunter315]

Why? Is it out of warranty?

Unfortunately the fact that you managed to screen shot it means that is has to be before the video output.

What resolution do you run your monitor at as that determines which card you need, just get one from XFX, BFG, or select eVGA cards that have a lifetime warranty so you can just get a trade in the future if this ever happens again(the odds are low)