MSI FX5600 VTDR128 messing up screen

[johnnycuesta]

Hello everyone, I just bought a MSI FX5600 VTDR128 and it is messing up my screen upon booting up. I tried the drivers from MSI which don't even allow windows XP to load. I installed the drives from Nvidia, 45.0 something the lastest one which didnt resolve the issue. I have a SOYO MB with 1.2Ghz Atlon Tbird with 512MB RAM. To describe the issue a little better when I boot up it looks like there are blocks on my screen. Any suggestions as far as troubleshooting the issue? If I need to put more info of the problem please tell me. Thanks in advance

 

[ufo_warviper]

Hey dude, sorry about your prob man. Could you please go into more detail on what "messing up my screen upon booting up" actually means. Are you able to complete the boot process? Are you even making it out of the POST test ok? What it sounds like your saying is either "it messes up while booting" or "it messes up after booting". That makes a great deal of difference in how we percieve the situation and uncovering a solution. From the context of your situation it sounds like your making it inside Windows. You could have your screen resolution set to high, or your monitor refresh rate could be out of wack. Have you tried booting up in safe mode to try monkying with settings? If you haven't you can get into safemode by repeatdly tapping the"F8" key during the boot up process after you finish the Power-on-Self-Test. Once this option has been activated, select the "Safe Mode" option" on the by tapping the corresponding number key on the list of which ever number "safe mode" is. I hope this helps in the meantime. I'll be back once you are aable to do this.

My OS features preemptive multitasking, a fully interactive command line, & support for 640K of RAM!

 

[johnnycuesta]

Yeah I am able to boot up and run windows. What I mean by messing up is that the screen looks distorted. You see the boot up and windows but looks like blocks are all over the screen. Could it be my monitor can't even handle the card? I booted up in safemood and get the same thing. I have a ANTEC 430W PS, just have one DVD drive and a CDRW drive. Floppy and 80 Gig HD so I think the card if getting enough power.

 

[ufo_warviper]

It's possible your video card could be faulty then. Don't take my word on it, wait for additional input from the other fellas here. I would trust just about any of them, even the ones I get in occaisional debates with. Wait for a several regulars to respond, and build you decision on the well-rounded input of multiple people. MSI makes good cards, spectacular in fact, but its possible for a mistake to made by even the best of manufacturers - that's what tech support's for.

The following is my suggestion, but like I said wait for more replies:

I would fill out an RMA request send the card back to your retailer. The GeForce FX 5600 Ultra is inferior to the Radeon 9600 Pro in DirectX 9 Performance. Also the Radeon 9600 Pro from a decent manufacturer is usually better priced than the FX 5600 Ultra. The Radeon 9600 Pro is far more future proof than the 5600 Ultra, but it might also be worth considering investing more for a Radeon 9700 non-pro if you want a more future proof product. If you could get a Hercules, Sapphire, or "Built by ATi 9700 Pro for $230 to $250 that would be great. Also, a 9600 Pro from thes emanufacturers for about $150 wouldn't be bad either. Just check your memory/GPU clock settings when you browse for boards, as well as the bus-bit bandwidth & you shold do fine.

My OS features preemptive multitasking, a fully interactive command line, & support for 640K of RAM!

 

[davemar14]

You had said that you thought maybe your monitor couldn't handle the graphics. That is not the case. Your power supply should be more than enough, so I would doubt that this is the problem either. My guess is that the card is bad. But before you send it back, just make sure that you seated the card right in the AGP slot. They tend to go in hard. Usually the computer won't boot if the card is not seated properly, but I would reseat the card, just to rule that out. Good luck with your problem.

 

[johnnycuesta]

Was doing some research and found this

http://www.soyousa.com/kb/kbdesc.php?id=110

Getting lines, distorted colors, or mixed colors on the screen is a sign of degradation of the VGA card, unstable ram module or if the video card is not seated properly on the board.
at this point please make sure to:
1. Reseat the VGA card, if this is a PCI video card please try the card on different PCI sockets.
2. Press down the video card to make sure it is fully seated in the socket.
3. Uninstall and reinstall the VGA drivers to make sure this is not caused by software corruption.
4. Try replace the ram module or if you have more than one pc of ram, install one for now to find out if one of them may be defective.
If all above mentioned steps failed to better results, please replace the VGA card.

Guess I have to call for a RMA 🙁

 

[ufo_warviper]

Just make sure you get a Radeon 9500 or better, and no FX cards. Tell me your price range, and I'll tell you what you'll probably be happiest with for your money. Also, I can show you some reccomended brands and stock settings. SOME manufactures produce their cards really cheap, by skimping on certain components and not producing them up to standard specs.

My OS features preemptive multitasking, a fully interactive command line, & support for 640K of RAM!

 

[johnnycuesta]

Anyone ever heard of a powersupply affecting a video card. I spoke to tech support for the site where I brought my G4 FX 5600 and they informed me that Antec power supplies have been the cause of distortion for a lot of their RMAs. Good thing I have a few spare parts and another ps to test with.

 

[ufo_warviper]

WHAT?!?! That doesn't sound right. Oh well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try the othere PS, but I doubt that's the prob. I thought Antec was a reccomended powersupply brand, but I could be wrong considering I have never actually had to shop for a poer supply yet. (I'm only 20 - I just used the spare cases my Dad gets from his job).

My OS features preemptive multitasking, a fully interactive command line, & support for 640K of RAM!