el jeferino

Distinguished
Oct 1, 2009
2
0
18,510
Having a problem with a new build. Thought I had a simple refresh rate/ sync problem: when running video/ animation I get faint horizontal lines that flicker up and down the screen. I tried messing with the refresh rates accross all resolutions- no help. switched out monitors - no help. bought a new graphics card- no help. re-installed all chipset drivers- no help. I tried to flash the bios but I got all sorts of error messages and no help. reverted to optimal bios settings- no help.

I have two more theories: 1. bad PCI-e slot?, 2. interference from MoBo /CPU fan?

these seem unlikely, but I'm out of ideas. any advice?

Hardware:
AMD 64 Phenom 9600 quad core 2.3GHz
MSI k92N2 platinum 750a SLI
(x2) BFG 250 GTS oc 1g (now running SLI)
(x2) 2Gb memory
750w corsair PS

OS: XP pro x64
 

r_manic

Administrator
Could be a power instability, or simply the cord you used to connect the display to the computer (though you've tried different monitors and thus different cords right?). You may also want to try the video card on another computer, to verify that it's not the cause of your issue.
 

el jeferino

Distinguished
Oct 1, 2009
2
0
18,510
I have an update.

I uninstalled the drivers and both video cards and reinstalled one graphics card (the newest) on the secondary PCI-E slot. I reinstalled the drivers from the GFX card software disc (not the latest driver from the internet). I started a game on the default settings- empire total war, and still had the same problem. I went into the graphics settings forced Vert sync on, and changed refresh rate to 60hz (recommended for native resolution). I restarted the game that I had just tested, and the opening cinematic video and main menu grafix were Clean! however the gameplay screen had the same old problem. I'm fairly well convinced that this is in fact what I had initially suspected as a resolution vs. refresh rate problem - but for some reason (maybe because of a flaw with the newest driver) I was unable to correct it by playing with screen res vs. RFR. maybe it wasn't properly saving the settings - maybe there is an application settings override that I'm unaware of. I do know that despite having Vsync set to "force on" in my control panel, it was not toggled in the game's grafix option screen (didn't make a difference off or on in the game anyway)

My next step plan is to find out what resolution that opening cinematic video is playing in- and change the res settings everywhere else to that resolution.

Is there a way to check what res that might be playing in without trying every res setting? it's not presented as an option in the game options menu. either way this is rediculously frustrating.