My screen looks all fucked up. Help!
 

Ok, so lately there are these black lines across my monitor screen, and they seem to trail off of text or any window on the desktop.

The overall normal brightness of my monitor has dimmed quite a bit. When I maximize a window, the screen becomes bright, but when I minimize it, it becomes dim again.

I connected my computer to a different monitor and the same thing happened, so I know it's not my monitor. I also double checked the connection and it's quite secure back there.

Do you think this is a video card problem? And if so, how easy is it to replace it yourself?

How will I know what video card is compatible with my system?

Thanks for your help in advance!

Hrm, Could you specify what resolution and hz setting your using? Along with monitor brand/age, video card as well.

sounds like your HT transformer is dying, or the tubes board is going out, it'll ususally start to turn white/grey with regular black lines, sometimes slanted and often with =more diagonal ones that are slightly dimmer, the brightness/contrast controls often do slightly odd things, maybe very bright

Its hard to say without testing, it could simply be a dry joint on the controller board, or just dying, either way it'd require someone who knows about monitors to fix it.

Sometimes you can turn up the contrast grid on the HT transformer to correct the brightness but thats inside the monitor, and monitors are extremely dangerous devices.

If it is a fault with the monitor , see if you can find a free estimate shop.

It sounds like a jacked video card to me, but someone else might know more about the symptoms. If it is the card, it really varies on how hard it is to replace. You will have to know if it's AGP(or if you at least have an AGP slot), PCI, or on-board. Do you know what these terms mean. If not I'll give you an explanation.

P.S. - charliex, did you see that she tried it on a diff monitor and the same thing happened?

Try reseating your video card.

48.3 kHz / 60 Hz

1024 x 768

I'm using a Trinitron 17" flatscreen monitor. It is just over 3 years old.

As far as the video card, I have a NVIDIA GeForce 256 32Mb, which is also just over 3 years old.

I will try to reseat my video card.. hopefully it will work, but I'm not feeling confident.

60Hz? Yikes.

Try another vid cable if you can, but it sounds like the monitor is on it's way out.

try switchi monitors with a friend if you can and make sure that it's the monitor that goin out.

do you have any nerdy freinds? they can probubly help you switch the vid card

I'd have to agree with the rest of the guys on this one, first i'd try switching it with a friend, but for the most part it seems like the monitor is dying.

thecow: heh, nope! doh :)

well forget all that then ;)

Re: My screen looks all fucked up. Help!
 

Re: Re: My screen looks all fucked up. Help!
 

Heeeyyy... Look at that, if I had read it all, I would have noticed that...

*sigh*

Did you use the same video cable? Is there an extension on this cable?

sounds to me like the video card plummie. Ive had similar simptoms from them before.

Try ro reinstall the driver for your card. The NVIDIA web site should have the latest one.

I know some people have mentioned this already, but it cant hurt to try buying a new video cable. And its alot cheaper then a new video card.

sounds weird ive exp. alot of pc crap in my time but, nothing of that sort, sorry dude

Do you have onboard video? If so, remove your GeForce card and plug the monitor into the connector on the motherboard. If the monitor is fine, it's the card. Otherwise, probably the monitor. I've lost two monitors due to heat in the summer in the past few years, and both times, brightness was affected, and the screen would sometimes shake.

I did have a Sony Trinitron 17" monitor at one point that I got used from a yard sale.. Used for good reason. The screen would turn blue every few minutes, and sometimes, the text would trail a bit. I'd be willing to bet the problem is your monitor, but if you have onboard video, test that first.

You should be able to snag something like a GeForce2 quite cheaply, or, better yet, get a GeForce2 used, or best of all, bum one off a friend (the one who has the best system is most likely to have one, or even a few, laying around). You said you switched the monitors and the same thing came up, and it's extremely unlikely that it's a driver problem. So, get a new or another video card and see if the same thing comes up.

Thanks for your input, guys.

I'll let you know how it turns out. :)

as for replacing a video card, it's quite simple to do. similar to replacing a PCI card.

also look into a warranty on your video card (after three years, it may be a stretch, but you never know).

i've never had any experience with Nvidia though, so i don't know how they are about their warranties.

good luck with that.

I had exactly the same problem a couple of months ago, same video card and about the same age (3 years). I reseated the card and checked all the cables and connections, but ended up getting a new card. That was it. I got a rebuilt card from Dell for about $75 -- supposedly a better card, but who knows. You can probably find a better deal online, but I went for it and it fixed my problem so I'm happy.

5 minutes ago i had just had the exact same problem, with the exact same card, with the same amount of time (of course the dell warranty just expired)

the fan just stops running and the card overheats, when i pulled it out, the fan was like frozen, wouldnt move, but just a tiny bit of nudging and it was free, still stiff, but it moved, however it didnt even budge when the machine was turned back on, so i think its just time for a new card

Seen this problem, too. Sounds like the video card is bad.

Your Geforce256 is fried. I had the same thing happen to mine, weird 'ghosting' and shadowing that corrisponded with what was displayed on the screen. Your description sounds exaclty like what happened to me. I replaced the bad video card with a Geforce 4200Ti and the problem was resolved.

cougr, now that you mention it, my card had the same problem with the onboard fan. That's obviously what causes the card to fry -- the fan is only good for a certain number of hours of operation. When it overheats and dies, the card soon follows -- probably within minutes. Guess I should be prepared for this to happen again if I still have this PC 3 years from now.