Monitor and graphics card conflict!

sherbie28

This is a long post so bear with me. I had a new base unit built at my local independant pc
shop (spec at bottom of page). I've been having loads of problems and someone has finally
worked out that the nvidia graphics card was set at 75hz but my monitor (Samsung Syncmaster 710T)
mode is set at 1280x1024 60hz. So when the pc was on it was fine but as soon as I tried to
reboot (eg, cos it was a new system I had to put all my software back on etc) I would get a
black screen with blue lines, then I would try to reboot and get nothing or a completely
scrambled picture. If I left the whole pc switched off for 20 mins or so and then put it back
on it would be ok until I tried to do something that it didn't like. So, I changed the nvidia
settings to 1280x1024 60hz and thought the problem was fixed. However, I was on MSN live messenger
last night using webcams. I tried to make my sister's picture full screen and when I finished
and minimized it back I got the black screen and blue lines and had to turn off the whole pc
again to get it working again. I mentioned this to someone who was helping me out and he said
it could have just been an msn glitch and he told me to put a dvd in and see if it can play that.
Well I loaded a dvd in windows media player and I can see the film but the entire screen is green and
the picture jumps. I looked in the FAQ of Win MP11 and it said try unchecking the 'use overlays' box which
I did but it didn't make a difference. Then it said uncheck the 'use video mixing renderer' and that
made no difference. At the bottom it says there may be a problem with the video card driver is these two
fixes don't fix it. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I can solve these display problems? Thanks

Samsung Syncmaster 710T (on a DVI connection)
Intel Core 2 CPU 6300 @ 1.86ghz
1 GB of RAM
NVIDIA Geforce 7300 GT
Standard keboard and mouse (corded)
Pinnacle PCTV DVB-T PCI
Realtek High Defiition Audio
Windows XP Home Service Pack 2

Zahc

If your card isn't lunched I'd say you have a nvidia driver problem. They're notorious for not installing correctly if you have anti-virus running when installing. I'd uninstall the driver and install the latest drivers with all AV etc disabled (don't forget to disconnect from net).

Zahc

DrSmutt

Is your power supply up to the job what wattage is it?

I would reinstall/update the drivers motherboard/gfx card

Your monitor can handle
[FONT=Arial,Bold]
[/FONT]

Optimum resolution 1280 x 1024@60 Hz

Maximum resolution 1280 x 1024@75 Hz

possible faulty GfxCard.

sherbie28

There wasn't any AV on it when the drivers were installed because they did that in the shop and I put AVG on when it came home.

I can only select 60hz in the display properties settings. There isn't an option to select 75hz.

I've had another monitor on it and it didn't have the black screen/blue lines problem. But, while it was on my friend's monitor I still had one of the faults which is showing up on mine. When I play a DVD the screen is green while the trailers are on and once the film starts it is ok picture wise but there is no sound at all. I have tried 3 different programs to run a DVD and it's exactly the same on them all. I have sound when I play an mp3 or have my tv tuner card running.

The power supply wattage is 250w (i think), I think it's built into the case.

Tyrannical

I have a feeling they might not have installed the nvidia drivers for your card but just left you with the ones that windows put on there during the install of the operating system, which are very old usually. Go to control panel >performance and maintenance > system, click on the harware tab, then device manager button. In there you will see display click the little plus sign next to it and then right click on your graphics card, select properties and go to the driver tab at the top, the latest drivers are 93.71 so if it's a lot lower than that it might be worth getting the new ones, download them from here :

Nvidia Geforce Drivers 93.71


Also, when you can i would certainly look at upgrading that power supply, 250w is very poor for todays machines.

As for the sound, you may need a AC3 codec i think it is, as most DVD's are in dolby 5.1 these days, might be worth a try

sherbie28

Hello,

I uninstalled the drivers, download the link you gave me. Turned AVG off, installed the 93.71. When it booted up the screen size is 800x600 @ 60hz. So I tried to change the screen size by going to desktop>right click> properties> settings and tried to drag the size upto 1280x1024 and click ok, the screen goes blank, I get my usual black screen with blue lines but after about 20-30 seconds the screen comes back on and on the little grey box where you can adjust the screen size it's dropped back to 800x600 and this happens every time I try to increase the size. I am writing this post while I am still in the 800x600 mode.

Tyrannical

Oh dear, it certainly wasn't my intention to worsen the situation

Maybe it'll be worth taking it back to the shop that made it for you, if you'd prefer not to there are some other things to try, i'll draw up a list.

maybe the motherboard drivers need updating, do you know the make and model of the motherboard? or maybe it needs it's bios flashing (warning : do not flash your bios if you are not sure what you are doing, it is a relatively simple process but get it wrong and you could render you motherboard dead)

Is the card PCI-E or AGP?, if it's PCI-E maybe they forgot to hook up the extra power lead to the card itself

This one may be a little basic so sorry if it sounds patronising, sometimes motherboards come with intergrated graphics on them. When you clicked the plus sign next to display in the device manager were 2 graphics cards in there or just the 1? If 2 then it may be causing conflicts and the onboard one will need to be disabled in the bios. Also if there is a graphics card built into the motherboard perhaps you have plugged the monitor into the wrong one??

There is also another set of drivers that nvidia supply called forceware, may be worth a try the latest release is 81.98 and you can get it here:

Nvidia Forceware driver 81.98

There is also the possibility that there is a fault in one of the parts causing these errors, so if you don't fancy getting too technical just pop it back to the shop, explain the problem and let them sort it, i assume they offer some kind of aftersales support?

If you still have no joy give us some more details, motherboard brand and model, graphics card brand etc. Might be able to turn up some more specific info that could help you then.

sherbie28

Hello,

First of all thanks for all the help.
I have fixed the DVD playback problem, I got a link from here for VLC player and it plays the dvds with sound and no picture problems. So that's solved.

Secondly, a friend brought round their tft and it worked fine, it rebooted etc and didn't have any of the black screen or rebooting errors.

Does that mean I have to go out an buy a new monitor (this one is only 1.5 years old). Or is there likely to be some setting that I could be able to change and it will work fine? I've tried to ring Samsung but typically their Technical Department isn't answering because they have a large backlog of customer callbacks!

ASUS P5VD2-X motherboard
Xpertvision NVIDIA Geforce 7300 GT (i think it's on a PCI-E slot if that makes any difference).

startrekker

The instructions for your monitor are fairly comprehensive and understandable, have you had a chance to look at them at all. There is also a self feature test to see if there is a problem with the monitor itself. So before you go and spend your money have a look at the instructions, and perhaps go back to basics and re-set all the settings. Instructions can be downloaded from HERE, click on the global download tab

sherbie28

Hi,

I've done all the tests that I can for the monitor and it comes back with no faults. I have read the manual and the only piece of info that I can find regarding my error is the
'Can you see "Not Optimim Mode. Rec mode 1280x1024 60hz" on the screen?'. The response is that the signal from the video card exceeds the max resolution and frequency that the monitor can properly handle. But I have adjusted these two in the Nvidia control and the problem is still happening. I am waiting now to see if Samsung can shed any light on the problem.

startrekker

sherbie28 wrote:

Secondly, a friend brought round their tft and it worked fine, it rebooted etc and didn't have any of the black screen or rebooting errors.


ASUS P5VD2-X motherboard
Xpertvision NVIDIA Geforce 7300 GT (i think it's on a PCI-E slot if that makes any difference).

I suppose you used their cables as well when you tried and it worked ok. Any chance of trying their monitor cable, I had a tft once that the cable was a bit dodgy and the screen would go a bit crazy, I just used to wiggle the cable til it setteled itself.......worth a shot, especially as thiers worked ok.