Fried or ????

[langaan]

2 questions,
first of all, I have been playing everquest2 since it came out on my dimension8300 with 1.5gigs of ram and a 128m Radeon 9800 PRO AGP vid card, and have had no troubles at all.

however, last week, while I was playing, my screen started to flicker, got some dots all over the place etc...

screenshot of what it looks like here ---> http://dread.eq2guilds.org/en/index.vm
(screenshots are on left hand side)

anyways, i restarted my pc and right beofre the windows login screen came up I got a balc screen with this error...
2. Digital Display - Cannot display this video mode

I have updated windows/direct x/all drivers etc... and i have switched around resolution's/speeds etc.. and nothing seems to fix it.
I can get into windows and use the internet etc just fine, but it wont run the game properly anymore.
also, when I boot up, i do see a couple dots/pixles that shouldnt be there, so its definately not just the game.

so my questions are, does anyone know how or if this is fixable?

and my next question, if I need to replace my card, which of the below would be best and would they perform as good as or better then my old 9800 pro?

ATI RADEON 9800 PRO 256MB AGP VIDEO GRAPHICS CARD or...
ATI X1600

id prefer one of the above 2 due to price, but if they cant perform as well as 9800pro 128mg, then i guess id need one of these? (i hope the above radeon will do)
Nvidia 7800GS or ATI X1650PRO 512MB


Thanks in advance.

[gthotmail]

Hi Langaan, I am experiencing similar issue and still waiting for good people here to help me. You might want to check out my thread
http://www.techzonez.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21629
Also, did you try run some other 3D application? because when I ran it the whole desktop goes snowy like the picture you provided.

[rik]

Try reseating the video card, but it looks like the memory on the card may be failing.

I would contact Dell and have them walk you through some diagnostics for the video. Make sure they understand that it happens mainly in any 3D application but also to some extent in 2D apps also.

[gthotmail]

Hi langaan, I just did a research at ATI and here is the info might help:

For users that are experiencing graphical corruption (ie. lines, checkerboard patterns, flashing dots, giant triangles, etc.) in 3D games, full motion video, initial POST screens on start-up or 2D desktop applications:

Issues such as these can sometimes indicate a problem with the hardware of the video card, such as, flaws and/or defects, overheating, hardware damage. These problems can sometimes also be caused by corrupted or incorrect drivers. In all cases, to further troubleshoot, uninstall the current ATI drivers from add/remove programs and try alternate drivers from the previous drivers and software portions of the Customer Care website. If the issues are always present and are unable to be resolved, it is likely that your video card will need to be serviced.

[langaan]

My windows / internet etc run fine, with the exception of a few dots here and there.
I can run nhl2004 without any problems, but eq2 looks like those screenshots.

and no, my desktop doesn't go snowy :/

[langaan]

Hi langaan, I just did a research at ATI and here is the info might help:

For users that are experiencing graphical corruption (ie. lines, checkerboard patterns, flashing dots, giant triangles, etc.) in 3D games, full motion video, initial POST screens on start-up or 2D desktop applications:

Issues such as these can sometimes indicate a problem with the hardware of the video card, such as, flaws and/or defects, overheating, hardware damage. These problems can sometimes also be caused by corrupted or incorrect drivers. In all cases, to further troubleshoot, uninstall the current ATI drivers from add/remove programs and try alternate drivers from the previous drivers and software portions of the Customer Care website. If the issues are always present and are unable to be resolved, it is likely that your video card will need to be serviced.

thanks!

[cash_site]

Could also be an overclocking or heat related issue... try installing your card into another computer and see if the corrupting still shows. Ensure the fan is spinning correctly and not all clogged up with dust.