The Damned Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 I got home and looked at my screen about an hour ago, and I was shocked to see that my monitor had a dead pixel. "Fuck. Well, it's not exactly a new monitor anymore, it was bound to happen at som... what. The. Fuck." I saw more. About 30 more. I counted and got almost forty dead pixels, all over my screen. Fuck. But here's the weird thing. I decided to deal with it in the morning, and turned my computer off for the night. When it went through the usual shutdown sequence, I saw the pixels were n longer dead. I fact, they all disappeared. That seemed odd, so I turned the computer back on. During the Windows loading screen, I saw new dead pixels... except they weren't dead. They were large, 2x2 dots on the screen. And they flickered on and off a bit during the loading screen. I took a screencap of my desktop, and then pasted it into GIMP. Zooming in on one of the pixels showed that it was on the image, and not the monitor. Scrolling the image made the monitor develop lines up and down where I moved the image. I' guessing that it's actually the video card (it's a GeForce 7900 GT/GTO; kind of old by current standards, but it's been solid and reliable all this time). Any one have any ideas as to what's causing it, and a possible fix? Thank you in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DusK Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 Sounds like graphical artifacts from your card. If you got a 7900 GT, I'm guessing you've had it for a good while? Maybe it's running hot? Did you OC it? If you have integrated video, pop out your card and try running integrated instead. See if the artifacts still happen. If you still get 'em, yell "fuck me" real loud and call some tech in India. If they don't, pop your video card in and try different drivers. About all the advice I can give besides shelling out for a new video card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 yeah, artifacts. either your computer's overheating because it's getting warm out, or your card's about to go. i doubt he OC'd it if he doesn't know what artifacts look like. load up HWMonitor.exe (free download, no strings attached...NOT hmonitor!) and check out your system temps. if the graphics card temps are under 70 degrees celsius, then your card's going. if they're above that...well, it depends. i have a card that naturally runs at 100c and doesn't have a problem. graphics cards are really easy to replace, so if it's a card issue it's not that difficult to fix it. if you're looking for a new gaming card, look at the 9800gtx+ on the lower end and a gtx 260 core 216 on the higher end. they're cheap and reliable, and if you buy evga you'll get (as with all their cards) a lifetime warranty if you register it. if you just need a basic graphics card, you can get a mid-range card like the 9600gt for around 80$, and a super-basic one like the 8400gs or 9500gt or gs for around 50 at most. and before you ask, pci express 2.0 fits into a pci express slot on your mobo, since there's no physical difference between the slots. also think about upgrading your psu a little bit if you're going for a bigger new card. check out the xtreme power calculator for that info. or just ask me, and i'll tell you what to buy based on your (sizeable) salary. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Damned Posted July 26, 2009 Author Share Posted July 26, 2009 Well, it's about 35C out here the last while, so even with a relatively cool inside temperature of 25C, it's not that warm. But this afternoon,I turned it the computer on and all the artifacts have disappeared. I'm thinking maybe it's gotten a bit too warm. I've been just putting in in sleep mode over night; I wonder if that's an issue. Looks like I just need to get some better airflow during the hottest part of summer. No need for new cards so far. EDIT: Fucking hell. They just came back after about five minutes of being powered up. Sigh... I wonder if any of the local stores have that card around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutritious Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 Well, it's about 35C out here the last while, so even with a relatively cool inside temperature of 25C, it's not that warm.But this afternoon,I turned it the computer on and all the artifacts have disappeared. I'm thinking maybe it's gotten a bit too warm. I've been just putting in in sleep mode over night; I wonder if that's an issue. Looks like I just need to get some better airflow during the hottest part of summer. No need for new cards so far. EDIT: Fucking hell. They just came back after about five minutes of being powered up. Sigh... I wonder if any of the local stores have that card around. Sounds exactly like what happened to me quite a while back. Mine turned out to be a bad card (bad ram on the card, probably). If you want, you could get a program to underclock the video card settings, and then run artifact tests to see if they stop. This allowed me to use the card for quite a while longer without artifacts until I could get around to replacing it. If you are going to do it, I'd recommend lowering the clock by small increments, and then running artifact tests each time to see when they stop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 27, 2009 Share Posted July 27, 2009 you'd have to buy it online. gfx cards are 40-50% more IRL than at, say, newegg. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tekcoh_top Posted July 28, 2009 Share Posted July 28, 2009 i have this problem. the problem involves only your screen, not at all your computer (to make sure, try plugging in a diff computer on the monitor). for me, when i turn on the monitor, it's fine initially, but then that slowly turns to this big ugly bruise-like thing (hundreds of 'dead' pixels). there's also a pattern to the dead pixels, for me at least. they all cluster and look almost like a corner of a smaller square within the monitor's screen. it's time to get a new monitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Damned Posted July 28, 2009 Author Share Posted July 28, 2009 Did you even read anything before posting? We already know it's not the monitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 hey, that dude's a good guitarist. read his name backwards! don't yell at him too bad. he has only posted a few times in three years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Damned Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 Maybe this will narrow the diagnosis a bit. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v54/The_Damned/l4dgonecrazy.jpg Left 4 Dead has been doing that a few times lately. It spins around randomly as you move the mouse, almost like a 60s trippy drug thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 gfx card, fo sho. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhsu Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 9500GT for $20 PNY is not the most reputable but c'mon 20 BUCKS. They still have a 3-year warranty on 9 series cards (might have to register it), and by the time that's over it shouldn't even matter to you if it breaks. Edit: It's not as good as your 7900 so not the card for you if you're looking to upgrade. Whatever just use your OIL MONEY to get 4 x GTX 295 quadruple-SLI jajajajajajaja. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SenPi Posted July 29, 2009 Share Posted July 29, 2009 hmm I had some weird problems like that once. Turned out my monitor just wasnt plugged in properly. I assume you tried to replug the monitor in to the card, or resetting the card? If not, try that? If that doesnt work, then yes, gfx card fo sho Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Damned Posted July 29, 2009 Author Share Posted July 29, 2009 Nah, f it was a loose connection, then that would mean it's some sort of internal connection, because I put those things on solid. Besides, the same monitor on other stuff doesn't show up. So, any way, I got a GeForce 8400 GS to replace it... because that computer is going to my sister. My new computer has some sort of video card that no one has ever heard of, and carries like a gigabtye of ram and has multiple processors and shit. Problem solved! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prophetik music Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 8400's a damn good card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quintin3265 Posted July 30, 2009 Share Posted July 30, 2009 Sounds exactly like what happened to me quite a while back. Mine turned out to be a bad card (bad ram on the card, probably). If you want, you could get a program to underclock the video card settings, and then run artifact tests to see if they stop. This allowed me to use the card for quite a while longer without artifacts until I could get around to replacing it.If you are going to do it, I'd recommend lowering the clock by small increments, and then running artifact tests each time to see when they stop. Every time I've had cards or processors break, the clock speed seems to cause the problem, so I agree with this underclocking idea. But if you go on eBay, you can get another card for as low as $10-20. You'll probably waste four hours working on this problem, and it may break again two weeks from now. Even if you make minimum wage, you'd easily make more than $20 in 4 hours. Unless you're extremely poor, I'd say to nott waste any more time here and just order a new card to be done with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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