Video card problem?? Vertical & Horizontal lines on screen

[sotek85]

Hi,

The other day I turned my PC on and it loaded up windows with no problem messages, however right from the start the screen had horizontal and vertical lines all over it (I have attached 3 photos of this), and my desktop had been rearranged and moved to a lower resolution. I have not installed any programs for a while and do not use the internet on this PC (Games and music only) so I didnt think it could be a virus/program conflict.

Sometimes when I turn it on it is OK but after about 5 minutes it will revert back to having the screen problem.

My setup is below; (what I remember)
Dell
Vista - Home edition
2 Gb ram
Nvidia Geforce 8800GT video card

Any thoughts/suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks in advance for your help!

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[Broni]

Is it on-board video, or separate video card?
Same thing in Safe  Mode?

[sotek85]

Hi Broni,

It is a separate video card. I am pretty sure that it did the same thing in safe mode, but I will double check that when I get home.

Thanks,

[Broni]

If it does it in both modes, then the card itself is a problem.
Either overheating, or just going bad.
You may try to re-seat it.
Just to make sure, I'd also try another monitor.

[sotek85]

Thanks Broni. I will see how it goes with another monitor & also try re-seating it.

Thanks again for all of your help! I'll let you know how I go

[Broni]

No problem

[sotek85]

Hi Broni,

I checked in safe mode, and it still does the same thing. I also tried to re-seat the card and this did not fix the problem.

Unfortunately I have recently had a clean up and donated my other old monitors away so I have been unable to check this with another monitor.

Do you think that this means that the video card will just need to be replaced or would something else be causing this?

Thanks

[Broni]

Probably the card, but you can run another test to make sure.
Remove the card completely, enable on-board video in BIOS and see, if the problem is gone.
If so, bad card.

[Quantos]

Can you try the monitor on a friends computer to see if that is the problem?

[sotek85]

Hi Broni/Quantos,

I have managed to test the monitor on another PC and it works fine. I have also managed to get my hands on an older Graphics card and I am now using this old card without any problems.

I am now looking to purchase a new video card. I have done some research and I think I have found the right one for me, but I am not sure on a few things,
1) Will it fit?
2) Will my computer be able to handle it, i.e. power requirements and connections

This is the one I am looking at, http://www.synnex.com.au/Default.aspx?tabid=27&mid=339&ctl=CatalogItemDetails&CatalogItemID=262828&Brand=Gigabyte&item=N98TSL-1GI&search=true&page=1
Do you know if this would be OK for my computer?

Thanks,

[Broni]

I'm glad to see, you found the culprit

As for that video card, I'm not a hardware guy, but make sure, you have PCI Express slot on your motherboard and serious power supply:

Minimum 450W or greater system power supply (with a minimum 12V current rating of 24A)