Monitor woes

by **loduca_16** on Thu May 24, 2007 1:48 am

Just recently got a 19" flat panel monitor. Plug and play, accompanied software didn't contain any drivers. Plugged it in to the power strip, plugged it into the computer (VGA) and wow crystal clear perfect monitor. Worked like that for about five days then starting getting constant ghosting and other visual garbage that ruins the picture. Plugged monitor in to a different computer expecting it to be messed up and it worked perfect (integrated video, VGA connection). Still having the same problems on my computer though, tech support guy I spoke to mentioned that I may have done something to the video card... Nvidia geforce2 mx/mx 400. If I did ruin my video card can someone suggest a relatively inexpensive alternative so I can fix this thing or any other advice... much appreciated...

by **lstucz** on Thu May 24, 2007 3:56 pm

Unless you were constantly plugging in and unplugging your monitor, which I doubt, I can't see how you would have damaged your video card physically.

I would try updating your drivers for the video card.

Did you change anything else in the last 5 days that could have altered something inadvertently? Added a program or cleaned out some files?

Try running windows update and see if they show a driver available for your monitor. Or, go to the manufacturer's website and download ther latest driver for your monitor.

Your video card is old and it could not hurt to upgrade it. You should be able to get a decent one for less than $50. It is possible that it cannot handle the resolution of your new 19" monitor; but, if it is still in good shape, it should work fine. Try it with the resolution set to 800 x 600. If it is still as crappy of a picture as it was before, your video card may be dying. It happens and it may have been ready to go before you upgraded the monitor.

by **Larry_Warrilow** on Fri May 25, 2007 12:22 am

i have a five year old machine with exactly the same video card that matt has, an old sony 17" crt, and am running it at 1280x1024 32 bit color and it is still working and looking great. i intend to keep this hardware to play links on for as long as it lasts, because this was the hardware that 2k3 was designed and betaed on. old drivers for the old cards are what keep working over time--no game crashes or video problems. i'm sticking with sony crts--those trendy huge lcds just don't look as clear in the details. lw

by **lstucz** on Fri May 25, 2007 2:59 am

I have to disagree with how the details look in those big trendy monitors, Larry. But, you have to have a good video card to power them. I play links on a 22" widescreen; but, I play it at 1280x1024 resolution in a window, now, and can still see my desktop to chat through IM or even open up a browser to download a new course. Links does look like crap at full screen because it does not support my monitors native resolution of 1680x1050. A 19" LCD is not that large and trendy.

I have a feeling that Matt's video card chose this time to die on him because of the extra drain the new monitor put on it. It is hard to tell, though, while sitting many miles away and with only a small amount of information given to describe the problem and solutions taken to try and correct it.

by **Larry_Warrilow** on Fri May 25, 2007 3:36 am

l, it's also possible that matt's old card and the appropriate old drivers that work with it the best are not fully compatible with the newest monitors. we've been seeing more and more of these incompatibilities as the 2k3 software recedes into the past from modern hardware designs. hardware, and its various drivers, that are from different eras may not like each other all that much. the new stuff can be configured to play links very well, and the old stuff worked fine by definition, but combining old and new could create problems that we may have great difficulty pinning down in detail. lw

by **lstucz** on Fri May 25, 2007 4:00 pm

Larry_Warrilow wrote:l, it's also possible that matt's old card and the appropriate old drivers that work with it the best are not fully compatible with the newest monitors. we've been seeing more and more of these incompatibilities as the 2k3 software recedes into the past from modern hardware designs. hardware, and its various drivers, that are from different eras may not like each other all that much. the new stuff can be configured to play links very well, and the old stuff worked fine by definition, but combining old and new could create problems that we may have great difficulty pinning down in detail. lw

That is why I suggested that he try all avenues of updating his drivers, first. However, I think if there were a driver conflict, it would have shown itself at the very beginning, not 5 days later.

Another thing, Matt, have you tried to see what happens if you hook the old monitor back up to the old graphics card?

by **loduca_16** on Sun Jun 03, 2007 10:42 pm

sorry for not replying sooner guys but thanks for the advice. ended up buying a new video card (geforce 6200 OC 256 MB)... seems to be working very well so far. anyone else use this card? if so, is it pretty good?

by **terrell** on Mon Jun 04, 2007 3:55 am

loduca_16 wrote:sorry for not replying sooner guys but thanks for the advice. ended up buying a new video card (geforce 6200 OC 256 MB)... seems to be working very well so far. anyone else use this card? if so, is it pretty good?

i don't have the oc, matt. but i replaced an mx4000 with a 6200, and links runs great under vista now. you will be very pleased with that card. and the price was honkin'.

by **loduca_16** on Mon Jun 04, 2007 11:15 am

i'm still running XP, and i'm not exactly sure what the difference between regular and overclocked is. the price for me was perfect... my pops bought it for me lol. it was on sale at best buy tho, and the installation was simple so i'm a happy camper now. got a new wireless microsoft mouse too, maybe i can start hitting the snap again

by **lstucz** on Mon Jun 04, 2007 2:52 pm

Yes, 6200 is a great video card. The OC part just means that the processor has been bumped up in speed from the factory to perform just a little better (e.g. may take a processor that normally runs at 600Mhz and bump it to 620Mhz). It might make a difference in some of the top games like WOW. You will not see any difference in Links.

BFG is the one manufacturer that I am aware of who OC's some of their cards from the factory. Is that who makes yours? If so, the best thing about the card is the lifetime warranty and the worst is that it does not cover the fan, duh. It's that fan that gets you most of the time.

I am running BFG 7600GS OC with 512Mb of memory and still only get 30 to 35 FPS. That is the limitation of Links, apparently. It was not built for the newer high-end cards. The best thing I did for my game was to run two hard drives in a RAID array. That has really sped up rendering between shots.

Anyway, glad to hear your back up and playing. Hope the batteries in that wireless mouse never die in the middle of a game, lol. Good idea to always keep a new set on-hand.

Monitor woes

Monitor woes

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