[trosco]

Hello,

I've been experiencing for about 6 months some very annoying graphics problems with my pc. I've waited this long as I don't use it very much nowadays (It's my old pc, so I can always use my new one), but still sometimes I need it (it's in another room). It's located in my kitchen, so it's a pretty harsh environment, but I try to clean it on a constant basis.
The first thing you notice is that the Windows logo which appears at start-up (the one with the progress bar) is a bit more pixelated than it should be. The cursor is also pixelated, the icons on the desktop have a black background. Everything looks pretty bad (with some random lines, black pixels etc), and after 90% of actions the screen turns black, turning back to normal in a few secs (or never turning back to normal). I've noticed that opening anything does that, except folders and websites. Videos don't work, but online (youtube streams) they work fine. If I click back on a website, the screen turns black, but comes back to normal in about 5 secs.
I've tried reinstalling windows, and it worked fine for about 1 hour, then it returned to it's normal problematic status (at first I thought it was the hardware, it's had it's years, but then why would it work fine for 1 hour?).
Do you know a simple site which can display my system specs? The overdrive test at pc pit stop doesn't work (can't get to install Neptune for firefox, and IE gives me the don't send error after about 2 minutes of black screen). Device manager also makes my screen turn black for an indefinite amount of time.
As far as I can remember, it's hot an Nvidia geforce 7600 gs video card. I can search the original driver cds for the motherboard, it's a gigabyte but I forgot the model.

[Advertisements]

Try this little free and small program (System Spec

http://www.alexnolan...are/sysspec.htm

It will tell you all you need to know about your PC and you do not even need to install it, it can also be use on a portable usb stick.

[Alzeimer]

Try this little free and small program (System Spec

http://www.alexnolan...are/sysspec.htm

It will tell you all you need to know about your PC and you do not even need to install it, it can also be use on a portable usb stick.

[happyrock]

in addition to what Alzeimer said

since this is a older system everest will give you lots of info including temps a voltages...
go here and get
EVEREST HOME VERSION 1.51...

[trosco]

thank you for replying, and I would like to apologize for my slow response, I've just had my final exam.
I've used sysspec to gather information about my station, and I've attached the report.
System Specification---7/12/2012 1:58:25 PM

Windows Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (Build 2600)
Internet Explorer 6.0.2900.5512
Memory (RAM) 1024 MB
CPU Info Intel® Pentium® 4 CPU 3.40GHz
CPU Speed 3414.7 MHz
Sound Card Realtek AC97 Audio |
Display Adapters NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GS | NetMeeting driver | RDPDD Chained DD
Monitors 1x; Plug and Play Monitor |
Screen Resolution 1024 X 768 - 32 bit
Network Network Present
Network Adapters Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI Fast Ethernet NIC - Packet Scheduler Miniport | Hamachi Network Interface - Eset Personal Firewall Miniport
CD / DVD Drives 3x (E: | F: | H: | ) E: PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-107D | F: CD-RW GO-R5232B | H: FR1714C ZVB364Z
Ports COM1 | COM2 LPT1
Mouse 3 Button Wheel Mouse Present
Hard Disks C: 74.2GB | D: 74.8GB
Hard Disks - Free C: 68.7GB | D: 5.1GB
USB Controllers 5 host controllers.
Firewire (1394) 1 host controllers.
Manufacturer * Award Software International, Inc.
Product Make *
AC Power Status OnLine
BIOS Info AT/AT COMPATIBLE | 08/25/05 | GBT - 42302e31
Time Zone Pacific Standard Time
Battery Status No Battery
Motherboard * Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd. 8IPE1000-G
IP Address 192.168.1.4 |
MAC Address 00-02-44-28-60-8C
Host Name ADMIN
SM BIOS F6
Any ideas on what the cause may be?

[Macboatmaster]

Please send the Everest screenshot so we can see temps and voltages

and what is on D Drive please

[trosco]

I've attached a report of the hardware, which includes some temperatures. I would have copy-pasted the information, but just trying to do simple tasks such as copy-paste is very hard.

On D: there are some old files, I can delete about 70% of them if necessary. There were music files, videos, texts, a bit of everything (I used to avoid cluttering up the C: drive, so D: had to take in everything).

Additionally, something very strange happened. I turned on the pc, and for the first time in months, it was working just fine. I even restarted it, and it worked. But now, 10 minutes later, it's back to it's old state, without me doing anything (I just started and restarted it, being curious if it would work again).

Attached Files

•  Report.txt   215.67KB   236 downloads

[Macboatmaster]

Indeed and although it is not the system drive, it will have to work hard, to access files or if you were to attempt ta defrag on it

From Everest

Problems & Suggestions:
Problem Disk free space is only 7% on drive D:.



When please did you last check inside the case, I appreciate you say in your opening post that you do keep it clean. However I am a litle concerned that the GPU temp is 65C at what I presume is more or less idle. Everest although a good program is not always, totally reliable on temps. Please open the case and check the fan on the GPU is running. - I thinl it has its own cooling fan

[trosco]

I freed about 30 gbs of space from D:, it should be ok I think.
My graphics card doesn't have it's own cooler, as far as I remember it never had one. But it does have a heatsink (that copper radiator-like part), which gets extremely hot, I couldn't keep my hand on it for more that a few secs. In the past I had placed an additional cooler near it (not mounted on), and it did the job of cooling it very well, but it got broken somehow, it's not working now.
Should I buy a new cooler?

[happyrock]

In the past I had placed an additional cooler near it (not mounted on), and it did the job of cooling it very well, but it got broken somehow, it's not working now.
Should I buy a new cooler?

yep...

[Macboatmaster]

No, not yet, in respect of the cooler.

TRY these in order please, proceeding until and if it solves the problem

1. Run with the case open, unless of course that is not possible, due to the arrangement of the fans.

2. Boot to F8 and try VGA mode, that is NOT Safe Mode, but VGA mode which uses the current video driver but in low resolution mode.

3. See this

http://uk.download.n...lease-notes.pdf

page 36 and carefully follow the instructions please for uninstalling the old driver and then installing this

http://www.nvidia.co...-driver-uk.html



PLEASE NOTE

I was preparing this with the search for the driver etc before the post from my good colleague happyrock appeared. You will I think appreciate that there will always be a difference of opinion on some issues. The report on those Geforce 7600 GS GPU cards, without the integral fan, mentions on all variants eg. EVGA, Gigabyte, XFX, that it was found that perfect case cooling in otherwords, an adequate airflow with one fan, drawing air in and one taking air out was frequently required.

OR as you arranged additional cooling direct to the GPU.

SO therefore my colleague may indeed be 100% correct

I suppose the question is - has it worked without the additional cooler since it failed AND without problems.

[trosco]

Well, it worked with the broken cooler for some time, so the answer is yes. But I can't say if it was 2-3 months or 1 year, but, in any case, a pretty long period of time.
I can't run the pc with the case open, because there's a fan on the side plate, I'd have to disconnect it. It's very near the gpu, so I think it's better for it to stay there, than to take it away.
Running in vga mode worked fine, none of the problems occured.
Reinstalling the drivers following thone instructions worked, now it's doing fine. But I am not sure what to think, as I've already done this once, after reinstalling windows, and it only worked for a few days (2-3). I'll keep an eye on it, maybe this time I get lucky. So I'll be back with an answer in a few days.
Also I'll try to mount an additional cooler, this summer is very hot and it should be helpful anyways.

[Macboatmaster]

But I am not sure what to think

Well I see it as, at least a degree of success.

Running in vga mode worked fine, none of the problems occured

In my opinion it is on the evidence available most certainly a graphics issue. It is either the temperature at load, or the card itself, or it was a driver problem.

I think now it is a question of seeing how you progress and please do come back and let us know.

[trosco]

Sorry for the delay, I had to clean and reorganise the kitchen and the pc was out for 4-5 days. After reconnecting the cables, this morning, the problems started again. I didn't mount an additions cooler yet, I'm going to buy one until Monday. But, in conclusion, reinstalling the driver only worked for 2 days.

Edited by trosco, 19 July 2012 - 07:15 AM.

[Macboatmaster]

OK will wait to hear.

Hope it does solve it

Please do let us know

[trosco]

Well I've mounted a cooler directly on the heatsink, by gluing it. Unfortunately, the problems are still there. There is a slight change in the amount of time the black screens persist, and also it responds a bit quicker, but that is all.