Weird video problems, please help

R

Russell

Geek Trainee
Hello all,

I'll breifly describe the problem. I play a lot of online 3D shooter games, and recently I bought a new video card (Geforce 4 Ti 4200 128 MB), and now when I play 3D games, my screen does this weird thing where it goes completely black, then fades back to full color. It does it fairly quickly, much faster than if you were to turn the monitor off and back on. Here's an example, only the fade is smoother and it's a little faster than this: here

I remember it doing this every now and then with my old video card (Geforce 2 32 MB), but it was so rare that I didn't pay much attention to it. Now it is happening sporadically several times a minute when I play. Occasionally it will happen when I'm just in Windows, but that has only happened maybe a handful of times. It's also done it once or twice when my computer was booting, before the Windows screen ever comes up (while it's still in the DOS looking text mode).

I don't know whether to think that this is the monitor going bad, or whether it's some kind of video card problem, or maybe a problem with something else entirely. There is no static-like sound when it happens (like when you turn your monitor on or off). Since the vast majority of the time that it happens is when I'm playing 3D games (and thus using hardware acceleration), that makes me think maybe there is some kind of conflict with the video card or drivers.

So here's some of my computer info.

Bought the machine new 2 summers ago, and I've added a CD-burner and this video card, RAM, and that's all.
Pentium 3 733 MHz
512 MB RAM
Geforce 4 Ti 4200 128 MB
Graphics card drivers from www.nvidia.com
HP Pavillion V70 monitor came with the computer, 2 years old
I'm running Windows 2000 Pro.

I'm not sure what other information you might need to help diagnose the problem, but I'll be more than happy to provide whatever you need, just ask.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Russell
 
I am using the Windows 2000/XP drivers from nVidia's website. I believe they are called Detonator XP. My card's vendor (VisionTek) said on their website's FAQ that they were the same ones that they use.

Russell
 
Actually, I'm looking for which version of the Detonators you're using.

Go into device manager, and check under "Display Adapters". Right click on the video card to bring up a menu box and select properties. A box will pop up, and you'll see several tabs, one of which says driver. Under this tab, about the 3rd line down, will say which version you have.

Once you know that, find a different version for your video card and install that one. It is best if you can uninstall the current driver first however, before installing the new one.
Try a new driver and see if the problem continues. If it does, we can look at something else.
 
My driver version is 2.9.4.2. Where do I find other drivers to try?

Also, in my device manager, my monitor has the little exclamation point by it and it says that the drivers for that device are not installed. I've never had to install monitor drivers before (or even heard of them). Could this be the problem?

Also, should I get another monitor that I have in the house and try playing with that one and see if the problem continues with another monitor?

Thanks for your help.

Russell
 
What's it showing for a monitor? The HP v70 or a Plug and Play monitor.

I'm guessing plug-n-play by your previous posts, and if so you might try searching for drivers for your monitor since I've had problems with the Windows plug-n-play drivers before with GF based cards, and an update to the latest driver from the monitor manufacturer usually solves it.
 
What is listed for my monitor in the device manager is: THTAP01405V70, which I guess is some kind of long name for V70. I checked for drivers at HP's website, and the only thing they have is a "color calibration" update, which I installed, and which didn't solve the problem.

Russell
 
You might try Windows Update. That might have a newer driver. You may also want to contact HP directly. In the mean time, give that other monitor a shot.
 
Ok I tried the other monitor, and there don't appear to be any problems so far. I played my game for about an hour and no problems, so can we conclude it's the monitor? Or might it be something that is just a conflict between my original monitor and something else? I'd like to get a new monitor anyway, but I don't want to get one and then it not work either.

Russell
 
Seems to be the HP, from what you've told us. I wouldn't say to dump it just yet, as it still works, but you don't have to keep using it as your main monitor. Keep it around for a back up.
 
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