Archived CalgaryPuck Computer Help Thread

[MickMcGeough]

Originally Posted by RedMan12

Hey fellow CP computer techies!
I am looking for some video card help.

I bought an Ati x1650 agp about 3 months ago. It was working fine until about 3 weeks ago. I am running Vista and sometimes when running regular programs or games the computer freezes and the screen will either go blank or the screens fills with lines of different colors.

The computer has been reformatted and I installed a fresh copy of Vista and it worked fine until I tried playing World of Warcraft. Last night I got the game going but today the same thing happened, either blank screen or lines of different colors then the computer freezes.

I have tried using all different types of drivers from the one that came in the package to latest on Ati's website. Also, Ati's website is not too helpful for trouble shooting Vista problems.This morning I took out the card and put in my old Ati 9600 and its running Wow fine.

Its got me thinking its the video card itself. It worked so good and ran a lot of games up until now. Could it be the card is not getting enough power? I do have a lot fans and hard drives running in my computer.

Thanks! Any help is much appreciated.

Google RivaTuner & Motherbaord Monitor. They can display (and more importantly, log) temperatures, fan speeds, loads, and voltage levels of various different components while you have a game running.

The 1650 will likely have a larger power draw than the 9600 but the 1650 is not known as a high-power draw card (there's no external power connector on the card, is there?).

What are your power supply specs? How much hardware do you have installed; how many drives, sound cards, etc.?

Most likely it is a temperature problem with the core or ram on your video card. From the factory, video cards generally come with really really crappy thermal compound for connecting the heatsink to the core, and over time this can degrade and cause heat issues (just happened to me recently). If this is the case, it's just a matter of cleaning off the old crap and applying some Arctic Silver thermal compound ($7 a tube at memory express). Check out RivaTuner if your ATI control panel doesn't monitor the temp. Temp under heavy load should not get much past about 70C, but most cards can handle close to 90C. My old 7900GT would start artifacting and crashing around 95C, but after putting new thermal compound on it it never went above 75C and was rock solid.

2nd guess is you've got power problems. Motherboard Monitor should display realtime voltages for various components. If any of them are dipping too far below they're expected voltage, that could cause the problem (though normally your machine will just reboot when there are power problems).

Good luck!

[Otto-matic]

I have a slight problem.

PowerDVD shows a black screen but I can hear the sound playing. When I use VLC everything works.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by MickMcGeough

Google RivaTuner & Motherbaord Monitor. They can display (and more importantly, log) temperatures, fan speeds, loads, and voltage levels of various different components while you have a game running.

The 1650 will likely have a larger power draw than the 9600 but the 1650 is not known as a high-power draw card (there's no external power connector on the card, is there?).

What are your power supply specs? How much hardware do you have installed; how many drives, sound cards, etc.?

Most likely it is a temperature problem with the core or ram on your video card. From the factory, video cards generally come with really really crappy thermal compound for connecting the heatsink to the core, and over time this can degrade and cause heat issues (just happened to me recently). If this is the case, it's just a matter of cleaning off the old crap and applying some Arctic Silver thermal compound ($7 a tube at memory express). Check out RivaTuner if your ATI control panel doesn't monitor the temp. Temp under heavy load should not get much past about 70C, but most cards can handle close to 90C. My old 7900GT would start artifacting and crashing around 95C, but after putting new thermal compound on it it never went above 75C and was rock solid.

2nd guess is you've got power problems. Motherboard Monitor should display realtime voltages for various components. If any of them are dipping too far below they're expected voltage, that could cause the problem (though normally your machine will just reboot when there are power problems).

Good luck!

Rivatuner is terrible for ATI cards (not to mention all cards in terms of user friendliness and lack of features). Get ATI Tray Tools or ATI Tool and run the included stability test.

[cSpooge]

Originally Posted by Otto-matic

I have a slight problem.

PowerDVD shows a black screen but I can hear the sound playing. When I use VLC everything works.

PowerDVD is missing the video codec that the file is encoded in.

[Otto-matic]

Originally Posted by cSpooge

PowerDVD is missing the video codec that the file is encoded in.

Is there any place I can download this Codec?
It seems to be affecting my Windows Media Player as well.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Otto-matic

Is there any place I can download this Codec?
It seems to be affecting my Windows Media Player as well.

Its not a DVD is it?

http://www.codecpackguide.com/klcodec.htm

Is a complete package of just about everything you need.

I've had good success with it.

Click Codec pack download on the side....mega if you watch a lot of different formats....I use the normal pack and everything works great.

[Bobblehead]

And be careful about the codec pack you install. I haven't looked at that one, but there have been a few nasty viruses included in those packs.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by Bobblehead

And be careful about the codec pack you install. I haven't looked at that one, but there have been a few nasty viruses included in those packs.

I was hoping someone else would endorse it.

I recently had a problem with all my video files causing my computer to crash. Turns out it was a problem with the separate Xvid codec I had installed.

Ever since installing the Kazaa codec pack I haven't had a problem.

[RW99]

Well after countless google searches changing the terms to try to help, I'm here at your mercy

My Shaw modem and Linksys WRT54G show constant activity, with my laptop both on and off. Is there something I should be worried about?

Edit to clarify: The internet activity lights on both keep flashing. The wireless light on the router is on, but does not show any activity.

[Azure]

Your WAN light?

My router does the exact same thing.

Perhaps something about a connection being established?

[ricosuave]

^ i have the same setup - nothing to worry about - its just the communication between the 2 devices...

that having been said, you DID set up the router with security, didnt you?

[Cliche]

Originally Posted by RW99

Well after countless google searches changing the terms to try to help, I'm here at your mercy

My Shaw modem and Linksys WRT54G show constant activity, with my laptop both on and off. Is there something I should be worried about?

Edit to clarify: The internet activity lights on both keep flashing. The wireless light on the router is on, but does not show any activity.

If you look at the log file for your Linksys, it will state what transmission requests it has refused. (There are quite a lot as there are virus's that search the internets for unsecured systems) Also, there should be a certain amount of activity as the modem has to maintain a keep alive packet with the central office. However, most of the activity is usually from infected systems on the network.

[Tron_fdc]

So I'm looking at upgrading my laptop, but I'm trying to find one with a graphics card and screen size that will be able to run my slingbox. Anyone have any suggestions? I was looking at http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/prod...bsd&cs=cabsdt1 but I was told that the intel graphics card isn't that good??? Anyone?

[Tron_fdc]

I should also point out I use it for some CAD work, VOIP (so a camera and mic is handy), and have a tendency to load up my equipment with a billion programs. Memory size is a must as well (I'm assuming 2GB) due to the amount of files I'm constantly sending overseas. Can I get something like this for around $1500?

[llama64]

Tron,

I'm assuming you are streaming from your Slingbox to your laptop? The Dell XPS should be butch enough to handle everything you want to do with it. The only exception being your CAD programs which may require more 3D acceleration then most low to mid range laptops can offer. That said, the bottle neck you will hit will be memory. Get a model that can support up to 4 Gb's of DDR2 ram. Load it up with 2 Gb's initially.

If you're worried about the video performance, you can upgrade that Dell to use the Geforce Go 8400. It comes with it's own dedicated memory, which is a big help! The upgrade is only $80 so it's probably worth it. If you buy your own memory upgrades, you can recover that cost easily.

120Gb-160Gb of disk space is pretty standard these days so you shouldn't have any issue with storage.

Overall, yes you will be able to get a machine to cover your needs for ~1500$. I personally don't like the Dell's because they feel flimsy. Same with Acer's. The recent HP's come with fairly sturdy cases though. This is important to me mostly because I'm paranoid about damaging the LCD screen.

Hope that helps.

[Bobblehead]

Originally Posted by Tron_fdc

So I'm looking at upgrading my laptop, but I'm trying to find one with a graphics card and screen size that will be able to run my slingbox. Anyone have any suggestions? I was looking at http://www1.ca.dell.com/content/prod...bsd&cs=cabsdt1 but I was told that the intel graphics card isn't that good??? Anyone?

Slingbox won't tax any current graphics. The limitation will be your bandwidth between the slingbox and your laptop. Standard definition video display is cake.

On my slingbox I can watch hockey wirelessly, but across the internet the bandwidth limitations on my standard 1.5 DSL connection it makes it tough to see the puck at regular speed.

[FireFly]

So I apparently have a worm of sorts. It's in my MSN messenger and messages all my friends a link. I've run a virus scanner and it didn't find it. Any ideas?

[Azure]

Originally Posted by FireFly

So I apparently have a worm of sorts. It's in my MSN messenger and messages all my friends a link. I've run a virus scanner and it didn't find it. Any ideas?

I don't think there is anything you can do about it.

Just tell your friends not to click on the link.

I got around 15 forwards today telling me about it...

[FireFly]

I restored my computer to a previous time and date and that apparently has helped... for now.

[Azure]

Originally Posted by FireFly

I restored my computer to a previous time and date and that apparently has helped... for now.

I didn't do anything and it hasn't happened to be since yesterday.