NVidia 8800 Windows 7 problem

[czajunia]

Hello,

I've noticed some unusual pixel flickering under Windows 7 using Gainward 8800 GT PCX recently. There are red pixels randomly switching on and off on some dark areas of the screen. First I thought it was definitely a graphic card problem but then I realized that I didn't see any of these under WinXP. I double checked and when running XP the card was fine. I had the latest Win7 nVidia drivers installed so I thought that maybe there was a bug and downgraded to the first Win7 drivers available but the problem is still there.

I uploaded a video showing what it looks like. The displayed picture was intentionally darkened with a colour balanced changed a bit so it's not that extreme in real life and the pixels are usually more random compared to the video. Also they are red and look much smaller (pixel size).

Has anyone noticed similar problems? How likely is that the card is fine and there are some drivers/monitor incompatibility issues?

Thank's a lot for your answers and suggestions.

 

[Pinchy]

Looks like the graphics card is dying.

You tried running a 3d app in XP/Win7? See if you get artifacts?

 

[czajunia]

That was my first thought but the problem is that I couldn't see anything unusual in XP only in Win7. It looks like I will have to do a bit more testing in XP but I am almost 100% sure it was fine under XP.

 

[Zubasa]

That was my first thought but the problem is that I couldn't see anything unusual in XP only in Win7. It looks like I will have to do a bit more testing in XP but I am almost 100% sure it was fine under XP.

Win 7 and Vista Aero do utilize 3D GUI, XP ony use 2D graphics.
So graphics card problems are more visible under Win 7.

 

[Mussels]

Xp is 2D, vista/7 are 3D.

just because the problem doesnt show in XP doesnt mean its not there, try running a 3D application under XP.

 

[deathbyburk]

Just my 2 cents. I had a dead card that did that in 3d settings. Sorry to see that

 

[czajunia]

I knew that Vista/Win7 used 3D graphics but I somehow thought it shouldn't require too much computing power hence wouldn't cause any problems. Also, I played a 3D game in XP when trying to figure out if the problem was there but maybe I just didn't pay too much attention and jumped into conclusion that it was a Win7 driver issue.

Is there a chance to use 2D GUI in Win7 somehow? I suppose that simply switching Aero off wouldn't do the trick, would it?

 

[Mussels]

switching aero off may well turn it to 2D - i mean, thats what it does here when i have no drivers installed for the video card - so i assume its 2D

 

[czajunia]

OK, so I have done it before, switching Aero off that is, because I thought that by doing so I would go to 2D (wasn't sure if this was true though) and I still had the same problem.

 

[Mussels]

you're just going to have to thoroughly in XP

 

[czajunia]

Another weird thing I've noticed before. Under Win7 I could run some nVidia 3D demo or GPUTool stability test and don't have one single red pixel and after that find the same problem when editing a picture. I am actually running GPUTool Render Test now rendering around 69 fps and don't have a single red pixel.

The question is - if there is a problem with a graphic card how likely it is that it doesn't show all the time? I mean, is it possible that it will work fine sometimes and give problems only occasionally?

 

[Mussels]

is it possible the problem is a bad/loose cable, or the monitor? have you tested those?

 

[AphexDreamer]

From experience cards usually only due that when Core is too Hot or clocked to high or the RAM Chips have been disturbed.

I've had this happen to me after switching out a Cooler for my 2900Pro.

Another weird thing I've noticed before. Under Win7 I could run some nVidia 3D demo or GPUTool stability test and don't have one single red pixel and after that find the same problem when editing a picture. I am actually running GPUTool Render Test now rendering around 69 fps and don't have a single red pixel.

The question is - if there is a problem with a graphic card how likely it is that it doesn't show all the time? I mean, is it possible that it will work fine sometimes and give problems only occasionally?

Your card seems to be artifacting at different clocks speeds. Why it would do so at the lower clock speed vs the high is beyond me.
Yes this is possible.

 

[AphexDreamer]

Have you tried uninstalling the drivers completely to see if the problem is still there?

 

[czajunia]

is it possible the problem is a bad/loose cable, or the monitor? have you tested those?

Gosh, I haven't even thought about checking the cables or using the second video output. Obviously the simplest solutions came to the mind at the latest Not sure how to check the monitor though. It's a two year old NEC 20WGX2 and I haven't had any problems with it in the past.

The GPUTool render test is still running: GPU temp 68.0/60.8 C (not sure which one refers to what though) and not a single red pixel.

 

[czajunia]

Have you tried uninstalling the drivers completely to see if the problem is still there?

But if I uninstall the drivers I won't be able to run 3D applications, will I? Well... Yeah, if the problem is there that I will know that it's the card. But if it's not - it's not gonna tell me anything.

 

[AphexDreamer]

But if I uninstall the drivers I won't be able to run 3D applications, will I? Well... Yeah, if the problem is there that I will know that it's the card. But if it's not - it's not gonna tell me anything.

I think you will be able, I say I think cause I haven't done it myself. If you still get it with no drivers its your card and if you don't we will see. What do you have to lose at the moment, just try it.

 

[dark2099]

But if I uninstall the drivers I won't be able to run 3D applications, will I? Well... Yeah, if the problem is there that I will know that it's the card. But if it's not - it's not gonna tell me anything.

I think he means doing a complete uninstall of the drivers, like explained here, before reinstalling to be sure that there are no random registry entries or driver related files lurking about that could be causing the problems.

 

[AphexDreamer]

I think he means doing a complete uninstall of the drivers, like explained here, before reinstalling to be sure that there are no random registry entries or driver related files lurking about that could be causing the problems.

Yes but don't reinstall just yet upon removal. Test it first then consider reinstalling.

 

[czajunia]

I think you will be able, I say I think cause I haven't done it myself. If you still get it with no drivers its your card and if you don't we will see. What do you have to lose at the moment, just try it.

Nothing to lose, true.
That's exactly what I said - if the problem exists without drivers it's gonna be obvious that the card is faulty. I didn't test anything but when I downgraded from 191.07 to 181.71 I did a full uninstall and didn't see the problem when I used Win for a moment without drivers but as I said I didn't test it properly. I'll give it a go when changing the drivers back to 191.07.

I think he means doing a complete uninstall of the drivers, like explained here, before reinstalling to be sure that there are no random registry entries or driver related files lurking about that could be causing the problems.

When I downgraded the drivers I did full uninstall using Driver Sweeper but I didn't delete anything manually. I'll give it a go as well if the cables trick won't work.

Still running the GPUTool test without any issues.

 

[czajunia]

That's really weird - since my last post I haven't had any issues. I also unplugged all the cables, removed the card and put everything back together just to make sure everything was plugged in properly.

Hopefully this will do the trick and it will turn out that it was just a loose cable - I'll keep you posted.

Thanks a lot for your help so far!!!

 

[czajunia]

For anyone who followed this thread - just a closing post. After a few days of playing a 3D FPS I can definitely say that Mussels was right and it was a connection issue indeed. I haven't had any problems since last week.

Thanks again for your input guys!