What is causing this?

[EmTSea19]

My friend basically has the same system configuration as me. I built both computers.
Nec 1760 17" LCD Monitor
9500 Pro
WD 80GB w/8mb cache
Abit Max 2 ver. 2
400 ATX PFC PSU
1 GIG Corsair XMS 2700
A lot of times when the computer is first turned on, the screen gets all screwy. Lines, mixed up little blocks of color everywhere, etc...
I went to check it out and it happened again. I restarted it, and then everything was fine. Then it happened again, we waited, we did not restart, we just waited and it corrected itself and went to the desktop. Then sometimes it would not correct itself. Then I have to manually shut everything. Grrrr, it keeps happening a lot. I can't figure out if it's the Monitor, the video card, the hard drive, the MB, Memory, or what?

I have the same Monitor, video card, and MB, and my system is fine. I did switch out my 80GB WD 8mb cache, because it broke.
I currently have a 40GB w/8mb cache, and it's working. I only have 512MB Corsair XMS 2700.

What could cause the screwy color blocks, lines, and everything at almost the beginning of every boot?

[HotKoala]

Defective videocard?

Like the RAM chips are about to die.

[EmTSea19]

Is there a way I can check that out?

[HotKoala]

Have a spare videocard laying about?

Swap them, if it doesn't happen with Card B, then most likely Card A is borked.

Be sure you have gotten rid of your previous drivers fully too. Esp if you have an ATi card prior. Apparently, ATi hasn't even bothered to make an uninstaller yet so even if you remove the drivers, the files are still there..

[EmTSea19]

Okay, thanks. I don't have a spare card to lend, so I guess I'll just wait it out. It is a new computer, so no previous drivers were installed. Guess we'll have to RMA the card.

[irish80122]

Don't jump to ANY conclusions that quickly, that is like trying to not only pick a needle in a haystack, but do it with your eyes closed. I would recommend either picking up an older video card and trying that out for a while, or you said you had the same one right? Swap him and see how your computer and his does, and that should give you a bad idea. It could be the monitor, the motherboard, or even something else so don't just RMA the video card like that. I am sorry but I think that is poor advice, you need to investigate. The worst thing is getting that card back and having the same problem and then having to do it then.

[EmTSea19]

irish80122, I am still investigating it. Like I said above, I am going to wait it out. I won't RMA it until it gets worse, or the computer possibly won't work anymore. I have everything under warranty, so I am covered for a while. Thanks :)

[irish80122]

Originally posted by EmTSea19
irish80122, I am still investigating it. Like I said above, I am going to wait it out. I won't RMA it until it gets worse, or the computer possibly won't work anymore. I have everything under warranty, so I am covered for a while. Thanks :)

No problem, I just replied so urgently because I disagreed with the previous poster who was giving advice, I personally believed that the advice given wasn't broad enough for your situation and I didn't want you to RMA a card that could be perfectly good and then be dissapointed, you know? That is the only reason I did that.

[EmTSea19]

I appreciated your advice, thank you. It's nice to have posters here that look out for other posters. :)

[four4875]

try swappin parts with your comp till you find the bad part. then you'll know what is bad. is the CPU gettin too hot? this could cause hanging i think.

[EmTSea19]

No, the CPU is not getting too hot. It has a Zalman CNPS 7000 on it, several fans, and it's not Overclocked. It seems to be better the last two days. Maybe it was a network problem, I don't know.

[hardcorecomp]

I am currently putting together a new rig with one of those 1700+ that are supposed to overclock really well. When I tested it out on two motherboards it would give me garbage text and things at the BIOS screen on boot up and just freeze. After clearing the CMOS several times I decided to RMA it. How far does your computer get on boot up? It sounds like it can boot up all the way.