Hi everybody, I would like to ask for suggestions on a strange video issue. Starting with the specs: I'm running a nearly new (3-week old) PC, which has a C2D E6600 fitted on an ECS 650i SLIT-A, plus a single hi-performance DDR2 2GB stick. Video is provided by a 7600GT video card plugged on an LG 1753T monitor via an analog cable, all powered by a 450W ThermalTake.

My problem is that, after rebooting the computer with either a soft or hard reset, graphical corruption takes place from BIOS screen. Glitchy black streaks run vertically through the screen, while font of memory testing data and such looks yellow where said black lines cross them. Under Windows XP SP2 (early February nVidia Forceware, 169.21 IIRC) I get to the XP logo screen still with the lines and then it gets stuck on a BSOD (error code 7E, the first of the other hex addresses is 00000005 and there is no mention of a driver). Switching to Fedora Core 8 (recent drivers from livna), it goes through the Kernel loading stage with the lines and then the screen goes black by the time the GUI should be loaded, although there are signs that the system is not crashed, for pressing power after waiting about one minute leads to a clean shutdown (console messages still visible). The only pre-existent issue I can think of was me overwriting nVidia driver installations. That caused some additional configuration mess-ups, but since them I removed all drivers and did proper fresh installs.

The strange part is I have no other problems elsewhere, such as graphic corruption under games or random crashes after long usage periods. The glitches will go away by turning off the power instead of hitting reset and then turning on again a few seconds later, or else by resetting multiple times. Overheating does not seem to be a problem, as GPU temp stays at the 50ºC - 55ºC all over and the glitches happen after a reset regardless of how long I had been using the PC. Now, do you see another possible cause for this other than a faulty GPU in brewing? Any suggestions for other areas I could be looking upon?

Thanks in advance!

These kind of problems can be generated by several systems. First thing I would check is the power supply, especially if it's a 20 pin instead of 24 (or possible fluctuations if you have power fluctuations in your neighborhood).

Does this have a DVI to analog converter? I haven't seen one cause any problems like this, but it's easy enough to change.
Also you can run some diagnostics on your memory an cpu easy enough from a boot CD like this.
http://www.syschat.com/download108.html
You could double check your BIOS settings, make sure they are not set to overclocking, and check the video settings. When you're in the BIOS see that the CPU or system is not overheating.

Did you happen to try an older driver instead of the latest and see if that sorts it out?

I would also check to make sure the contacts on the card are clean and free from anything. I had a somewhat similar problem and found a small hair trapped inbetween the connectors and the socket contacts.

I'm positive CPU and GPU are not overclocked, and overheating seems unlikely. As for the DVI/Analog thing, I'm not using one, but I will instead try it with the adapter that came on the mainboard, just in case. Also, that link to the link to the diag boot CD will sure prove handy, thanks!

When I finish setting up Fedora I'll revert to XP and fiddle a bit with drivers - it might be that for some reason they're causing some data not being cleared on GPU memory when the PC resets. I would like to run out of possibilities before opening the computer - it's under warranty, and it would be a hassle to have my dealer's service folks to check it out.

This is still a mystery to me - not that I have not had my share of burnt out GPUs... for now, thanks to you both for the suggestions!

This program is not specifically used for what ails you but I have found it helps in many other ways. It will not hurt your system at all but it might help in releasing graphic memory and may stop the interference that is happening!

Download details: User Profile Hive Cleanup Service