Help. should i get a new graphic card?

[zoossh]

p.s. i posted the above in hardwarezone but thought that i should also get some advices from forumers here who deal with photography and computers at the same time, so can give better advices now.

I'm facing this pink and white dotting problems that arise erratically. at first i thought it is the LCD, so i changed my old 15" compaq into the current 20" widescreen viewsonic VX2025WM. however, the problem persist like this.

overall screen

cropped in

this is my specifications.
AMD athlon 64 processor 3200+
Bus(es) ISA AGP PCI USB Firewire/1394 i2c/SMBus
Total memory 1GB DDR-SDRAM
Video adapter Hercules 3D propher 9000Pro Series

Mainboard MSI K8N NEO2-Platinum MS-7025
Integrated Input/Output Ports USB 2.0 x 8 • FireWire (IEEE1394a) x 3 • RJ45 Lan Port x 2
Socket 939
Serial Port x 1, Parallel Port (ECP/EPP/SPP), Floppy Port x 1
Expansion Slots AGP x8 x 1 • PCI x 5
RAID Support RAID 0 • RAID 1 • RAID 0+1 • JBOD Support
Storage Controller Type(s) DMA/ATA-133 (Ultra) x 2, Serial ATA x 4
http://www.dealtime.com/xPF-CPU-Sup...500-3800-A~r-1~CLT-INTR~RFR-www.google.com.sg

i wonder how can i verify if it is the graphic card that is faulty. could it be other components? if i change a graphic card, what is a safe bet and what model should i buy? i only used my computer for surfing, dvd, and photo-enhancement. to my limited knowledge, 2D photo-enhancement does not require sophisticated graphic card. so what can i get if i budget below $200?

 

[Del_CtrlnoAlt]

hmm... get a ATI 9800, quite cheap too since u never do anything much with the card.

 

[arpinkor]

Some things you can check/try before you spend money:

1) check your video cable connections are tight. Are you using any kind of KVM switch or video extension cables (the unshielded type) ?

2) have you tried updating to the latest video drivers for your card ?

 

[zac08]

Checked the video cable yet? Sometimes, it's the simplest stuff that KO's first

 

[Static]

Try plugging ur monitor on ur onboard graphic (Motherboard) and see how it goes.

 

[longkangman]

Checked the video cable yet? Sometimes, it's the simplest stuff that KO's first

I 2nd above, cable 1st then the video card.

 

[AQVA]

hi zoossh... i had similar experience b4.. its due to the graphic card dying off, reason being the GPU is overheating due to the thermal paste between the GPU and heatsink expires which causes the pink artifacts to appear onscreen. there r 2 options avail... 1) re-apply the thermal paste. 2) buy a new graphic card. since ur using a 20" monitor my advise to u is to get a new card to fully enjoy ur new monitor.

 

[DreamerX]

agreed with the comments above. find the root cause first.
if you don't play game, get the cheap graphic card (if really the graphic card faulty). it should give enuf horsepower for 2D image process.
also, checked your motherboad spec, it doesn't come with onboard graphic chipset.

 

[ah.zeep]

Hi,

The above images are captured by screen-shot (print-screen key)? If so, yeah, sounds like the graphics card is dying and you should try replacing it...

 

[AQVA]

hi zoossh... if ur intending to just do image post processing only, all u need is a mid range card. gettin a low end card will just make ur card die faster cos when ur resolution is high it will only make ur card work harder to churn out the graphics and in time the same issue will happen.

 

[zoossh]

Some things you can check/try before you spend money:

1) check your video cable connections are tight. Are you using any kind of KVM switch or video extension cables (the unshielded type) ?

2) have you tried updating to the latest video drivers for your card ?

1. video cable is the serial-port-looking like cable that connects to the graphic card at the back of the casing to the monitor rite? it is tightened and screwed in. nope, dun use any switch or whatsoever.

2. hercules seems like a dying brand with poorly supported website, and so far no new drivers.

 

[zoossh]

Hi,

The above images are captured by screen-shot (print-screen key)? If so, yeah, sounds like the graphics card is dying and you should try replacing it...

yes, screen shot.

 

[Hobbesyeo]

yeah.. confirm that the problem lies with your graphics card. I had the same symptoms a few months back.

If you are not a hard-core gamer, you can get pretty cheap but quite good graphics cards now for less than $100.

 

[zoossh]

hi zoossh... if ur intending to just do image post processing only, all u need is a mid range card. gettin a low end card will just make ur card die faster cos when ur resolution is high it will only make ur card work harder to churn out the graphics and in time the same issue will happen.

yup, any recommendations for a mid range card? i'm looking at those AGP 256mb cards. some of them says TV, DVI. does them mean with that i can watch TV on my screen, but no cable channels?

 

[zoossh]

yeah.. confirm that the problem lies with your graphics card. I had the same symptoms a few months back.

If you are not a hard-core gamer, you can get pretty cheap but quite good graphics cards now for less than $100.

yah, not gaming at all. not even solitaire.

 

[zoossh]

Try plugging ur monitor on ur onboard graphic (Motherboard) and see how it goes.

em, which means i have to open up the casing.... to look for this onboard graphic "port"?

 

[arpinkor]

yup, any recommendations for a mid range card? i'm looking at those AGP 256mb cards. some of them says TV, DVI. does them mean with that i can watch TV on my screen, but no cable channels?

TV means TV output, ie. show your PC's display on your TV. Normally you can't watch TV unless the video card states it includes a TV tuner.

em, which means i have to open up the casing.... to look for this onboard graphic "port"?

No need to open the casing. If you have an onboard video port, it should be visible from the outside, if you can't see a port that's the same as your video card's, then you don't have an onboard one.

 

[Hobbesyeo]

em, which means i have to open up the casing.... to look for this onboard graphic "port"?

nah... from the specs you provided, there's no intergrated onboard graphics.

No use looking for updated drivers as well. The problem is hardware related, and the most effective solution is to buy a new graphics card.

Be careful what card you buy tho, yours is the "old" type "AGP x8" slot. IIRC, the new graphics slots are of a "PCI Express" type.

 

[Static]

em, which means i have to open up the casing.... to look for this onboard graphic "port"?

sounds complicated. I Didnt check the specs though for onboard VGA

as Hobbesyeo mentioned no onboard graphics.

If u need i can lend u the graphics card to test ur computer. I got both PCI-e and

AGP. PM me if u want

 

[Splutter]

I have this problem too, haha. Only option is to change to a new card. I'm still putting up with this problem since I'll be changing my com in about 6 mths, and I don't want to spend on another AGP card.