John wrote:
> hello. i am running windows xp home on a custom built (UN-overclocked)
> computer. my question i think seems to be related to either my video card, or
> drivers inside windows. i have done what tests i can so far, and have
> discounted the problem being my monitor. my video card is an ati radeon 9800
> pro, 128MB AGP. i purchased it new, from the store, about 5 years ago or so,
> though i dont really remember how long. i use it about 8 hours or so a day,
> about 5-6 days a week. occasionally less. i have never updated the drivers
> since the ones that came with the card. i have also checked my computer for
> viri as well and turned up short there.
>
> the problem you see, is most prominent, within the windows environment.
> after a minute or so, i begin to see tiny bits of streaking on the display.
> when i move the mouse pointer around, type, or drag windows around the
> screen, most local graphics, seem to streak or 'smear', leaving a sort of
> trail, as if they were painting something. nothing i do, seems to clear the
> screen entirely. then, while trying to run dxdiagnostics, the system freezes
> at the last, 3d tests. ive also noticed this issue, during system POST. this
> all started to appear about three days ago. even my pc games are showing
> distorted graphics and similar streaking. prior to this occurrance,
> everything was as normal.
>
> i have checked on MTBF numbers for my video card, and while they are close,
> it is still a few hundred to a thousand hours from statistical failure.
>
> i have not switched out the card to try another one, so i dont know if its
> the card, or a corrupted video or windows file. i know this newsgroup is
> specifically not an ati tech support sort of 'forum', but i am merely asking
> if these symptoms seem software related or are really hardware. while i have
> had my card a long while, dont overclock it, go crazy running high res
> graphics, and dont tend to get viri often; i dont really see that my card
> would finally be sputtering out by now. i would expect better performance
> from such great model card as this one, even though it is the slightly older
> AGP style.
>
> so, any suggestions?? --thanks.

Have you checked the fan on the video card? My 9700 Pro ran hot, but I
don't know about the 9800. You can also check to make sure that all the
other fans are working and that the case is not getting too hot. I
recently purchased a 3750 HD that had the same artifacts and it was
either a defective card, or the fan was not spinning fast enough. I
RMA'ed the card and by then Diamond tech support recommended using
RivaTuner to adjust the fan speed. Since both were done at the same
time I don't know which fixed the problem.