OT-Computer Help

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:45 am

I posted this over at the Dell Community. Know a lot here are knowledgable concerning computers. Again, any help is much appreciated.

I have a 3 month old Dimension 5150, P4, with a Radeon X600 256 video card.

Saturday I turned my computer on and noticed that the screen looked like it was missing pixels, scattered here and there. As I continued working it got worse to a point where there were vertical lines on the screen. I re-booted and on the opening screens there were dancing vertical lines throughout.

Finally, after re-booting again, I received a blue screen with light blue dashes vertically with a message stating the error had to do with file ati2vgag and lower in the message a stop error. I do not have it written down as I am writing this from work.

I was able to boot from safe mode and chatted with a Dell person. They had me go through some steps, restore to a prior point, uninstall and reinstall video drivers and then finally restore my computer to how it was shipped to me. None of this helped. The vertical lines are still there and the blue screen with the stop error still occurs.

I tend to think, although I am far from a computer expert, that this is a video card issue.

Any help or advise with this would be much appreciated.

WillHunting · Post by **WillHunting** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:06 am

I am no expert either, but it definitely sounds like an issue with the videocard. Does that ati card have another output (like DVI)? If so, try to connect to the monitor via the secondary output. If there is none, do you have a spare videocard you can install and try? Either that or go to bestbuy and get a cheapie replacement (for now) and see if that improves things.

I hope your computer is under Dell's warranty, so they will replace the videocard free of charge. Good luck.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:15 am

It is covered, but just going through the BS with Dell may be reason enough to just buy a new one. But I want to somehow make sure before I purchase a new one.

I do have an old Dell in my basement. About 3 yrs old. Could I just pull that card and try it in my new computer? Would it fit and be compatible?

WillHunting · Post by **WillHunting** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:55 am

I don't think the vidcard from your old dell would work. Your new one mostly likely have PCI-e slot and the old one would be AGP. But if your new card is AGP, then it should work. If you have time, open both up and you will see.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:30 pm

Video card...without a doubt. Well, I guess it could be the slot on your mobo (pci-e, agp, pci)...but 9 times out of 10, those symptoms will be indicative of a bad video card. It should be warranted by Dell since it's only 3 months old...have those guys send you a new one.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Wed Jun 28, 2006 9:20 am

Went through some more tests with a Dell tech and they are sending me out a new one.

He had me hook up the monitor cable to another input(output?) that was not on the video card and the screen was fine. I guess that was the final determination.

MizzouRah · Post by **MizzouRah** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 11:45 pm

Probably your onboard video card they had you plug it into.

Definitly sounds like a video card issue.. glad it's covered.

Pete · Post by **Pete** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 6:27 pm

Dell technician came out today, installed the new card and it is working.

The problem happened one week ago today and now it is fixed. I tried the chat first and that was tough, Dell dude called me at 6:00 am Wednesday, determined the problem, and had it fixed a few days later.

Dell's customer service is alright by me.

WillHunting · Post by **WillHunting** » Sat Jul 01, 2006 9:42 pm

I agree, Dell is successful because they do have very good customer service (especially if you have a corporate account). I am glad they fixed your problem!

peabody · Post by **peabody** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:24 am

I need a little help from the computer guru’s here (or at least get pointed in the right direction). I am trying to shop for a new computer for myself. I have never bought one for myself. My work has always provides me with a lap top and my crappy Pentium II desktop at home I got from work when they were upgrading our systems a couple years ago. This relic of a computer must be replaced. I am quite out of the loop with computers these days, but not a complete dunce. I’ve read a few buying guides online from PCWorld and PCmag on what to look for when buying a desk top, but I still have a few questions. I will try to be as informative as I can be.

In Search of:
Hard drive, Monitor, Key Board, Mouse. I desire for something respectable that is going to last me at least a couple of years, but it does not need to be top of the line.

Uses:
I will be doing some gaming, but probably not online. Games such as Age of Empires III and Civ4 are probably the kinds of games I will be playing. Other than that it will be used for general home use such as the internet, storing of some digital photos, spreadsheets, word processors, power point, etc.

Cost looking to spend:
About $1500 give or take

Spec’s I think I need:
Processor: Pentium 4 or D or Athlon 64 FX or X2. Speed between 2.4 and 3 GHz
Memory: at least 1 GB ram (expandable)
Storage: probably at least 160 to 200 GB
Graphics: I realize I need to get something with 256 MB of ram for gaming, but which one?
Monitor: 19” LCD. Doesn’t look like they are that much more expensive than a 17”.
I probably will also be wanting a rewritable DVD drive and optical mouse. I suppose any keyboard will do.

Questions:
Which processors are better, Pentium or Athlon? Does it matter? Do I really need a dual core processor?

What graphics card should I get? NVidia, ATI Radeon? How much of a performance difference is there between the Nvidia 7300, 7600 and 7800? What Do I really need for my purposes.

Which company should I buy from or stay away from? I have looked at Dell’s site where I can build a computer there. I built an XPS400 for about $1500 that had what I was looking for but then read a review that this computer had a problem running and installing games due to a lot of the pre-loaded software that the computer came with.

Is it better to buy online or in the stores? I’m thinking to get exactly what I want, then on-line is probably the way I need to go. If so, what are some reputable online stores? Am I paying more in places like Best Buy and Circuit City?

Finally, are the spec’s for my computer purposes about right for what I’m looking to do?

I realize I’m asking a lot, but any help or guidance any of you can give me is greatly appreciated.

wco81 · Post by **wco81** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 12:06 pm

Intel is going to be introducing the Core 2 Duo chips soon.

So either replace the Pentium 4 or D or maybe look for closeouts on those chips.

FatPitcher · Post by **FatPitcher** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 12:23 pm

If you're looking to buy a pre-built computer, you'll probably want to wait 2-3 weeks for the dust to settle from the new CPU releases and price cuts.

Once that happens, you'll most likely want something like this:

Intel Core 2 Duo processor (aka "Conroe")
Intel 945G motherboard
2GB DDR2 memory
250GB SATA hard drive
nVidia 7800GT video card (the savings from the lesser models isn't worth it).
Logitech G7 mouse or some wireless mouse/keyboard combo
20" widescreen LCD (should run $250-$300. You will probably want to order the monitor from a diff. place than the rest of the computer).

I wouldn't buy a computer from a retail store. Prices tend to be higher there, and you usually don't have as much flexibility in configuring your system.

Dell's decent; ABS Computers is good. Ibuypower used to be good, but now they are pretty bad. Alienware is part of Dell now; they have a good reputation, but are generally overpriced.

If you know someone who puts computers together as a hobby, that's the best route (if you're in the SF bay area, I'd be happy to do so).

peabody · Post by **peabody** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 2:17 pm

FatPitcher wrote:If you're looking to buy a pre-built computer, you'll probably want to wait 2-3 weeks for the dust to settle from the new CPU releases and price cuts.

Once that happens, you'll most likely want something like this:

Intel Core 2 Duo processor (aka "Conroe")
Intel 945G motherboard
2GB DDR2 memory
250GB SATA hard drive
nVidia 7800GT video card (the savings from the lesser models isn't worth it).
Logitech G7 mouse or some wireless mouse/keyboard combo
20" widescreen LCD (should run $250-$300. You will probably want to order the monitor from a diff. place than the rest of the computer).

I wouldn't buy a computer from a retail store. Prices tend to be higher there, and you usually don't have as much flexibility in configuring your system.

Dell's decent; ABS Computers is good. Ibuypower used to be good, but now they are pretty bad. Alienware is part of Dell now; they have a good reputation, but are generally overpriced.

If you know someone who puts computers together as a hobby, that's the best route (if you're in the SF bay area, I'd be happy to do so).

FatPitcher,

Thanks for the response. This definitely food for thought. Although, with the Spec's you're showing I think I'll be in the 2 to 3 thousand range even if I wait. I'm trying not to go much over $1500. Some of the Pentium D's or Athalon's will drop in price so I may go that route. I'll have to wait and see.

As for having you put my computer together, I live completely on the other side of the country just south of Orlando, FL. Thanks for the offer though.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Tue Jul 25, 2006 2:54 pm

Yes...what FatPitcher recommended will be WELL into the 2gs.

Intel is winning the "new" processor wars...but AMD had the last generation locked down. I personally would recommend getting what I've got. It was pretty high end back when I put it together a couple years ago:

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (or higher, whatever you can/want to afford)
ATI Radeo X800 Pro (you can improve upon this for minimal cash outlay as well)
2gb of nice ram...not that crappy stuff (around 150 or so)
Hard Drives are a dime a dozen nowdays...you can get 300gb for 150 bucks max.

I actually would probably recommend getting two hard drives so that you can constantly back your stuff up. Putting a ghost image on the "extra" hard drive will help you imensely down the road of spyware or viruses attack your computer. It's fairly easy to do, so don't be scared of the term ghost image (hahahaha...i'm hilarious I know).

Here is the Dell you could get that would fit your budget...

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/ ... 00F3&s=dhs

It's a decent rig...you could get a little more performance building it yoursef...but if you don't have the experience, you may just want to go this route. Of course you can upgrade the ram and processor speeds if you'd like to spend the money...but coming in under 1,500, that dell I linked is pretty respectable.

FatPitcher · Post by **FatPitcher** » Wed Jul 26, 2006 3:23 am

Here's a suggestion for an AMD-based system (AMD cpus just went way down in price this past week):

AMD X2 4200 cpu- $219
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6819103547

ASUS socket 939 mobo - $85
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6813131569

XFX nvidia 7600GT - $174
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150145

2x1GB Buffalo DDR400 ram - $166
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6820150007

Sceptre 20.1" widescreen LCD - $260 after rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6824112176

250GB Samsung SATA hard drive - $70
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6822152025

Nice big case with fans and 420W power supply - $57
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6811144058

Logitech cordless desktop - $58
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6823126180

LG DVD burner - $32
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6827136084

Altec Lansing 2.1 speaker set - $26
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6836113158

Microsoft windows xp home - $90
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6837102059

Total $1237 + shipping + tax (if you're in CA?). Less if you don't need windows, speakers, that kind of thing. Also, less if you want to hunt down better deals, which I am sure is possible.

I configured a Dell that was roughly equivalent for just over $1700, to give you an idea of how much you can save assembling it yourself.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 6:52 am

I'm currently running an AMD 64+ 4800 system with 2x6800gt in an SLI arrangement, but my system seems to struggle sometimes, even at 1280x1024 resolution.

Would I achieve a noticeable increase in performance if i dumped them and went to something like a single 7900gt ?

bdunn13 · Post by **bdunn13** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:16 am

What exactly is running slow? Just games or other stuff? How much ram do you have? The video card is not always the bottleneck.

I picked up FS X last week and DAMN that thing is a complete hog. I cranked up all the settings to the max the first time I played it thinking my system could handle it.. X2 3800, 2gigs ram, 2 150g HDs in raid 0, 2 6600gts in sli.
Well, with max settings, the game was completely unplayable.

From what I have seen, read FS X is made for systems that are not even out yet. I am still tweaking my system now trying to get better frame rates.

davet010 · Post by **davet010** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 10:35 am

Games primarily.

The machine has 2gb of RAM, and the hd is about 25% full, so it shouldnt be that.

Strangely enough, I tried the demo of FSX last week at 1024x768 and got decent framerates with the detail pretty high. I'm just trying to get a handle on whether two slightly elderly cards in SLI will be better or worse than a newer one on its own.

dbdynsty25 · Post by **dbdynsty25** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 2:08 pm

Flight Sim X is a piece of sh*t game. They did a HORRIBLE job optimizing. There are 50 more games out there that look 10x better than FSX and they don't eat nearly the resources. It's not like they did a good job on the ground textures or anything. I sold that turd as soon as I could.

FatPitcher · Post by **FatPitcher** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 2:32 am

davet010 wrote:Games primarily.

The machine has 2gb of RAM, and the hd is about 25% full, so it shouldnt be that.

Strangely enough, I tried the demo of FSX last week at 1024x768 and got decent framerates with the detail pretty high. I'm just trying to get a handle on whether two slightly elderly cards in SLI will be better or worse than a newer one on its own.

SLI doesn't help that much. You'll be better with a single 7900GT. What games does your pc struggle with?

There are also plenty of other possible culprits - hard drive fragmentation, driver problems, video card settings, other programs in memory, Cool 'n' Quiet, etc.