PC Display Help Needed

[warbirdlover]

I'm getting these "wispy" extensions of stuff to the right of the objects and don't know why. Have a super powerful NVidia card and new Dell flat screen monitor. Just started today....

[Wi-Golfer]

Cataracts????

[MGP]

I can't really see from your screen shot what you're talking about but the likely causes are:

Bad cable -- make sure it's well attached to both the monitor and PC. Try another good quality cable if you can.

Bad power supply -- a bad supply in your PC can cause video artifacts because of noise or because it can't supply enough current to the video card. Without some test equipment about all you can do is make sure the cooling fan(s) are working and not full of dust, pet hair or other debris.

Bad video card -- sometimes the video card will just get flaky. One thing that's pretty common is when a video card overheats it will have video artifacts. Make sure the fan on the video card is turning OK and not full of dust bunnies. Depending on your Nvidia setup you may have a utility that can read the temperature of the Graphics processor. You may take a look at that if you can and see what the temperature is.

Dell PCs (heck, a lot of PCs) don't generally have the greatest cooling in the world to beging with so dust or failing fans can cause problems like yours. It's hard on ALL the components but especially CPUs, video cards and power supplies.

Bad monitor -- I have had one LCD monitor go flaky and produce video artifacts right before it dies altogether. The LCD power supply could also be going bad.

Your best bet is to try and eliminate the easy things first. It's usually something simple (which is good) or something that is dead or dying and can only be fixed by replacing it (bad).

Sorry I can't be more helpful but swapping out parts to find out what's acting flaky is the easiest and fastest way to find the problem. For most people this isn't a very good option.

PC problems suck. My main workstation just puked a data hard drive last Saturday. Thankfully I have good backups and Micro Center near me had a suitable replacement drive on sale. Still ate almost half my Sat. fixing it though.

[Wi-Golfer]

Originally Posted by MGP

Dell PCs (heck, a lot of PCs) don't generally have the greatest cooling in the world to beging with so dust or failing fans can cause problems like yours. It's hard on ALL the components but especially CPUs, video cards and power supplies.

yep heat will really mess em up. WBL is your computer tower out in the open or is in a closed up cabinet? I have a roll top computer specific desk & it has a space for the tower on the lower left, if I close the door even though there is some slots & holes supposedly to provide air flow, the pc will heat up & that damn fan will run & run & the pc will get real sluggish. I solved the issue by just being a slob & leaving the door open all the time.

[SiberianDVM]

All I see is snow. Doesn't seem to be sticking, though.................

[VtDivot]

send me an email with a better screenshot.

[warbirdlover]

Don't know your e-mail or have it anymore VT but I'll get a better screenshot. It's like a "shadow" to the right of the image, or if you took a snapshot of an object moving from your right to left but your shutter speed was too slow. I turned the computer off and let it cool and later turned it on and same thing so not related to overheating of video card or computer. It might be this Dell flatscreen. I bought a "refurbished" from the Dell sight and I've had it about a year.

[warbirdlover]

I put this topic up at Sim-Outhouse (flight simulator forum) and they figured it out. My wire from the monitor to the computer was loose and with analog it can screw up the visual. Pushed it into the socket tight. All is fixed now! Also, have 3 cooling fans in this computer. A friend built it for $1700 and would have cost me $3500 for a Dell with the same components. It kicks butt! It's 3 years old and it's still the fastest computer I've ever touched (and we've got brand new super fast Dells at work for our CAD system)....

[MGP]

Originally Posted by Me

I can't really see from your screen shot what you're talking about but the likely causes are:

Bad cable -- make sure it's well attached to both the monitor and PC. Try another good quality cable if you can.

#1 on the hit list....

Glad you got it working and it wasn't anything serious.

[warbirdlover]

Sorry MGP. I read right over that sentence....



And the weird thing also is the pic I put up to show this has no lines or shadow anymore..... which means it was only on my monitor.