Oh no... this is just what I need! :(

[Rennn]

My case is actually pretty huge, it's just that the cords keep sticking straight out of the video card and press against the fan, no matter what I do with them. They'd probably hit even if I got rid of the fan. The rest of my hardware is in my sig. Oh, plus I have an Asus M4N68T-M v2 motherboard. I just checked all the connections, and unfortunately they seem secure. If it was my PSU I'd be getting crashes, so it's probably my video card. It's factory overclocked, could that be it? Is it worth reverting to its normal state?

 

I haven't gotten crashes, but I know that the card isn't performing as well as it should be. Various benchmarks have confirmed that it performs badly compared to similar PCs.

 

Also, the problem returned. Meh.

[Harbringe]

My case is actually pretty huge, it's just that the cords keep sticking straight out of the video card and press against the fan, no matter what I do with them. They'd probably hit even if I got rid of the fan. The rest of my hardware is in my sig. Oh, plus I have an Asus M4N68T-M v2 motherboard. I just checked all the connections, and unfortunately they seem secure. If it was my PSU I'd be getting crashes, so it's probably my video card. It's factory overclocked, could that be it? Is it worth reverting to its normal state?

 

I haven't gotten crashes, but I know that the card isn't performing as well as it should be. Various benchmarks have confirmed that it performs badly compared to similar PCs.

 

Also, the problem returned. Meh.

 

Well when I said from my experience I'm saying this happened to me and for a long time I was able to use the computer and play games but every once in awhile some game would access the chipset in some way that my card didn't like and I would crash and have to do a complete reinstall of windows to make the problem go away (for awhile).Then one time it happened again and instead the card just burned out.

 

My suggestion is contact a techie of your cards manufacturer and describe exactly what it is your seeing on your monitor and go through what he says and try to nail this down , I imagine once you mention these light and dark bands he will have a good idea of what could possibly be causing it . Hopefully its something you can fix and not the card itself.

 

The overclock doesn't play into it , either it works the way its supposed to or it doesn't. Overclocking is just the exploiting of of a chipsets overcapacity , its safety margin and when they overclock they are cognizant of not exceeding that margin.

[FMod]

Or take a photo of your display. It's really much more explanatory.

 

Factory overclocking is no different from o/c at home, it's still overclocking and it does increase potential glitches. So underclock your GPU and VRAM to about 10% less than its design speed and see if the problem goes away.

[Rennn]

Okay. I took screenshots, but they don't capture the 'static' or whatever it is. Does this mean it's a bad monitor/adapter?

Please let it be that simple... I like my GTX 460.

 

Also, I reexamined my DVI to VGA adapter, and it looks like a pin is just slightly bent. Could that be the problem, or would you expect some other kind of problem from that?

[Harbringe]

Factory overclocking is no different from o/c at home, it's still overclocking and it does increase potential glitches. So underclock your GPU and VRAM to about 10% less than its design speed and see if the problem goes away.

 

Ok thats no solution, really all that is saying is why didn't you buy a slower cheaper card , not the result he is probably looking for.

 

Here's a suggestion do you have any friends who are gamers and have cards comparable to yours , preferable someone who even has a 460 but it not vital its exactly the same , just comparable and try out their cards. If the banding doesn't show up and the card or cards runs like its supposed to , then you know it has something to do with the card itself and is not likely fixable by you. Then all you do is whack the guy with the best card over the head lock him in the basement and never let him out. lol sorry couldn't resist . Actually then its likely you are gonna have to send the card back but at least you will know its something to do with the card and know where you stand. That's the easiest way to narrow down what the problem is . If the problem shows up with the other cards then you know its something else.

[FMod]

Okay. I took screenshots, but they don't capture the 'static' or whatever it is. Does this mean it's a bad monitor/adapter?

I meant a photo, with an actual camera. And a short video, if the noise is moving. It's a bit more bother, but it's the only way to diagnose it online.

 

Also, I reexamined my DVI to VGA adapter, and it looks like a pin is just slightly bent. Could that be the problem, or would you expect some other kind of problem from that?

Unlikely. The pin will usually bend/break all the way if it can't go in.

 

 

Ok thats no solution, really all that is saying is why didn't you buy a slower cheaper card , not the result he is probably looking for.

I'm pretty sure this is better than whatever the static problem is. And it will help see if the problem is related to the GPU.

 

Also:

Various benchmarks have confirmed that it performs badly compared to similar PCs.

Don't ever pay attention to that. You don't know where the results came from and what other components there were. Sandra and other comparison benchmarks are also absolutely terrible at assigning "weight categories".

The consequences of poorly working GPU/CPU etc are more often freezes, artifacts, crashes, not performance loss.

[Rennn]

Okay, I think I've got it figured out. The 'noise' doesn't show up on a screen capture program like Fraps, and it doesn't happen at all on another monitor straight from DVI to DVI, so it's definitely NOT the video card. Whew! That's a relief.

 

Secondly, it's not the monitor because the "no signal" screen is completely crisp when I physically unplug the cable from the monitor, and though the problem is sporadic, restarting the monitor does nothing to even break the pattern.

 

Thirdly, it's not the VGA cable, since replacing the cable did absolutely nothing to help the problem.

 

Okay, what have we found?

1. It's not the video card.

2. It's not the monitor.

3. It happens somewhere between the video card and the monitor, but...

4. It's also not the VGA cable.

 

What does that leave?

The only possible explanation is that the bent pin in the DVI adapter is causing the problem.

This week I attempted to bend the adapter pin back into place with a needle-nose pliers, and the problem got five times worse. Yep. Definitely the DVI adapter. I'm glad it'll be such a simple fix.

 

I'd like to thank everyone for their answers. I understand that without me providing you with a picture or detailed specs, diagnosis would have been next to impossible, so thanks for trying.

 

As for the performance loss, I've got that narrowed down to my RAM. It's 4GB of a decent speed, but it's a generic no-name brand that shows up for about $20 per 4GB. That's never a good sign. I was certain that this was the problem after reviewing RAM usage for several games, including Minecraft, and finding that games frequently spill over on to my paging file (blegh). So, instead of buying a new video card I'll just spend half that much on a new DVI adapter and 8GB of some l33t RAM. I've already checked my Mobo's compatibility for speed and format, and if I get 4GB per slot (definitely possible, as I just saw on Newegg and Amazon), I'm good for 8GB OC'd at 1800Mhz.

Edited March 23, 2012 by Rennn

[blove]

I win!

 

Glad to see that you have it narrowed down.