Odd monitor behavior since Windows 7 64-bit install.

GARoss · 22 Sep 2010

My PC is a dual boot Win7 64-bit & Ubuntu 10.04 LTS 64-bit. No graphic issues on Ubuntu side. I did a clean install of Windows 7 64-bit (upgrade from XP Home 32-bit), Intel Core2 2.40mhz & 4gb RAM. Motherboard is a Intel DG965RY bios v1755. The graphic card is nVidia 6800GT (256mb) & all drivers are updated. Monitor is 24" Dell & no other monitors on this PC.

From the first boot after install, the screen goes black when doing an update or working with multiple windows; only the windows are visible - everything else on the screen is blacked out. If I grab the window & reposition to another area of of the screen, graphics re-appear in areas where the window was moved over. If I do the entire screen, everything restores.

Is this normal behavior? How can I trouble shoot this?

Night Hawk · 22 Sep 2010

Welcome to the Seven Forums! GARoss

I often see the screen go entirely black for a matter of seconds when updating the Catalyst version on the 64bit 7 here. That's when the ATI driven card is seeing a fresh detection during the install process. To be seeing this continue however you may have only seen a partial incomplete installation or have gone with a "too new" update for the older series card you have there.

Too new means that model line is no longer seeing active support or you went with an update simply intended for the later model series resulting in unsuitable drivers. In either case you may want to look up an older version for the model you have and perform a fresh install of that once the present driver set and Desktop manager are uninstalled.

Lemur · 22 Sep 2010

In case it was made by another mfg (pny, msi), I would get the drivers from them. Did you check the refresh rate? What if you drop the monitor rez down?

GARoss · 22 Sep 2010

Thanks for the replies. There are 2 refresh rates; 59 & 60hz. And, MSI is the maker but does not support drivers for (NX6800GT-T2D256E) older cards.

I do, however, have the latest nVidia driver installed, v258.96. As this is a new Win7 install, I'm not sure what driver was originally installed; nVidia or MS generic. It hadn't occurred to me to go back a few versions which might be worth a try. Windows 7 hasn't been out a year yet so which one?

Also, I checked my monitor driver & it is MS generic. Apparently Dell, like MSI, doesn't support older models (Dell 2405FPW) for Win7 or Vista either. They do offer a new driver for the model that replaced mine for Win7.

I wonder if Dell's newer model driver would clash? It's for Win7 32 & 64bit. What could be so different not to work? And, I can try older nVidia video drivers, too. Also, maybe it's time for a newer card.

Where to start?

Lemur · 22 Sep 2010

MSI does have an experimental 64-bit driver for NX6800GT-T2D256E. You might get it to work with XP compatible mode. Otherwise, I don't think the video card is appropriate for win 7 64-bit.

Night Hawk · 22 Sep 2010

Forget trying to quote the results found at nvidia.com when looking the model up there!

NVIDIA DRIVERS 258.96 WHQL

That lists 258.96 and released in July for the 64bit Vista/7. That also supports the newer lines apparently from the information there. As far as refresh rates Windows would typically use the 60htz not 59htz or higher at 75.

TVeblen · 23 Sep 2010

Don't sweat the 59Hz refresh rate.
59Hz instead of 60Hz !!!
It's "normal"!

GARoss · 23 Sep 2010

Lemur said:

MSI does have an experimental 64-bit driver for NX6800GT-T2D256E. You might get it to work with XP compatible mode. Otherwise, I don't think the video card is appropriate for win 7 64-bit.

I did try an older driver but it seems when I have several windows open things lock-up.

Windows has a scoring system to rate hardware performance. My PC does well, 5.5-5.9 out of a possible 7.9, until it gets to graphics. The score drops anywhere from 1 to 3.2 depending on the 3D settings. And the system self diagnostics had several warnings about having too many windows open.

My motherboard is an Intel DG965RY which features - from the manual...

Intel® G965 Express Chipset with Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator
X3000 (Intel® GMA X3000)
One PCI Express* x16 connector supporting PCI Express graphics
cards

Does this mean I can only replace the video card with a PCI Express x16?

Lemur · 23 Sep 2010

GARoss said:

Lemur said:

MSI does have an experimental 64-bit driver for NX6800GT-T2D256E. You might get it to work with XP compatible mode. Otherwise, I don't think the video card is appropriate for win 7 64-bit.

Does this mean I can only replace the video card with a PCI Express x16?

If you can't get the card to work with new drivers, old drivers, and compat mode, the you may have to bite the bullet and get a new card. Sorry.

GARoss · 23 Sep 2010

Lemur said:

GARoss said:

Lemur said:

MSI does have an experimental 64-bit driver for NX6800GT-T2D256E. You might get it to work with XP compatible mode. Otherwise, I don't think the video card is appropriate for win 7 64-bit.

Does this mean I can only replace the video card with a PCI Express x16?

If you can't get the card to work with new drivers, old drivers, and compat mode, the you may have to bite the bullet and get a new card. Sorry.

Thanks. I guess I've accepted that fact but I want to be sure I get the right type of card. So, can I use any PCI-E card? I guess I'm not getting if there's an important difference between PCI Express, PCI Express x16 & PCI Express 2. The motherboard only states PCI Express x16. And, I'm assuming a card faster than 256mbs which is what the 6800GT is.
Thanks