Graphics Suddenly Stop Working

[EZ_Talius]

Specs:
Gigabyte GA-8IRXP Mobo
MSI Geforce 4 Ti4600 128 ram gfx card
Direct X 9
Newest Graphics drivers (52.16)
Windows XP Pro

Problem:
Turned on EQ today to find holes in all my textures.
Any other 3D game has the same problem
Ran DXDIAG and recieved errors with Direct 3D test 8, and Direct 3D test 9. Direct X finds no problems.

Attempted solutions thus far
1) Reinstalled direct X
2) Installed newest drivers (was using 45.23 and they had been working fine)
3) reseated card

Nothing's working so far.

Downloaded SiSoft Utilities and ran a few tests, nothing there came up as hardware or software conflicts.

Any ideas what else I could try?

Possible choices I currently am entertaining:
1) Reinstall windows, direct x, and drivers from scratch
2) Buy a new graphics card

[Ruccus]

Don't bother considering upgrading your graphics card; I'd bet money that your problem is software related and the Ti4600 is still as fast as the mid grade cards of today, so it's still got life left in it.

After you re-installed Dx9 do the Direct3D tests now work? Also is AGP Texture Accelleration enabled? If not, try re-installing the motherboard chipset drivers. Edited by: Ruccus at: 12/3/03 1:37 pm

[EZ_Talius]

After the reinstall, the tests still fail.
The cube appears, spins, but has skewed textures in both cases.

AGP Texture Accelleration is enabled. Should I consider trying mobo drivers again?

[Ruccus]

Try downloading GLXS and running it (it's an OpenGL benchmark, similar to Futuremark's 3DMark series), or if you have an OpenGL game try running that - if it runs fine, then it's probably a DirectX problem.

[EZ_Talius]

I ran the tests. They came out fine until I reached the high polygon test, which has the same pixel-holed sprinkling across the textures that I'm seeing in EQ.

So it looks like openGL is effected too

[Ruccus]

Try uninstalling and reinstalling your graphics card drivers.

This doesn't just mean install the detonators over old dets, it means go into the device manager and uninstall the dets, reboot, and then install the dets after the reboot.

[EZ_Talius]

Uninstalled card, rebooted, XP auto rebooted, installed det drivers, problem remains.

[EZ_Talius]

Reinstalled windows XP and all appropriate software.
Nothing changed...
I think the card is broken, I really don't see what else it could be at this point. Edited by: Talius at: 12/3/03 8:59 pm

[EZ_Talius]

Swapped the card to another guys system, still failed DX tests. Definately the card.

Going to replace it with a Powercolor Radeon 9600 128 meg for $161 canadian. Good deal? Bad deal?

I intend to get a mobo that can utilized 8x agp on my next upgrade (in a few weeks) anyways

[Ruccus]

It's a good deal if it's not a 64-bit "SE" version, but the 9600 is slower than the Ti4600; why don't you just RMA the Ti4600? Isn't it still under warranty?

btw, AGPx8 is a marketing gimick; if that's the main reason you want to get a new motherboard, then don't bother.

[EZ_Talius]

Getting a new mobo for the 533 fsb since I'm getting a new free processor.

I bought the 9600, not SE.
RMA = what?
The warrenty was out on it so I'd have to buy a new one.

Question though:
I've installed the 9600, and it says I've installed a 9600 pro and a 9600 pro sec. Any idea whats going on?

[Ruccus]

It's normal - the "secondary 9600" the second RAMDAC, in the event you want to use multiple monitors. All ATi cards (and I think the newer nVidia cards) have a primary and secondary listing in the device manager.

If I remember correctly, RMA stands for "Return Merchandise Authorization" (everyone just uses "RMA" when referring to returning a card to the manufacturer for repair or replacement). If it's not under warranty, you can't RMA it.

[EZ_Talius]

Turns out it was an ordinary 9600. Seems to be preforming better than my old card though.

Thanks for all your help Ruc.

[Ruccus]

Now go download ATi's plethora of developer demos.

Chimp is good, as is the Lava Caves screensaver, but the Animusic demo (in the Radeon 9700 section) is a "must download" - it's impressive. Don't bother with Bear until you've downloaded the rest (too short, and the chimp demo shows off the same stuff and does it better).

The demo for which I had the least expectations and found it to be probably my second favourite (next to Animusic) is the Non Photorealistic Rendering demo. Plus it's only a 6.1mb download, so you don't have to wait for it.

Since the Ti4600 can't do PS1.4, you haven't seen the Radeon 8500 demos either - Rachel is a bit freaky but good, and the Nature and Island demos are good as well.