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I recently installed an EVGA Nvidia e-GeForce 8800 GTX in an HP a1640n running Windows XP Pro 32-bit SP3 with a 600W 80+ power supply. It gave me the performance benefit I was looking for, so I'm enjoying it so far in that aspect.

However, there is a serious issue: the screen will turn black for a second before returning to normal. Sometimes, it keeps flashing to black so often and so badly that I have to hit Alt-F4 to quit whatever program I'm using and open the program again (which at that point it will usually run fine). This isn't happening just with games. I opened Recycling Bin and it started flashing to black constantly, so I had to close it and open it again to make it run properly.

I'm pretty sure that this isn't an application- or game-specific issue. It is likely either a hardware issue or a driver issue. I probably should've uninstalled my integrated graphics drivers before I installed the card. Should I uninstall the Nvidia drivers, uninstall the card, uninstall the integrated graphics drivers (Intel GMA X3000), and then install the card and Nvidia drivers again? Or is this a hardware/compatibility issue and I'm better off returning the card? Does the fact that I'm using a DVI-D to VGA cable have anything to do with it?

Pete
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2 Answers2

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Turns out the issue was with the active DVI-D-to-VGA cable. Here's how I figured it out:

  1. I bought 2 DVI-D-to-HDMI adapters from Amazon so I could use an HDMI cable to connect my DVI-only 8800 GTX with my HDMI-only Samsung TV. There was no cutting to black at all even at 1080p 60Hz.

  2. I took the active DVI-D-to-VGA cable to work and used it on my GTX 580-equipped work computer with a Samsung SyncMaster 244T (normally connected using regular DVI-D to DVI-D). The display still worked perfectly on the DVI-D input while it cut to black on the VGA input.

So yeah. It's way too late to ask for a refund on the cable at this point. I originally an active cable instead of a passive adapter because I wasn't sure if my 8800 GTX outputted anything through the analog VGA pins on the DVI output ports.

Two days ago I bought a couple of passive DVI-A-to-VGA adapters for $0.99 each, plugged one into one of the card's DVI ports, plugged in my existing VGA cable into my existing ViewSonic VGA-only monitor, and voila! Great picture, full res (1280x1024), and absolutely no flashing to black, even when running OpenITG at 75Hz.

Pete
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You can check these options, 1 Please use HDMI cable. 2 Please use iBall and above 600 W SMPS. 3 Please update your OS, Win XP support is over.

With Regards Naveen Singh

Naveen Singh
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