Video woes cured . . the bizarre tale!

Discussion relating to Socket 7 hardware.
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His Royal Majesty King V
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Video woes cured . . the bizarre tale!

Post by His Royal Majesty King V »

All,

Well, for those who recall from this thread the trouble I was having with my videocard, I went the wrong way.

Others suggested power supply. Others with the same symptoms said "power supply fixed it" and I thought "oh, well, my system's not power hungry, that CAN'T be it!"

Tried a new videocard, same symptoms (well, other difficulties, but that was due to a buggered videocard, the crashing was independent of that).

So I resigned myself to having to get a new power supply. Though sticking in my old Rage Pro Turbo card seemed to cure any browser-crashes, and game-crashes were nonexistent simply because the drivers I had couldn't do 3D.

Then today it struck me. My kitchen has a lamp that has two long flourescent lights, and the dining area has one of those flourescent substitutes for the standard type bulbs.

I'd noticed that they flickered on occasion, and figured they were on their way out.

Then it was tonight that I noticed . . . . the two separate light fixtures, when they flicker, always do so in synchronization with each other!

Further, they NEVER do so when the computer is off!

An ugly supicion crosses my mind.

"No, can't be! The house is only 4 years old, and modern wiring! Even if my PC is on the same circuit, those flourescent lights don't draw much power!"

"But . . did my problems start after I moved to this place?!"

So I try anyway. Plug the PC and most peripherals into another outlet.


I just finished playing a round of Unreal Tournament Demo . . 20 frag limit, to completion. No problems.

I've never been able to get a complete round in. In fact, usually 5 minutes was the limit before the system hung.

I'll have to try more gaming and high-intensity 3D stuff (well, high intensity for my system), but I think I've stumbled upon the answer!

Of course, it still irritates me because going to the other outlet is rather inconvenient. And I *should* be able to plug into the outlet that gave me the trouble without actually having that trouble.

*sigh* . . I shouldn't have problems with the electrical system in this fricken house!

I still wanna try a low-end Radeon to see 1) if it works with my system, and 2) if I get any performance boost.

But no pressure at this time!
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AZK6er
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Post by AZK6er »

Sorry for the delay King, I just read your post.

It DID sound like power supply to me. BUT, the wall outlet? I never would have thought to go that far into it myself, I just assumed, well, thats what I get for assuming. That thought never crossed my mind. You got it fixed though, thats the important part. Now I wonder what the grounding is like in your house (does it have any breaks or loose connections), might be something to look at you know (Thunder Storms and such)? Thats a chilling thought.
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His Royal Majesty King V
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Post by His Royal Majesty King V »

I'm definitely going to have to have that looked into....... that's a bit disturbing that my PC caused the lights to flicker ever so slightly.

But heck, you were closer that I was! I suspected RAM, videocard, etc., and while it wasn't the power supply, it WAS a power problem. I guess my PS was just an innocent victim of a bad power source from the wall!
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or maybe not.........

Post by His Royal Majesty King V »

Ok, I guess I had it easy..... I *thought* my woes were cured with plugging into a different outlet (at least my PC woes . . why does my house's wiring seem questionable is a different problem!)

And then today, with my Rage128 having behaved so well, I was posting a message to a message board . . a rather long, detailed one at that, and my screen blacked out again.

Huh? It hasn't given me ANY trouble in a while. . . .


Maybe I should look into a new power supply after all. Either that or maybe ALL the outlets in this house need a rigorous testing. My printer's still plugged into the old outlet, and the kitchen lights flicker slightly when the printer's on..........
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Post by AZK6er »

You know, if it were me I would take a long hard look at your houses wiring, mainly the ground wiring, also check to see that the pig tails that hook onto the wall switches are good and tight and that someone isn't using Aluminum for either a ground OR a common wire. There's a start for you, NOT a good way to start a day if you ask me. That just plain sucks, good luck partner.
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Post by punkrawker82 »

Sounds like the wiring in your house is posessed or something...Or maybe its the ghost of an old power supply coming back to haunt you..... :shock:
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