Resolved Video anaomalies-replacement board ?

OK, I admit that my system is old, but until recently it was performing very well. I'm now having video display problems.

I get a rolling contrast going through the display all the time On this BBS, it's in the form of pale blue and darker blue lines, each about 1/8" wide, flickering up and down the screen.

I suspect the video/audio card is at fault. It's an NVIDIA GeForce4 MX. I've had it out and cleaned the contacts and cleaned all the dust off the motherboard, but without success.

NVIDIA doesn't support this old clunker any more. Looking at the motherboard, I'm assuming the video/audio board is the one plugged in at 90-degrees to the motherboard, down towards the front ot the computer. The audio and video connections seem to come right off the motherboard.

I'd appreciate any recommendations for a plug-in replacement, as medical costs following cardiac surgery make it very difficult to spend money on a new computer right now.

 

What is wrong with the onboard video? Should be right there by the mouse and keyboard and USB connections.

 

There have been no changes in local potential sources of EMI. When I check the hardware through SIW, it indetifies the GPU as an NVIDIA GeForce4 MX, but it does say it's "integrated ". I was under the impression that it meant video and audio were on the same board, not that it was built-in to the mother board.

It's definitely not on a PCI board, but there is a board plugged into the motherboard at 90degrees, with two of those rotating clips to hold it in place.

 

Is your monitor plugged into the connector on the expansion card (the "board plugged into the motherboard at 90degrees "),

or,

is it plugged into a connector on the motherboard?

 

I did some looking up on your machine, and from your description, the board plugged into the motherboard at 90degrees, with two of those rotating clips to hold it in place is most likely the 512 Mb PC2700 memory stick. The motherboard does have an 8X AGP slot where you can add in a video card.
Fryes has a EVGA 6200 512MB AGP Video Card for $49.99

 

I guess I'll have to open it up and take another look. I sure wish the eMachines documentation had photos!

It might be a few days before I get to it, so I'll mark the thread "Resolved" for now.

 

CNET Archive > eMachines T3256 (10/19/2004)
http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/emachines-t3256/1707-3118_7-31154277.html

IGP = Integrated Graphics Processor

 

I'm trying to decide whether to live with the crappy video until I can afford a new laptop or to buy a PCI video card to resurrect the poor thing.

The only questions I have are:

I'm assuming my dinosaur doesn't have PCI Express. How can I tell for sure?

If I get a PCI video board and connect my display to it, do I need to do anything about killing the other video feed?

 

CNET Archive > eMachines T3256 (10/19/2004)

Wikipedia > AGP - This page has a picture of an AGP slot, along with two PCI slots over on the right of the page.

Newegg.com > AGP cards start at $35.00 (USD) with Free Shipping

 

Thanks everyone. Reset to "Resolved ".

I guess I'll have to wait until tomorrow to look at Wikipedia. They've blacked out the site for 24 hours to protest the proposed Internet legislation.