That is tearing as in ripping not crying.I notice this graphical imperfection while playing games.Some games display the problem more than others.It is manifested by a continuous horizontial break, or "tear" running from one end of the display to the other.It looks like two mismatching images of the same sceen,stacked on top of one another.

Anyone know what causes this, or how it can be avoided? It is almost like the monitor is having trouble keeping up with the video card.

do you get the prob when the puter is in everyday use?

have you made sure the cables are all in firm and the graphics card is well seated?

try using another monitor and see what happens.:D you may need a new one:(

It only appears while playing demanding 3d action games like Jedi Knight 2 and first person shooters like Wolfenstein.It doesn't happen playing less graphically intense stuff like diablo 2, or Warcraft 3, or during tasks, like browsing the internet.

I think it is a common occurence.I have heard of it talked about before,and I think there is something that can be done about it.

Most commonly i've seen this with older voodoo cards and more modern games; the cards just can't handle the graphics information being pumped to them-and the drivers they use to tell the cards how to perform are just not up to the task.

The only modern cards i've seen this happen to were on the lower end Geforce series ( 2mx, etc... ) and occasionally on a Geforce 3 that the currently installed detonater drivers didn't quite work well with, usually it's a simple case of updating the drivers.

Try that and then post back to let us know how things are going.

Also, make sure vertical sync is enabled in Display Properties/Settings/Advanced.

Yea,that is what I have heard about before,virtical sync.But I don't have that exact option in properties.I am running XP home.The only option I find is the "enable write combining" option in the troubleshoot tab, and I have it checked.In the adapter tab,I have the mode options selected at 1280x1024 true color{32bit},85hz, which is the highest my monitor will support, without exploding into a mushroom cloud and spreading dangerous levels of radiation all over Seattle! But this virtical sync, I have never been able to locate. BTW my video card is a Ti 4400 128mb.

Display Properties/Settings/Advanced/GeForce4 Ti 4400/Additional Properties/Open GL Settings, select 'On By Default' for the Vertical Sync option.

Ooh I found the sync option! It was already set to default.I dunno,it isn't a huge deal anyway,this tearing business I mean.I was mostly curious about it more than anything.This new card of mine tears a lot less than the old GF2 GTS that I replaced it with.Actually the GF2 was still doing okay.At the time I was using it for all my up to date 3D action games like Wolfenstien and Jedi Knight 2, I thought, hey,who needs a new card? this GF2 is fine.It wasn't until after breaking down and upgrading to the GF4 that I realized how much of a compromise the GTS actually was.The Quake 3 based games have an option to display the actual Frames Per Second right on the screen as you play.So, you can see exactly how the card is doing.After installing the GF4 and playing a little Jedi Knight,I says to myself, ooh,so this is how this game is suppose to look and run!

But anyway getting back to this tearing stuff.What is actually going on when it happens? Is the video card faster than the monitor and the monitor can't refresh fast enough, or is it the card itself that is having trouble.I am kind of curious about the mechanics of the flaw.
edit:can't spell:D

When vertical sync is enabled, the video card waits for the monitor to finish a screen refresh before displaying the next rendered frame. This alows for smoother screen updates, but it also means that the card is idle while waiting for the refresh to finish which can result in a frame rate slowdown. This is especially true in the case of a fast video card feeding frames to a monitor that's set for a slow refresh rate.
Disabling vertical sync allows the video card to render frames faster, but this can cause the frame rate to exceed the refresh rate of the monitor which normally results in tearing or flickering. Making sure the card is running at the highest possible refresh rate that the monitor can support can help reduce the tearing effect.

Thanks for the info on tearing.Been away from the computer for a few days.Took my boy on an over night horse back trip out in West Glacier Montana.Had a great trip!First time I had seen that country.Just got back tonight.

i had this problem a few months ago and i fixed it by reinstalling my video and sound card drivers.