I have a Nvidia Vanta TNT2 16MB AGP Video Card integrated into the motherboard and a Pentium III that is 3 years old.

I have a problem similar to the 10/21/03 posting by nail00. About two months ago, onscreen grey horizontal bars started showing up. They fade off of any graphic displayed on my monitor from left to right. The darker the graphics the darker the shadow is (ie. The darkest bars appear when there is a black box in the middle of a white background.). Like nail00 described, imagine taking a clean paint brush and running it across the screen, smearing the graphics across the screen.

I've tried swapping monitors with one I knew worked fine but still got the same problem. I also updated the BIOS and Nvidia driver. Nothing. I've even formatted and reinstalled everything back to original factory condition (w/recovery disk). Nada. Finally, I installed a new $15 Nvidia Vanta Riva TNT2 16MB AGP Video Card into the AGP slot and hooked the monitor up to that instead, but still got the grey bars.


Help! What do I do next? I've run out of options I am aware of. Is it possible that my computer for some reason isn't compatible with legacy products anymore, and I need to install a $50 GeForce card instead?

Thanks. for your help!

Hi slammerino, and welcome to the forums at http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif.

Looks like you've been pretty thorough in your troubleshooting. The only other things I can think of are magnetic interference (you don't have any large speakers next to your monitor, do you? - and yes, I know it's a long shot) or some bad capacitors on your motherboard controlling the current to your video (look here (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25482) for more info).

Don't forget to post back if and when you solve your problem! :)

It's also possible that the MB has onboard video that's not disabled, or the AGP slot is bad, or the AGP card is loose in the slot, or the card is slightly raised out of the AGP slot.

Make sure that any onboard video is disabled.

If that's ok or N/A, then reinsert the card, but do not fasten it in place with the hold down screw.

If no luck, then move the card from side to side.

If still no luck, then try a PCI video card.