Member Avatar for hendrix99

Recently bought 9600xt graphics crd and more RAM, now have 768mb (P4 2.8ghz) so i can play new games like HL2 and Far Cry. However i keep getting flickering lines on the screen with both games and sometimes slow down!! I need some help, i havent installed any drivers on my crd, is that the problem? Its gettn annoyn as thought comp would now be good enough to handle these games!! Any help would be much appreciated, ty

  • 3 Contributors
  • 7 Replies
  • 183 Views
  • 6 Days Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by belama

Dani AI

Generated

Thread recap: reports horizontal flicker/line artifacts in Half‑Life 2 and Far Cry after fitting a Radeon 9600XT into a P4 2.8GHz box (768MB), with brief slowdowns on level loads. Earlier replies noted driver cleanup () and a full reinstall as an option (). The following is a compact, practical diagnostic path to narrow the cause (sync/driver/AGP/chipset/PSU vs. failing GPU) without repeating basic advice.

First, rule out the display path and tearing: swap the video cable (VGA ↔ DVI) and, if possible, try another monitor. If the lines happen only during fast camera panning and look like split horizontal bands, enable vertical sync in the game or driver control panel and use a standard desktop refresh (60/75Hz). If the corruption appears on the desktop too, the problem is more likely hardware (card, cable, or monitor) than an in‑game setting.

Next, focus on drivers and platform software: boot Safe Mode, remove all display adapter entries (Device Manager → View → Show hidden devices), uninstall any ATI control utilities, reboot and install a stable WHQL Catalyst that matches the 9600XT. Also update the motherboard chipset/AGP drivers and check for a BIOS update—AGP timing or chipset driver mismatches commonly cause motion-only corruption. If the latest driver doesn’t help, try one older known‑good WHQL build rather than betas.

Finally, verify hardware health: run an artifact scanner or short 3D benchmark to stress the GPU while monitoring temperatures, inspect the card fan/heatsink and reseat the card, and confirm the PSU has adequate wattage and stable rails. If the card produces the same artifacts in a different working PC, it’s almost certainly a defective board and should be RMA'd; if it only misbehaves in this system, concentrate on motherboard/AGP settings or chipset drivers before resorting to a full OS reinstall.

Recommended Answers

All 7 Replies

Member Avatar for belama

When you want to install a new video card you should uninstall the drivers from your previous card and then you should install the drivers for your new card. I recommend downloading the most recent drivers at http://www.ati.com.

Member Avatar for Catweazle

In addition to that, if the previous display card did not have an ATi graphics processor, you should ideally format and reinstall before using the card.

But check that you are not using the card with detail settings set too high. A 9600XT isn't really a high performance card when it comes to games like Doom3 and Half Life 2 ;)

Member Avatar for belama

In addition to that, if the previous display card did not have an ATi graphics processor, you should ideally format and reinstall before using the card.

But check that you are not using the card with detail settings set too high. A 9600XT isn't really a high performance card when it comes to games like Doom3 and Half Life 2 ;)

I dont know why but people always think Half-Life 2 needs a high-end video card. I myself have a 9600XT 256MB video card and half-life 2 runs very well at high video preferences. You're right for Doom 3 though.

Member Avatar for hendrix99

yeah i know, still hasnt resolved it, im just running on recommended settings.....the lines accross the screen i get...could that b problem with my monitor, ie its crap??thanks

Member Avatar for belama

Well if your games slow down, it is not caused by your monitor because its only used to show you the image produced by the video card. You have enough RAM and your cpu is good enough so I dont think this is the problem.

The problem of the slow downs could be because of running applications in the background or the video card but im not sure. It could be possible that your monitor has lines but if you only see them in games I dont think the monitor is the problem.

Try running games at minimum settings and if it still does it, it is not normal because by the description you gave me, your system should run the games very well at minimum. Then it might be your card.

BTW, have you tried to format your drive and reinstall Windows if you had another graphics processor than ATI?

Member Avatar for hendrix99

hey, your a star, most forums ive joined take ages to reply, if at all!!! Thanks. My old crd was a built in intel extreme, dont knw if that had drivers or not with it. The slow down is like when the game loads, but only for a second or two. Its still annoying tho! And the lines are definately only with hl2 and farcry. Not so much lines but interferance when i turn left and right quickly.

These arent major problems, can still play them, but pisses me off when spent so much money!!! Anyway il try playn them on low settings see if still happens, thanks again.

Member Avatar for belama

I think there are drivers for integrated graphics. I've never had any though.

Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.