[CLUE-Tech] Video card problems (different card)

[Gary Threlkeld]

> Recently, my display seems to have really taken a turn for the
worse.
> I am seeing a kind of smearing on rows where I have dark areas.  For
> example, my emacs background is a light grey and the text is black.
> As of a couple of days ago, any line which contains text, appears
> smeared across the entire row of the monitor.
>
> So, does anyone have a guess as to why this happens?
>
> BTW, I have an nvidia Vanta.  I have seen a similar card fail with
the
> same visual result.  Are these cards really that bad?  Is it heat
> related?
>
> I really at a lose as to why this happens and what I can do about it
> in the future.
>
> -Dale
>

I recently acquired a used nvidia Vanta 16 Meg that within one week
demonstrated similar symptoms.  The card ran well for any short
sessions but when I left the monitor on or kept it busy for over a
couple of hours, it started producing multiple images of icons and/or
garbled text.

I returned the card to where I bought it and they agreed that the
problem was probably heat related - the technician inspected the card
and thought he saw some visible indications of overheating on the
edges of one of the chips.  I was given a replacement that has worked
OK so far (fingers crossed).  As to how good the card is - I've heard
they are quite compatible for Linux distros and in comparison to my
previous 8 Meg Matrox, I've been very happy with the Vanta's
performance.

- GTT