Help!

SungHyun7 · Post by **SungHyun7** » Sun Nov 17, 2002 12:57 pm

hey guys. i just got my zm80a-hp from frys electronics.

i have a problem.

i believe heatsink is working fine (passed 3dmark se).

however, i'm getting jumbled display (weird blocks, etc.) in the boot up window and in the windows XP loading screen. i believe anything below 640x480 resolution gives me a messed up display.

did i short something? any suggestions?

thanks all.

my v-card is radeon 8500 retail 128mb.

ChiefWeasel · Post by **ChiefWeasel** » Sun Nov 17, 2002 2:18 pm

So it works fine when you get into windows? Jus messes up when its loading? Can you try underclocking it, to see if it is overheating?

SungHyun7 · Post by **SungHyun7** » Sun Nov 17, 2002 5:17 pm

yes, it goes into windows just fine. screen is messed up only when i'm booting up and window's loading... i don't think overheating is problem because i've been running the demo that comes with 3dmark 2001 se on repeat for hours very stably.

ah.... any other suggestions? thanks all...

ChiefWeasel · Post by **ChiefWeasel** » Mon Nov 18, 2002 3:30 am

Hmm, have you installed the latest drivers, and SP1 for XP? Maybe try a virus check too?

SungHyun7 · Post by **SungHyun7** » Mon Nov 18, 2002 9:26 am

yea... everything's updated... i think the problem is the thermal grease that got rubbed off onto the agp slot pins on the card while i was doing the operation... or somewhere on the card... or i did something very wrong...

scrapping off the thermal bond on the cpu with an exacto knife wasn't too fun....

quokked · Post by **quokked** » Mon Nov 18, 2002 5:20 pm

yeah.... I've had that problem too.... use a non conductive thermal grease like artic alumina and see if you can find artic alumina thermal expoxy as well, slightly less performance than the artic silver but much easier to work with

SungHyun7 · Post by **SungHyun7** » Mon Nov 18, 2002 7:25 pm

i guess i'll spend the whole wknd trying to find out where that goop dropped on the card. or try cleaning the agp socket, which i think i've already damaged.

do you guys know by any chance which part of the agp slot is responsible for lower resolution (if there's one)?

i've shoved in some tissue with the knife and as i was taking the tissue out, i notcied it wasn't a simple slot but a protrusion of copper plates on both sides. i'm pretty sure i've bent the hell out of some copper plates... erg... i guess i'll just get a new mobo... or maybe this is a good excuse for me to upgrade to a p4?

SungHyun7 · Post by **SungHyun7** » Mon Nov 18, 2002 7:26 pm

is there any solutions i can use to get rid of that thermal grease effectively? or as the grease implies, simple use of windex or likewise would help?

ChiefWeasel · Post by **ChiefWeasel** » Tue Nov 19, 2002 3:33 am

I think all pins would be resolution independent ie the digital video data would go through the same pins whatever the resolution. But bending the pins cant be a good idea! Can you bend them back to the right position? Or see if they are all touching ok?

I think nail varnish remover is the thing to use to remove the grease, unless you have IPA or similar around the house?

quokked · Post by **quokked** » Tue Nov 19, 2002 5:06 am

SungHyun7 wrote:is there any solutions i can use to get rid of that thermal grease effectively? or as the grease implies, simple use of windex or likewise would help?

isopropanol alchol wipes seem to work for me

Zippo fluid also works according to some sources

Macguyver · Post by **Macguyver** » Fri Jan 03, 2003 10:52 am

Try a q-tip with isopropanol alchol. It's a cheap way to go if it works for you. I just replaced my HS and it worked for me.