Video card shot?

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here goes:

two weekends ago, my 8yr old ViewSonic 22" CRT just stopped working (it had been flickering for about 6 months). all the normal static sounds and clicks would happen on restart but no image would show up, it would just stay black. so, i thought it was shot. i borrowed an old 15" Nec CRT from work, plugged it in and it works fine. in the mean time i ordered a re-furbed (or factory reconditioned, didnt know there was a difference) 20" ViewSonic LCD. when i got it, i plugged it in, worked fine for about 5 minutes. but then the screen would go black all of a sudden. i'd have to turn the monitor off then back on again, then after a few seconds it would go black again, and then id turn it off then on again, etc..... i returned the monitor and just got a call from the supplier saying that they tested it for 24hrs with no problems on their end.

so my question is: is it possible that my video card is going bad? i have two cards for dual monitoring (original cards that came with the machine), and i plugged the LCD into both and it would go black in both cards. i tested it with the little CRT in my main card and the LCD in the second card, and it would still go black while the CRT would work fine.

i havent gotten rid of my original 22" CRT so should i bring it into work and see if it works on my machine here? has this happened to anyone else? thanks in advance.
 
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You could have any number or combo of issues... old monitor no good, old cable no good, video card going bad, the "new" LCD quirky, etc. With any new monitor, you should make sure your graphics settings are compatible with the monitor you switched to. You could try your old monitor at work for kicks, but I'd say 8 years longevity is pretty good... it probably has reached end-of-life.
 
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mcjacksonnelson
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yeah, i guess i'll try that this weekend. the thing's a monster tho, 80lbs or so. still not sure why the little 15" crt works fine while the LCD didn't. oh well. at least im not in a huge bind or anything. just really frustrating. thanks for your response.

p.s. i tried two cables on the LCD in both video cards, same result.

p.p.s i would try a hardware test but my boss has the 10.4 dvd at her house :-/
 

dtravis7


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It sounds like it's the monitor no matter what they say. If your video cards were BOTH going out, why is that 15" working with no issues. I have heard of some Flat Panel displays that did not like some video cards. A neighbor of mine had that issue and had to turn off the monitor and back on. His system is a P4 system with XP SP2.

Just a guess by the way but based on years of experience with different monitors and video cards and computers.
 
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mcjacksonnelson
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yeah, i have to agree. i just have to try my old 22" at work, just to be sure. thanks for the feedback.
 
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mcjacksonnelson
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btw, this is the model of monitor, just to see if any of you know of any reason this specific monitor wouldn't work with my computer (which i highly doubt since ViewSonic has been a staple for graphic arts for years and years, i.e. works with mac)

http://viewsonic.com/products/lcddisplays/xseries/vx2035wm/
 

dtravis7


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I own a Viewsonic 1912WB 19" Widescreen and it's been 100% on any computer I have tried it on including very old Mac G4's. Never an issue.
 

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