A/V experts in here - Fried video card(s)?

[crew_dawg16]

I'll get right to the problem at hand.

I needed to upgrade my old receiver to a new HDMI capable one.
Today my new receiver comes in the mail - a Yamaha RX-V465.

I hook up my stuff to it and the signal from the satellite receiver is great. Switch it to the HDMI input from the computer (DVI - HDMI connection) and it looks HORRIBLE.

I unplug the cable from the receiver and plug it back into the TV directly like I had been running it before - still looks horrible. The issue seems to only happen when I try to run it at 1080p (1920 x 1080) resolution.

I had been running this resolution previously with NO issues at all. Did I fry my video cards somehow? They are GeForce 8800GTS cards and were running in SLI. I have already tried one or the other alone, reinstalling drivers, etc.

Any ideas?

 

[Uncle Meat]

Well if it's happening on both cards when not running in SLI could it be a bad DVI/HDMI adaptor/cable?

U.M.

 

[astrodudepsu]

So it worked fine before you got the receiver. HDMI -> TV

But then this HDMI -> Receiver -> TV, did not work

And now this HDMI -> TV, doesn't work?


If that's the case when you put the receiver into the system you may have (unknowingly) changed some settings. Have you checked all the display settings to make sure nothing looks out of place?

 

[DEVIL]

I had some issues with the drivers. Really weird, as far as the resolution. Old ones seemed fine, updated and had the issue, same res I was running came out different, tv didn't like what it was ewcieving. I wound up running different res on monitor vs tv, but cloned. Works fine now.

 

[CobraBob]

Are you using an HDMI cable? I made the mistake of hooking a new Blu-Ray player to my home system with the cable I had used with the old DVD player. Quality was horrible. Much worse than my old regular DVD player. Called Samsung and found out I had to use an HDMI cable to get good quality. Switched the cable and BAM! Gorgeous picture quality. I honestly didn't think/know the cable made that much of a difference.

 

[crew_dawg16]

Well if it's happening on both cards when not running in SLI could it be a bad DVI/HDMI adaptor/cable?

U.M.

I suppose it could be, I have tried all of the usual "tests" by bending / jiggling the cable to look for changes, etc. The connections at either end look fine as well, the weird part is that it works just fine at certain lower resolutions, just seems to have trouble with the XXXX x 1XXX and above.

So it worked fine before you got the receiver. HDMI -> TV

But then this HDMI -> Receiver -> TV, did not work

And now this HDMI -> TV, doesn't work?


If that's the case when you put the receiver into the system you may have (unknowingly) changed some settings. Have you checked all the display settings to make sure nothing looks out of place?

Yeah, I checked all my settings and even uninstalled the drivers and tried again. The cable being used is a DVI -> HDMI cable and it is now plugged directly into the TV as before and it no longer displays higher resolutions correctly, the screen seems "cropped" and it shakes a little bit. Also, the colors are way off.

I had some issues with the drivers. Really weird, as far as the resolution. Old ones seemed fine, updated and had the issue, same res I was running came out different, tv didn't like what it was ewcieving. I wound up running different res on monitor vs tv, but cloned. Works fine now.

I downloaded the latest drivers (were the same I had been using previously) no change. I tried making a custom resolution so that I could set everything manually with the same result.

Are you using an HDMI cable? I made the mistake of hooking a new Blu-Ray player to my home system with the cable I had used with the old DVD player. Quality was horrible. Much worse than my old regular DVD player. Called Samsung and found out I had to use an HDMI cable to get good quality. Switched the cable and BAM! Gorgeous picture quality. I honestly didn't think/know the cable made that much of a difference.

Yeah, it is a 100% digital connection with a DVI -> HDMI cable. My video cards do not have an HDMI connection but DVI is "equivalent" in quality if you will so that is not my issue. I had been using this setup with zero issues prior to hooking up the receiver in-line.

I am new to the HDMI switching receivers and thought that they might have some control circuitry that fed back through the cable and damaged my video cards.

For instance, if I have my receiver on my satellite connection and then change the input on the television to a different HDMI input, the receiver starts stuttering the audio and takes about 15 seconds to stop. In my mind, it should make no difference but obviously the receiver has some "signal" going to the television that is being sent back to the receiver to cause this.

 

[crew_dawg16]

I am wiping the HD now, reinstalling windows to rule out a software issue. I will report back.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

If you are getting weird colors and distorted images its probably one of your cards. Either that or the cable/reciever.

 

[crew_dawg16]

If you are getting weird colors and distorted images its probably one of your cards. Either that or the cable/reciever.

Thanks for the post, I've ordered a new cable already and ruled out a software issue. If the cable does not fix it I guess it will be time to upgrade the video card.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

if you want to know which vid card it is ..... take one out at a time.

 

[crew_dawg16]

if you want to know which vid card it is ..... take one out at a time.

Already tried that, with the same result on both cards, common denominator is the cable. The cards may have both been damaged since they were linked in SLI though.

 

[Guy Fawkes]

doubt it, its probably the cable.

 

[JasonSnake]

Takes a lot to damage a vid card like overheating or exposure to major static. Doesn't sound like your case.

See if a pin broke off in the cable. Or go to NVidia control panel and make sure the colorspace didn't change on you (should be in the Resolution page). Should be set to RGB.

 

[crew_dawg16]

Takes a lot to damage a vid card like overheating or exposure to major static. Doesn't sound like your case.

See if a pin broke off in the cable. Or go to NVidia control panel and make sure the colorspace didn't change on you (should be in the Resolution page). Should be set to RGB.

I took a picture the best I could with my phone, it's hard to see but the pin at the bottom left and, to a lesser degree, the pin on the bottom right are pushed back a little.

I looked at another cable and it seems to be the same? Is this normal for HDMI cables or do I have 2 damaged cables?

 

[crew_dawg16]

I found more pics on the web that look like mine, so I guess it is normal

 

[JasonSnake]

What does your screen look like when you first start up the computer but before the Windows logo come up? Does it look normal before then?