MSI card problems... Suggest fix or replacement?

Scargo · May 3, 2005, 10:03 AM

Asus A8N-E nForce4 Ultra Athlon 64(FX) Skt939 DDR ATX, w/Audio, Gigabit LAN, RAID/Serial ATA
AMD Athlon 64 4000+ / CPUCOOL ZALMAN CNPS7000B-CU LED
OCZ4001024ELDCPER2-K _DDRAM 2x512MB (“Platinum”, matched pair-low latency)
VGA MSI NX6600-TD256E RT
Western Digital Caviar RE WD2500SD 250GB Serial ATA 7200RPM w/8MB Buffer
Fujitsu MAU Series MAU3036NP 36.7GB 68pin U320-SCSI 15,000RPM Hard Drive w/8MB Buffer
ADAPTEC|29320A-R SCSI RAID CARD
NEC ND-3520A 16X Double Layer DVD±RW
Antec P160 Aluminum Super Mid Tower with a second, front fan
Antec TruePower 2.0 TP-II 550W
OS: Windows XP Professional
Designed for Heavy Duty Photoshop work!
BTW, this already benches out on PS 7 @ 300 with DriverHeaven's Photoshop V2 Benchmark without using SCSI drive, tuning or OC.

I am happy with my motherboard but I am having an issue with the MSI video card which I have mentioned here: my forum question about MSI video card @Extreme Overclockers.

I have tried everything conceivable to correct the screen freezing with pixellation, or perhaps better called "artifacts", that occur as I try to move, resize or work within an open window with the mouse. I have had varying degrees of success with it working for a few minutes and seeming OK but then locking up, requiring a reboot (every time). This is with a stock (non-O'C'd) system.
I know this is not a $$, top-end 3D video card. I thought it would be more than adequate for my Photoshop needs and it is PCI Express with good rated nVidia chips. Most research I have done indicates that the problem points to bad memory on the card. I'm not fully convinced just yet.
I am wondering if there are compatability issues with the board, and/or memory and/or ?? So I am asking: what are you running that has worked without a hitch on this motherboard? What would you recommend as a rock-solid, not essentially for gaming, deifnitely for PS and graphics, dual monitor, PCI-Express video card?

Judas · May 3, 2005, 05:29 PM

This is an nvidia card correct? (6600)

would you like this moved to a more suitable forum?

MSI gets it's chips from nvidia...

Scargo · May 4, 2005, 01:01 PM

I did state that it had nVidia chips..... Yes, I think this should be moved to the nvidia area.

I have RMA'd my MSI board and I don't want to get the same board, in exchange, because I suspect there is a software or hardware conflict. I spent way too many hours trying to get it to work with glimmers of hope that lasted for a few minutes...
I guess the board sure could be bad but this has never happened to me before.
I am thinking of one of the following for my short list. Again, I am a Photoshop guy and am not buying it for gaming. I'm not going to say that a game will never be played on it but I am only concerned with it not being my weak link or bottleneck in my new system for Photoshop!
I would appreciate any advice about the merits of ATI versus nVidia. I may take a stab at overclocking it, but that is not my main concern. I mainly want a good OEM for whichever chipset and have lost confidence in MSI on several counts.
Also, is there a term or value in the specs that denote whether the board is dual-monitor capable? This has been hard for me to decifer, with most specs not clearly stating that it is! I see two-VGA outputs (possible, with adapter) on all of them but one person commented that he got a board that was not dual-monitor capable.

Scargo · May 31, 2005, 11:16 AM

New Egg RMA'd the board and the new (identical) one works fine.