[RESOLVED] HP Pavilion 8380 ATI Rage Pro Turbo Problems

[Technobody]

Hi, I bought an Hewlett-Pachard system in the fall of '98 looking forward to my "2X AGP
8MB SDRAM Video". The bubble burst when I found that an ATI Chip was hard-wired to the motherboard, so goodbye AGP upgrades! HP techs coldly reminded those of us who inqired that "Your system was advertized with AGP Video, not with an AGP Slot". OK, I'm screwed. My next system will reflect a more cautious and savvy consumer.

The problem is that I'm trying to use this machine for all it's worth for now, and there have been some terribly distracting video distortions moving up and down my screen. It's like this horizontal "shimmering" that appears esspecially over text. Sometimes it doesn't occur for a short while and then it's very noticable. A friend told me that it's a charactoristic of ATI Video. I posted this problem on HP's Pavilion forum and there's been no response. The most recent video driver upgrade that HP posted on it's site dates back to December of '98. They've been a *big* help.

Does this seem like a driver related problem? If so, exactly which of ATI's many drivers would be the proper update? Your suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[scutterboy]

I've seen a really horrid effect like that before. It was happening with hardware DVD decoding. I fixed it by upgrading the motherboard drivers. Just a thought. Also make sure USB is enabled. It can affect your display.

Cheers
Scutter

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And Control Enter STILL wont let me post a reply.

[Technobody]

I know nothing of motherboard drivers. HP's site has'nt mentioned any. I think that there may be an update for my 2X DVD drive that came with the system. HP techs did finally respond after only two weeks. They asked about my monitor and it's settings. Here's what I told them:

Monitor: Magavox 20" 20CM64
Resolution: 1024x768
Colors: High Color (16 bit)
Refresh Rate: V-Frequency 60Hz
H-Frequency 48.29 KHz

I don't have flicker. In fact, if I increase the refresh rate, I notice flicker. It's like I'm looking at my text through a mirage on a hot summer day. This Shimmering went away for several months, before it came back and I'm racking my brain as to what may have changed to cause this.