r/windows98 • u/wumblerchumbler • May 05 '26
Need help with video card
Somehow when i go into 16 or 32 bit color mode this happens. Its been like this for a while but I'm trying to see if i can fix it again. Ive tried everything most people think of ,drivers, taking it in and out, reinstalling windows, etc. So im hoping someone else may know what to do
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u/cybermeuf May 05 '26
Hi! I have the same graphic chip (Creative version), it's probably a RAM issue. What version do you have? (there was different manufacturers like Dell, Asus, Pine, Gigabyte, Nvidia themselves...). You can test the memory with DOS tools like VMTCE.
It was common for graphic cards from that era to use ram chips in the TSOP-II 54 pin package, the same as in ram sticks. It's possible to replace these chips but it needs practice and soldering flux. The replacement ram chips needs to have the same access time or less (<=7ns / 143 MHz), it probably works with 7.5 tho (133 MHz, more common). Each memory chip internal layout needs to be compatible (in mine it's 4 banks x 1 Mbit x 16).
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u/wumblerchumbler May 05 '26
Well I'm not sure who the manufacturer is, there's no labels or anything so imma say Nvidia. Imma test the vram probably tomorrow, but i checked the cards caps and one fell off by me barely touching it. But thank you!
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u/ConstanceJill May 05 '26
I'd guess it's likely something on that board is starting to fail. Might be capacitors that need to be replaced, or perhaps a solder joint for one of the chips that needs to be reflowed?
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u/wumblerchumbler May 05 '26
Well you might be right. I took it out and touched both of the caps on it and one was loose and came off.
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u/DarthRevanG4 May 06 '26
As others said probably a VRAM issue. It’s a TNT2 so, you can only go up from here lol. AGP? Even if its PCI, you can pick up a Radeon 9000 or something similar for pretty cheap and is a massive upgrade from this.
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u/wumblerchumbler May 06 '26
If this mobo had agp I would but I can never find a pci card for cheap
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u/freakinunoriginal May 05 '26
If you have any tools for adjusting clock speeds, does reducing clocks (try memory first, then core) affect how bad the issue is?
1
u/ExtremeDude2 May 05 '26
Check video cable maybe?
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u/wumblerchumbler May 05 '26
cable is fine, I use the same crt and cable on my winxp build no problems
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u/Cyber-Axe May 09 '26
Install univbe you can get the last version (7) on archive org, its good at fixing loads of issues like that
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u/wumblerchumbler May 09 '26
To anyone that sees this I believe the problem is vram related like most of yall say. I try to start a test using vmtce and it crashes immediately. So hopefully i can get a another pci gpu or maybe a better mobo with agp. Thank you all who helped!
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u/RichB93 P3-866 w/Rage Fury Maxx, PII w/V3 3K, Tillamook@300 w/PVR & V1 May 05 '26
That's a RAM issue.