HELP with 50" HDTV as PC Monitor

[noochdizzle5]

Hello,

This is my first time posting on these boards. Please forgive me and move my thread if I happened to post it in the wrong one. Anyhow, I was hoping to get some assistance from all of you smart individuals over here. My situation is this:

I'm trying to get my PC, which will more or less serve as a media player, to work with my Insignia (Best Buy brand) 50" Plasma 1080P HDTV (via VGA port). My PC specs are as follows:

-ASUS P5K Pro LGA 775 Motherboard
-Intel Core 2 Quad CPU
-4GB DDR2
-PNY XLR8 GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB GDDR3 (Dual-link DVI)

I built my PC in 2008, installed Windows Vista Business 32-bit, and was operating it using a 27" LCD 720P HDTV as my monitor. Needless to say, it worked like a charm. I simply had the PC connected (DVI-to-VGA converter on the PC side) to the LCD HDTV's VGA input. I never had any problems with it. Later on, this year, I decided I would now use this PC as a media PC and hook it up to my new 50" Plasma 1080P HDTV through the same means (DVI-to-VGA converter on the PC end, and VGA-in on the HDTV end). When I hooked it up initially, it worked perfect right from the start. The output was crisp and I never had any problems changing the resolution or refresh rate (was working for a good 2 -3 months).

However, what was working perfectly fine now doesn't work at all. This month, I decided, "Hey, Vista SP2 is out. I guess I'll install it." Bad idea. Trying to install Vista SP2 put me into an endless installation loop, where I decided I would have to reformat and start from scratch, which leads me to where I am right now. I reformatted my PC and installed Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit. Immediately, I updated to SP1 and then SP2 (all the while using my 50" Plasma HDTV as a monitor; I hadn't yet installed the video driver). All went perfectly fine with the SP2 install this time. So, my PC was all updated and ready to go, and I finally decided to install my video driver (the latest driver from nvidia, the GeForce/ION Driver Release 190 - version 190.38). Upon rebooting, bam, my video output isn't working so well on the 50" Plasma HDTV. The video is all distorted in color and flickers in and out every few seconds (unfortunately it doesn't display long enough for me to actually navigate to my video properties and make any changes). Obviously, if I uninstall the video driver, my output is back to functional. I have to assume it's these new video drivers not liking my TV so much (setting the resolution and/or refresh rate into an unacceptable range). I have no idea what driver version I was using prior to the reinstallation.

Regardless, I've tried a few different things. I've tried a couple different older driver versions with the same result. I tried hooking my PC back up to my 27" LCD HDTV in order to set my resolution and switch it back to the 50" Plasma HDTV. After some playing around, it seemed to work.... for a reboot or two. Then it reverted back to an unacceptable resolution and/or refresh rate, causing my video output to go crazy again. I tried the same thing with a regular LCD monitor with no success (always reverted back after hooking it back up to the 50" Plasma and rebooting).

So, this is where I'm at. I can honestly say I don't know what else to try. It's functional if I have no video driver installed, but that's unacceptable. Hopefully one of you smart folks can point me in the right direction. I apologize for not having the TV's model #. I can get it when I get home from work, if needed. Anyhow, I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this and help me out! Thank you in advance!

[Pill Monster]

Originally Posted by noochdizzle5

Hello,

This is my first time posting on these boards. Please forgive me and move my thread if I happened to post it in the wrong one. Anyhow, I was hoping to get some assistance from all of you smart individuals over here. My situation is this:

I'm trying to get my PC, which will more or less serve as a media player, to work with my Insignia (Best Buy brand) 50" Plasma 1080P HDTV (via VGA port). My PC specs are as follows:

-ASUS P5K Pro LGA 775 Motherboard
-Intel Core 2 Quad CPU
-4GB DDR2
-PNY XLR8 GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB GDDR3 (Dual-link DVI)

I built my PC in 2008, installed Windows Vista Business 32-bit, and was operating it using a 27" LCD 720P HDTV as my monitor. Needless to say, it worked like a charm. I simply had the PC connected (DVI-to-VGA converter on the PC side) to the LCD HDTV's VGA input. I never had any problems with it. Later on, this year, I decided I would now use this PC as a media PC and hook it up to my new 50" Plasma 1080P HDTV through the same means (DVI-to-VGA converter on the PC end, and VGA-in on the HDTV end). When I hooked it up initially, it worked perfect right from the start. The output was crisp and I never had any problems changing the resolution or refresh rate (was working for a good 2 -3 months).

However, what was working perfectly fine now doesn't work at all. This month, I decided, "Hey, Vista SP2 is out.etc etc...

So, this is where I'm at. I can honestly say I don't know what else to try. It's functional if I have no video driver installed, but that's unacceptable. Hopefully one of you smart folks can point me in the right direction. I apologize for not having the TV's model #. I can get it when I get home from work, if needed. Anyhow, I appreciate anyone who takes the time to read this and help me out! Thank you in advance!

Apparently some people are having issues with those drivers. I'd suggest reverting to an older set...

[noochdizzle5]

I've tried a set a few versions back and had no luck (ran vista driver sweeper before trying). Any recommendation on which driver set for my 9800 GTX? Thanks.

[-[HC]-AceCombat]

I'm willing to bet the drivers you used were the ones that shipped with the card. If so install those and then try a couple of newer versions from the disk version until you find a set that seem to work.

I know how you feel ever since I updated my ATI drivers I have to click on an ICON on my screen 3 times before the setting sticks whenever I switch from Satelite to HTPC Drives me crazy