Vista - Can't game in vista or xp

I've got a Gateway FX7026 pc.
24" lcd monitor
Q9300 quad cpu 2.5ghz
nvidia gf 8800 512mb
4gb ram

I can't play Quake wars enemy territory, can't play cyris, battlefield 2 demo won't work. All these are demo. Age of empires 3 and war chiefs work just fine.

in the games that don't work they will eventually lock up after a minute to 3 minutes. you also see tons of weird very fast moving lines all over the screen. not sure how to describe it. can take a screenshot if possible.

Temp is fine im sure as is ram etc.

is this a video card being dead issue or what could it be? i am guessing hardware cus this happens in more then one game and the same thing and it happens in both vista and xp. i have prebuilt with the pc it came with vista home premium sp1 64bit and i installed on the second hard drive xp sp3 pro and both oses and the same games have the same issues.

I installed newest nvidia 64bit drivers for vista and the issue still happened.

I'm totally clueless here. My guess is i'll have to take it where I got it for a replacement which is fine as i'm under warranty for 2 total years from when i bought this pc a few months ago.

doing a recovery on the pc doesn't help either. I'm also not running any software other then the game.

i don't have any other issues on the pc, just these ones mentioned in here.

90% sure it's your graphics card, because I think those lines are artifacts.

I guess you'll indeed have to take it into RMA.

I agree, but how come Age Of Empires 3 plays fine and then how come using the pc for other then gaming works fine?
Haha, I just tried Unreal Tournament 3 and it had the same problem except the lines weren't as bad. I saw a couple of them like in the background, but compared to the other games this was almost non existent. Still UT3 crashed right when I hit the fire button to start the match.

Axon, do you know what lines i'm talking about? They're almost impossible to explain in that I don't have a clue how to explain other then what I said lol.

I also noticed in the opening video for Cyris the video had horizontal lines appear every now and then. It's even in some videos from xbox 360 live for game videos. I've seen it in other stuff, just mentioning it here cus it sucks specially being a video playing.

AOE III is a fairly old game that doesn't really affect your GPU.
And when you game, your GPU gets a lot of load.

Don't you ever get lines (artifacts) while you're not gaming?

Artifacts : http://www.playtool.com/pages/artifacts/badgpu.jpg

Are they like that?

That this happens in both Vista and XP tells me this is a hardware issue. I haven't really taken the time to fully research your machine, but a cursory look at newegg's customer reviews shows you're not alone: Customer Reviews Of Gateway FX7026 Core 2 Quad Q9300(2.50GHz) 4GB DDR2 640GB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit - Retail

Granted, there aren't really enough reviews to come to any sort of conclusion, but of the few they have, 11, there are a couple complaints about the graphics card, an insufficient power supply, and of course, the bloatware that always comes loaded onto an OEM machine. While 11 isn't enough to conclude anything, that more than 1 person of so few a sample has complained about the same thing is revealing.

I'd first try and remove all the crap that Gateway heaped on you; this may not be easy? Second I'd try the latest drivers from nVidia along with the DirectX update found at the top of these forums. If that doesn't work, then I'd see if Gateway has released any drivers on their site for your card? If all that doesn't fix your issue, then I'd see if Gateway has a local outlet you can take the machine to; having to ship it takes a really long time and it's frustrating not being able to talk to a person face to face in describing the problems you're having.

The biggest problem with OEM's is that they don't actually sell you the same video card as you would have gotten had you bought it retail. OEM's license technical specs, then build the part themselves. Usually this involves some sort of shortcut here or there. I learned that lesson the hard way about a decade ago with a Gateway. I had a problem with my sound card, which I thought was a Creative, only to have a Creative tech spell it out for me... they could not support the card because they had no idea how it was made; they didn't make it, Gateway did.

Also, if it's possible to upgrade the PSU to something stronger than a 400 watt, I'd look into that? Could be many things that have conspired against you, could just be the card's drivers?

I can tell you that Quake Wars, BF and every other game I run is just phenomenal on Vista 64-bit... and you should insist on no less from Gateway.

I've already done everything mentioned to me in here. I've already edid a recovery and got rid of everything in vista. I've installed windows xp pro on the second hard drive and the same problem.

I'm going to take it back to Frys which is where i bought it. I got a 3 year warranty as well. If the second pc or whatever is done to fix has the same problem i'll look at a refund or something. i got this pc home April; 29 2008. So if I have the same issue on the enxt one i'm going to ask about a refund or something. However I can't get this sort of pc from frys or newegg for the same money. $1099 plus tax and warranty. Meaning from newegg i will not build it myself, i don't do that.

the video card is overclocked as well. says so on the side of the case.

that image with those problems you showed me is not what i am talking about. i am talking about lines, not what is in your image. you'll see several lines going from the background to the frontground and they move very fast/flash/flicker very fast all over the screen.

If possible how can I take a screenshot from in the game and put it online for you guys to see? I will do that.

I'm going to try to take the pc tonight or by monday to frys.

To take a screenshot hit printscreen on your keyboard, then paste the image into Paint. Host the pic online, for eg.. ImageShack® - Image Hosting

No need for a print screen.

I did a lot of research on this and found the following:

The main Spec page for that model computer:

Gateway Support - Components list for 1015336R

It reports the video card as the - and checking eVGA for a comparable card, using information from Gateway Support - Specifications I see that your card (based mainly upon the memory bandwidth stat) is comparable to EVGA | Products - and if you scroll the specifications list down to the bottom, you see this little gem:

Then, going back to Gateway Support - Components list for 1015336R I see you have exactly that - a 400 W PSU.

In addition, you also have a 15-in-1 card reader, dual SATA II HDs, a Fax/Modem, and a Core 2 Quad processor.

I am willing to bet most of your problems disappear with the replacement of the PSU to a quality 550W PSU....

Also, if you look at the product description on NewEgg, they have this listed as primarily a *business* computer - meaning it is not designed for gaming (as is obvious by your experience ads well as all those other reviewers).

If the psu is so bad why does gateway use it then? They would know this and not take a chance on getting so many returns etc on a bad psu.

Also if you know, I'm sure you do, anything you guys describe violates the warranty which I am not going to do right now because I paid good money for it.

The only thing I can do for now is:

I took it tonight where I bought it. Fry's. www.frys.com www.outpost.com
I did all the paperwork etc. They know what's wrong and will get around to looking at it when they can, Week and a half they said cus they have a lot of pcs in front of me, .
They gave me a loaner till I get mine back. It is this.
Gateway DX4200 pc.
AMD Phenom 9550
6gb ram
2 320gb drives
same card reader I'm sure.
Same dvdrw drive.
ATI Radeon HD 3450 pci-e

I'll try the games soon. I do know the pc rating in Vista goes from the other gateway which is 5.8 and this one a 4.0. This video sucks compared to the 8800GT I guess. I'll see how the games perform/if the same issue is there.

When Fry's gets done with my pc I'll go from there. Either they replace/fix or do nothing.

If they replace/fix i'll try it. If the next pc has same issue I'll talk to Gateway and find what we can do now. Depending on what happens here I'll either be keeping it cus it works now or am going to try my hardest for a refund of 100% of the money I spent since they sold a defective/bum product. Then I'll either buy seperates or not sure. I don't put together pcs.

I would like your guyses input please on my thoughts here and what you think you would do except violate the warranty.

Ok, I tried UT3 on the loaner pc and it ran fine. I didn't change any of the video settings. I'm even in vista home premium 64bit sp1 that it came with.

So does this confirm my other pc hardware is bad? I think so, but curious what yall think.

I'm going to try Cyris and the others I mentioned that didn't work.