Saturday, January 2, 2010

Problems with NVIDIA GT220 and Windows 7 64-bit

Sorry about the extremely narrow focus of this post, but I wanted to make sure that anyone out there suffering from the same problems as mine knows that they're not alone.

I recently built a computer from parts (more on that another time – I'm not sure how many people would be interested in the details) to use as my primary development machine.  The last time I built a machine was in 1999 or 2000.  A lot has changed in the past ten years.  Fortunately, the assembly/setup process went relatively smoothly, except for problems with one part.  I bought the ASUS-branded version of the NVIDIA GT220 (ENGT220) graphics card from NewEgg.  I'd happily link to their product listing, but that would be rather silly, given that I can't currently recommend it as a purchase.  The card slid nicely into the PCI Express 2.0 x16 slot and my DVI cable attached happily to the appropriate port (this version of the card comes with D-SUB/VGA, DVI, and HDMI ports).  However, when it came time to install Windows 7 64-bit, the problems began.

At first, it was recognized as merely a generic video card – no big surprise, still a bit of a disappointment for a mainstream card that is by no means on the bleeding edge.  My next idea was to download drivers from ASUS's website.  I installed the newest version and rebooted.  Up came the the login screen at full resolution and I thought I was done.  Unfortunately, after I logged in, my screen went totally blank/black.  After much experimenting and many installs/uninstalls, I managed to get the card to work with a slightly older version of the drivers provided by ASUS.  The story would end there, but sadly the problem returned shortly after.  This time, I first did a search on Google for gt220 screen blank, which revealed that others were having similar problems, and not just with the ASUS version.  After reading a blog post and some forum questions and trying several other driver versions, I finally found something promising.  A user on the NVIDIA forums complained that his DVI port had stopped working.  Inspired by that, I tried connecting my monitor via the D-SUB/VGA port instead of DVI.  That worked!  Since then, I've been running for two weeks without a problem.  I can't say I find the solution very satisfying, but at least it worked.

By the way, I'd love to get feedback from other GT220 owners as to whether the solution I described (or something different) works for you.  Please let me know in the comments.

Update (Dec. 10, 2010): I'm a bit embarrassed to admit that I finally gave up and bought a new graphics card with an ATI Radeon HD 5570.  I'd link to the actual card, but I got a great deal on it because it was just about to be discontinued.  So far, it's been great.  It's slightly faster than my GT220 card, consumes less power, has a quieter fan, and (best of all) works on both the D-SUB and DVI ports.  Good luck to everyone who sticks with their GT220!

58 comments:

  1. I have a GT220 with the only output to the HDMI big screen TV. Took a while to get that working and I do not recall what I did specifically, but it works.
    Now I switched from D-SUB/VGA connector on another new card GTS240 and bingo, DVI output does not work. Still working on the problem with the latest 196.21 driver...

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  2. Interesting... Thanks for mentioning your experiences with the HDMI support. I haven't tried that port on my card yet. As far as driver versions go, I'm currently on 195.81 beta. I hope they come out with something soon that fixes the problem.

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    Replies
    1. try this one.
      go to safe mode
      then install your graphic driver
      go to screen resolution then choose duplicate display
      then restart

      if nothing happen update your bios

      please spread my solution to others so they can use their nvidia gt220
      /ajguysayko

      Delete
    2. I would like to use this model, I have a Gt220 tool I need to use 3 more monitors when you enable it says that a GPU does not support 3 monitors, what do I do? Plca mae is an asus PSKPL - AM SE, operating system windows 7

      Delete
  3. This is quite frustrating. At least (in part, thanks to your article) I can be relatively sure that the screen-freezing is tied to the graphics driver. There seems to be no rhyme/reason as to when my pc decides to freeze.

    Good to know I'm not alone in this... I'd rather not be relegated to VGA - gonna put some Google time in and try to find a solution. I'll be sure to report any good news here

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  4. Justin, glad to hear I could be of help. Thanks for the offer to post about any solutions you find - I look forward to hearing about them. Good luck!

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  5. i just bought an nvidia GT220 and put it in. turned on the computer and everything worked fine. installed drivers and restarted and when i got to the login screen the colors were messed up.
    (http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj317/Neoethilan/0222000014.jpg)

    running windows XP
    installed driver 196.21
    currently using VGA

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  6. Ooh, that looks very bad! Good luck! Given how early in the boot process you're seeing problems, that may very well be a hardware problem with your card.

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  7. I currently have an issue with this card too, but mine is really annoying. Boots every time and works great, then all of a sudden the screen freezes, restart works great for a while then the same. I feel this is a hardware problem with the chip overheating, as this plagues many nvidia cards. Would appreciate feedback if anyone has come across this on Win & 64bit...?

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  8. Yeah, that could be caused by overheating. One way to check the GPU temp is to download and run RealTemp. Its primary focus is CPU temperature, but it reports GPU numbers as well.

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  9. I was having the exact same issue as you except my monitor was connected to the VGA port. The only solution I found was to run the driver issued by my manufacturer Packard Bell. Unfortunately, not all the components such as the nvidia control centre had been installed.

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  10. I have a Packard Bell (Iextreme 6630)as well. When i start the media player, the screen blinks a few time, then a pop up message comes up, with a message that de video driver stopped working and has been restarted. Does anyone now how to fix this?

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  11. Same machine same message. Looking for an solution to. Anyone?

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  12. Quote:
    Anonymous said...

    I have a Packard Bell (Iextreme 6630)as well. When i start the media player, the screen blinks a few time, then a pop up message comes up, with a message that de video driver stopped working and has been restarted. Does anyone now how to fix this?
    March 3, 2010 8:06 AM [END]

    Exact same problem

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  13. Looks Grim for GT220 Owners sadly.
    Bought Packard Bell extreme PCW March 2010..crashing & card not responding etc...PCW replaced card with another GT220...waste of time..still crashed, same old problems.

    Got full refund from PCW..fookin cowboys.

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  14. I had 8800 GTX that packed up (where all colours and resolution were messed up) so as an intrim solution I purchased GT-220 and installed it in the PC running Windows 7 64-bit. Unfortunately there is no outout from DVI but VGA seems to work fine.

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  15. I have a GT 220 that came w/ my ASUS machine. Noticed that my screen tends to freeze and make "pretty" colors like the pic in the link above when I try to open a picture or video. there is no pattern to the freezes and sometimes it would recover... sometimes it won't recover, forcing me to restart. no solutions yet but I just downloaded the 197.45 version. Fingers crossed but I do not expect much because previous updates has not solved the problem.

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  16. Seems that almost everyone with a GT 220 and Windows 7 64-bit is suffering from this issue. The solution I've found is to use the initial release driver version with support for the GT 220, 186.34 (http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_64bit_186.34_whql.html). When using this version I don't seem to be getting the crashing that goes along with every other driver combination on Windows 7 64-bit and a GT 220. My card is a BFG and even though using the oldest supported driver is working for me I'm thinking about moving up to the GT 240 which apparently doesn't have this same issue under Windows 7 64-bit. That is unless nVidia actually fixes the issue and releases a working driver update.

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  17. Interesting! Thanks for that info, (most recent) Anonymous. I'm not having any trouble with the D-SUB port under v195.81. I guess if I want to give the DVI or HDMI ports a try and things don't work, I can try your approach.

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  18. I don't think this is a driver issue but more of a video BIOS issue. I picked up a Evga GT220 running it under Ubuntu 10.04 VGA works great, but if I try to run DVI or DVI + VGA I get a black screen on post, I can't even see my mother board BIOS posting :( I read a lot of good things about this card, then after I brought it home I started reading heaps of bad things.
    got it at frys for $89 $20 instant rebate plus at $40 mail in which I just got back today. so for a $29 1GB of ddr3 it was a good deal

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  19. I have a problem where I need to connect the VGA TOGETHER with HDMI, to get HDMI to work. Does anyone else have the same problem?

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  20. @Anonymous(Aug 20) Wow... that's freaky! What is wrong with these cards?! It sounds like yours needs a VGA dongle. ;)

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  21. I turned on my new Dell XPS with NVIDIA GT 220 and when I tried to resize a window (both in Firefox and IE) the screen went completely black and I got an error message that said the display driver stopped responding and has recovered, etc. I've only had the computer for a few days and every time I use it, the same thing happens. This is very annoying. I haven't downloaded a new driver yet. I may return the computer after reading about the problems others have been having. I bought it from Costco, so I didn't have an option on the video card.

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  22. I have a new Acer Aspire M7721 with NVIDIA GT 220 and Win 7 64bit. When I try to see myself in my new USB webcam from Logitech first of all the image is fine. But after 10-30 sec the window freezes or the image gets very very bad. Sometimes the sceen becomes black and then it turns on again with the error message: (translatet from german to english by me)

    "The Video Driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, Version 197.45 doesn't respond anymore and has been recovered"

    The same problem when I want to watch TV with Zattoo.

    I tried to install a newer driver and I was pretty sure it was installed correctly but the error message remains the same.

    The 22" screen is connected with a DVI-D cable.

    What can I do? It's so annoying!

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  23. i have nvidia 220 gt but i have only two ports in dat i think hdmi and dvi so i connect my monitor with normal cord in hdmi port with connector and works fine after some time my screen goes white and on my screen display a msg "check signal cable".i reset my graphic card and ram.check all cable but nothing happen.wen i using my pc normally its work but dis problem only showing wen i am playing games like crysis 2,battlefield etc after 10 to 15 min da screen goes white.wen i bought da graphic card all games are easily start but after 1 month dis problem arrive.anyone knows wat wrongs with my pc.cn u help me plz.....

    cpu intel core 2 duo e 4600 @ 2.40ghz/2gb ram
    screen lg w1642s
    graphic card nvidia 220gt 1 gb

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  24. @Anonymous(Sept3) [why do so many people leave comments as "Anonymous"?!] The fact that you're having problems with the card only after some intense usage makes me wonder if it's overheating. Try downloading RealTemp (http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/) and see if it reports a high temperature.

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  25. i got the ausus engt220
    1gig
    i thought id upgrade from a ati 2400 512
    put it in installed drivers from disk it came with
    tehn re started computer
    with that the updates wanted to in stall new ones so i went to the site it self and in stalled the drivers from there
    im still getting the same pro blems
    i can start playing any games
    dosnt matter if its like a old one say pacific heroes
    or cod
    and withing a bout 5 mins of in to the game the screem justs goes blank
    and i gt an no signal
    the computer is still on and drives are still going
    but tteh monitor just goes
    says some times a bout checking monitor cable

    but ive done all that
    then i get a 800 x 600 screen wen i restart
    also some times wen the game crashes befor hand i get the goofy box thing that mesuse the gpu and says temps are like high
    but teh fan section dont say nou r cant even select it
    so any ideas
    im thinking that its either a bad bacth of cards
    or its not compatible with the system
    mb
    i have a inspiron 530
    4 gig ram
    and
    a pentium dou quad 6600

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  26. Try to use a higher grade power supply or use only one ram chip. i also had the same problem but now it is ok

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  27. I have a gt220 that came in a pc i purchased not so long ago. i researched the issues with the card before it came. I use driver version 8.15.11.8634 7/8/2009 and I have no issues on w7 x64.

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  28. @imprints: Where did you download the mentioned driver? Usually the nVidia driver names are something like 260.99 (the latest one as of today). I had the black screens with the driver recovery message up till now with all driver versions I tested (from 186 to 260.99)

    GeScha

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  29. I have the same problem with gigabyte gt220 win7 64bit. It had worked absolutely fine for a month; now I get black screen after login screen, which will then display bsod with stop at 0x00000116 on nvlddmkm.sys error. I tried nvidia drivers 260.99, 186.34, all with same error. The machine is dual booted with ubuntu 10.04 64 bit which works without error.

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  30. @Anonymous, the version Imprints is describing comes from the properties window for the display adapter (accessible via the Device Manager). I'm not sure how the version numbers displayed there correspond with the driver versions, although I suspect that the last 4 digits are build number of some sort.

    @cinger, I'm glad to hear that it's working for you under Linux. That's a nice way to confirm that it's not a hardware issue.

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  31. The day before yesterday, I did a last try with 260.99 driver, which still crashed time to time when playing HD videos (and moving the window) or simply at Picasa scrolling.
    I updated my chipset drivers to the latest Intel drivers (Chipset 5er/3400 series) to 9.6.0.1014.
    Since this I actually haven't seen the error yesterday, doing 3 independent HD videoplaybacks in one Windows Media Player Window, one Google Chrome (Youtube) and one from Picase (AVCHD, moving these windows around the screen, switching between full screen playback and back with Alt+Tab....all seems to work. Maybe it's because of the Intel 5er chipset old driver??ß I keep you updated if the error stays away...

    GeScha

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  32. I had the same problem with my Packard Bell iXtreme, Nvidia GT220 and Windows 7. Solution: I changed to the old 186.34 driver version. I use VGA with a LG 22" screen and HDMI with a Toshiba 40" TV.

    Today I had to restore the system and lost this driver. The system recovered automatically the new version and the problem began again (messages explaining that the driver didn't work and black screens).

    I will restore the 186.34 driver. But I think that the graphic quality (I use the higher resolution 1920) is worse (i.e. with Acrobat), or not?

    Many thanks Matt for this interesting thread. I'll follow your blog...

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  33. Thanks, Ignacio. As you can see from the update I just posted above, I recently gave up and bought an ATI-based card. I think my screen looks sharper when connected via DVI, but that might just be psychological. ;) Good luck with GT220.

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  34. ive got gt220 6 gig ram 6600 quad core...the card works fine but sometimes the screen resets and a msg appears kernel driver not working..very annoying...youd expect windows 7 would work with nearly anything but theyre a bunch of money greeding lying bsteds...MS we all know that..

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  35. I hope you get comment notifications :)

    Thanks for posting this! I'm using a Nividia GT 220 and found this on Google after my monitor kept going blank and restoring with increasing frequency.

    My question is this: when you "gave up" in December, was this because the monitor started going blank again and switching the ports wasn't a permanent fix? Or was this because you wanted something compatible with DVI?

    Thanks in advance.

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  36. Hi Jo,

    Yes, I do get notifications.

    I'd reached a stable point where things were working fine with my monitor plugged into the D-SUB/VGA port, but I wanted to upgrade to dual monitors. The particular monitors I went with (ViewSonic LED-backlit LCDs) only have one D-SUB and one DVI port, so I knew I'd be forced to connect to the DVI port. Since I didn't want to go through the diagnostic hassle once again, I just made the switch. Good luck to you in figuring out and fixing your problems!

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  37. Using win7 x64 and Nvidia GeForce gt220 here.

    Black screen/freeze happens only when i update my drivers. Been working on this issue about 1 year and still no answer..

    Only 8.15.11.8637 version is stable with my system. No crashes or anything. But ofc its old version, so few games may lag and cant play with high graphics, which is annoying to me.

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  38. MD_Monster HERE :D

    Ya, um no issue's here, I use the HDMI port, and the D-sub port for dual monitor, and haven't had a single issue. I use the drivers directly from nvidia.com also. I dont ever go to the gpu's company for drivers, I go to Nvidia.com
    I've only come across the low res. after a fresh install, but once I install the proper drivers, no issues after.
    -System specs here-
    Windows 7 x64 Home Premium
    AMD Athlon II x2 260 OC'd @3.5GHz
    4GB DDR2 800
    Samsung 1TB HDD

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  39. I also had the blanking problem most easily triggered when switching from video to video in youtube but would do it seemingly at random at other times. I also have a Packard Bell iExtreme 6630. I busted the driver back to 186.34 using the link by Anonymous on July 11 and end of problem. This fix definately works for this problem. (http://www.nvidia.com/object/win7_winvista_64bit_186.34_whql.html).
    Thanks for your help Anon.

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  40. Using win7 x64 and Nvidia GeForce gt220

    had problems with the card overheating for about 6 months now, it sounds stupid, but i took the card out and hoovered the fan, now works fine.

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  41. Hi,

    I currently own a GT220 installed on intel motherboard DG31PR. it is causing problem on windows 7 since I bought it. Now I need to play BF3 and NFS run, which won't run on XP, and I have no fix for Windows 7. It really sucks..

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  42. Well i have Windows 7 it was an upgrade disk and a problem carried on from vista every time i play a game or anything my screen turns black then at the bottom right it says Nvidea kennel not responding it does it to all drivers i downloded the latest one it still does it then sometimes the monitor turns off and i have to shutdown my computer with the power button Any one know how to fix it.

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  43. I also have a NVIDIA GeForce GT220 using Winvista x64 in a ASUS CG Series PC and was having the same problem. After few minutes on my RC Flight Simulator the screen would go blank and my iTunes would hammer. I would have to hold the on switch down until the pc shut down and then restart it. After much searching, I found the post above by Anonymous. I took the card out and found it full of dust inside the fan area and in the heat sink fins. I had some remodeling done about the time this problem first came up. A lot of the dust from drywall sanding had settled inside the cooling area of the card. Blew the card out with compressed air and reinstalled it. Now works flawlessly again !

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  44. 2 years ago i bought the gigabyte gt-220 and i used windows xp with no problems. Yesterday i changed to windows 7 and when i put the driver for gt 220 after rebooting the screen shows only the desktop picture without the mouse arrow or the icons or the toolbar.i had the later version of the drivers but still the same. Can anyone help me please?

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  45. having the same problem!!!!! the solution is change for other old version. for example: version 186.34

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  46. Had the same problem with the GT220. Sent the tower back to Acer for repair (they insisted it was Windows forcing me to do a clean re-install). They replaced the card and not 2 days later I'm seeing the issue start again. I'll be shopping for a new non Nvidia card today

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  47. I just installed the latest driver 296.10. used Custom options and opted for clean installation. Previously my screen went black for a few seconds every few minutes. the problem is still there but the time gap has increased fro few min to around half an hour

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  48. I had the same problem. The GT220 closed my screen after five minutes of use. After much research, I thought it was a case of overheating. So I completely removed my video card to my computer and I have thoroughly cleaned with compressed air. Remember to remove the card from the computer. This is the only way to properly remove dust. Now my GT220 card works fine.
    It is also very important to have a power supply of at least 350 watts.

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  49. well mine also has the same problem, i also notice the problem will also damage the main board, which happen to me, thats sux, booking my unit to acer for repair, they only does was replace the motherboard, when i get my unit back update the driver the problem persist

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  50. After updating a Driver for the GT220 or Installing it , My youtube Video goes Blank for 5-seconds before playing in full screen mode it also happends when watching HD Videos (Its really Annoying) **********
    1) I fixed it by opening the NVIDIA Control Panel
    2) Under "Display" -
    3) Than select "Adjust Desktop Color Settings"
    4) than scroll down to "Apply the Following Enhancements"
    & pull down the tab "Content Type Reported to the Display" & SELECT "Full-Screen Videos"
    I hope this works for you & it will probably work for other Nvidia Video Cards

    "
    *******this fixed it for me but I had to redo it after updating something (LOL) so print this out for when you have to do it again & like me I forget & will have the same problem about 6 Months from now, LOL

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  51. I have a gt220 msi running in a i5 quad core with 16 gig ram. everytghing works fine until i open up a game eg black ops. right until just nbefore you actualy play everything is fine and then the screen switches off and the pc reboots help please? running win 7 64 bit with latest nvidia drivers

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  52. Hi Mowgli. Take a look at R Dolbec's comment above. It would make sense that if your problem is also with the card overheating, it would likely occur when you're putting more demand on it, as a game is likely to do. I hope that person's tips help you.

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  53. thanx will try it asap

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  54. I have a GT 220 1 gigbyte 16 X PCIexpress Mine was working great for 5 years then it started going black out when gaming using the DVI side. I've done everything there is to do, uninstall driver, reinstall it,take out video card and put it back in. But it has the DVI and the VGA connectors on the back., So I just use the cord with the VGA connector on both ends and it works fine now,. Can't really tell the difference with DVI to VGA as far as quality is concerned, since I use a ASUS LED monitor.. I haven't read any of the fix's but Maybe just get a better card later

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  55. I would like to use this model, I have a Gt220 tool I need to use 3 more monitors when you enable it says that a GPU does not support 3 monitors, what do I do? The plca mae is an asus PSKPL - AM SE M, operating system windows 7

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  56. These problems and mistakes persecuted me constantly, in general, I couldn't finally understand what was wrong. Until
    1) I found NVidia drivers download http://bitdrivers.com/manufacturers/nvidia for 64x, not so big deal, actually;
    2) I saved all the required data on my ASUS before running the utility for my own OS.
    Almost that`s all)

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