Specs
XP SP3
SD37P2
E6600
2GB Dual DDR2
ATI HD 3650
Catalyst 8.6

I don't really know where to begin. This problem has been going on for a while now. I've tried all the obvious things, and am now working with a fresh install of Windows XP SP3.

I first noticed something was up when I installed my new graphics card (Passive HD 3650 by Club 3D). Whenever I watched a video file whether on my hard drive or streaming (youtube, iplayer etc) I got strange horizontal lines all over the screen. After a bit of research I discovered a lot of information about solving this kind of issue, but everything I read gave the same answer - Turn on wait for V-Sync in ATI Catalyst Control. Some also recommended tripple-buffering. I have tried various combinations of these settings with the last 3 versions of the ATI driver (8.4 .5 and .6) This didn't help my problem at all. In the end I managed to solve the issue by using the EVR renderer in Media Player Classic Home Cinema. With the default options there was still a lot of tearing, but by enabling Lock Back-Buffer there was no tearing at all. Obviously, this didn't help my tearing issues in other applications. Particularly annoying is the tearing when browsing in Firefox and Internet Explorer. Scrolling pages is very unpleasant experience on my HP w2207h 22" monitor. I have also tried with a different monitor and a different cable (VGA rather than DVI/HDMI) and i have the same issues.

How can i tell if I have a faulty card? Should I be expecting this with a mid-range card like the 3650? The family PC doesn't have this issue and it has a much older graphics card.

Here are a couple of examples of what causes tearing. http://www.csseleven.com/ is really bad when scrolling and just about every single youtube video has horizontal lines throughout playback. Here is and example - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4sr-pvYBXA

Please advise...

I have yet to see an installation of windows GUI that does not tear. I've accepted it as norm.

Monitor can be ruled out immediately because it works at the host's clock rate, as long as it is within reasonable limits.

Well i don't think I've ever used a computer before where there's tearing even watching streaming youtube video

Surely that's not normal...

this sounds very much like it is a driver problem.
i get these types of issues when i first install my OS and there is no video driver installed.
i dont see why SP3 would cripple the driver though.

thanks for your reply ripken204

What would you recommend as a method for confirming this? I suppose i could always try a copy of XP SP2 and install the video drivers first before windows update.

well you could dual boot for now so that you wont have to reinstall sp3, but thats all up to you.
go into the device manager and see if it is giving you any errors on the status of the video card.

I have no errors in device manager at the moment...

I might try using some unofficial drivers (i think there's one for my card by omega)
What do u think?

well there is no reason why the official drivers would not work.
perhaps use a driver cleaner then install the latest drivers?
you can try unofficial drivers if you want to..