BleepingComputer.com: Possible Motherboard Problem

I will start with what I think caused the problem. An hour before the issue became apparent, I was playing a video game, trying to create a new character, to then get an error (I do not recall the error code as I did not think anything of it) which give a option to fix the problem as updating my drivers so I did. I then restarted my computer to be greeted by this scene.

It is supposed to be solid back screen behind the Abit.

It continued starting though so I decided to continue logging on and then selected start-up on Windows 7. It first showed that the page was loading but the screen now had very faint lines going up and down through the page in sequence pictured bellow.

You can see the lines going through the Windows logo and text.

It then stopped loading and stayed on the image until five through ten minutes went by and it restarted itself. I then tried logging on in safe mode which worked so I uninstalled all drivers I had previously installed and then re-installed the older versions of the drivers of which I have saved on disks then restarted. This did not fix the problem so I then tried putting in the Windows 7 disk and ran system repair and system restore, neither of which worked. I inevitably tried reformatting the Hard Drive to which the problem persisted and it still shows the messed up screens and was still unable to log into Windows 7.

I then decided to purchase a new hard drive to see if that fixed the problem (I had the old hard drive for at least seven years so I was using this as an excuse to purchase a new one) but unfortunately the problem persisted with the new hard drive. Unfortunately, because it is a new partition I am unable to log onto windows in safe mode due to it having to be registered first which it doesn't allow in safe mode.

My specs are
Graphics Card: Geforce 8800gt
Motherboard: Abit IP35-E
Hard Drive Original: WD Caviar SE 200gb
Hard Drive New: WD Caviar Black 1tb
Operating System Windows 7 and the original use to have Ubuntu on it was well.

I am pretty computer literate but not when it comes to hardware, especially the motherboard so if there is any fixes that require messing around with the motherboard itself, or accessing its BIOS then I please request you post a how-to as well, as do not want to accidentally access the wrong how-to if I search for it.

TLDR

Problem logging onto the system appeared after I installed drivers. Graphical Errors as well as the inability to log on outside of Safe Mode caused me to try repairing the issue with windows disk then just tried to reformat and problem persisted. Not a Hard Drive issue as I installed a new one and it still did not work. I think it could possibly be a motherboard issue as I do not think a graphic card can impede the ability for a computer to log on.

To me, everything seems to point towards the video card. The patterning at the POST startup screen looks very like faulty video memory. Rather than being due to log-on, the behaviour that doesn't happen in Safe Mode could be caused by the video driver attempting to initialise the faulty video. That driver is not used in Safe Mode, a basic generic Windows driver is loaded.

Is there any chance of borrowing another video card to try? That would prove or eliminate it.

Ditto on the video card as the likely cause. Not the first NVidia card to do that.

Might be time to bake it. http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1421792

And 1 more makes 3! Ah ah ah

3! 3 posts! ah ah ah...

I agree! your v card is toast and I'm not talkin about that thing your health teacher gave you in High School.

If you'd like, I could recommend some replacement cards, but first tell me what you use your computer for so I can recommend what you need.