Monitor/GPU Issue

[ShinRa]

Weird but small issue...only when I'm playing games, I kind of see lines...it's hard to describe, but I see a lot of faint moving lines, as if I could actually see the screen refreshing itself. The thing is, my LCD monitor doesn't allow me to change the refresh rate above 60hz, and the in game options don't give me any help either. Any idea what this is? Is it a monitor issue or a GPU issue? I have a GTX680 and a LG Flatron v2361 23" LCD. Please help!

 

[Vegeta897]

Check the cable connections?

 

[ShinRa]

Vegeta, thats the simplest solution I've ever heard. Did I check the cable connections? Are you serious? ASK ME IF I TURNED THE POWER ON NEXT TIME WHILE YOU'RE AT IT.

























No.....no i didnt check the cable connections. I'll do that when I get home.

 

[Vegeta897]

I spent a few hours troubleshooting my video card which I thought was failing, when it turned out the video cable was a bit loose.

Always use those screws, man. Lesson learned.

 

[ShinRa]

I'll let you know for sure tonight if that was it. I really hope thats all it is. >_<

 

[Unfocused]

I had an issue almost a year ago, when I built a new computer and had those faint lines on the monitor (I used a VGA cable BTW, cause previously I had it connected to a laptop which had no DVI port and the monitor had no HDMI). I switched the power strip I had everything connected to and the lines were gone.

Recently, I moved into a new apartment and the problem occured once again and was present even when I plugged my monitor directly into the wall socket. Depending on the socket in the apartment the lines varied from faint, but noticable, to horribly visible. That made me confident it was a power issue and I bought a UPS hoping it would stabilize the power, but I also thought that maybe there's some interference (from the electricity :?) affecting the VGA cable, since it's analogue, so I bought a DVI cable.

That was it, the cable fixed it and I just returned the UPS since it was not needed. I don't know what was the direct issue, but I'm guessing the quality of power from the socket affects VGA cables, but does not affect DVI (or digital in general) ones :?

 

[ShinRa]

Apparently I didn't have VSYNC enabled and I need to. That cleared the issue up. The hell is VSYNC anyway?

 

[Vegeta897]

Vsync has something to do with drawing frames consistently with the monitor's refresh rate, so that there isn't any "tearing" apparent. (half the screen with one frame drawn, and the other half the previous frame)

 

[ShinRa]

You kids and your modern technology.

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Vsync's been out a long time. Like, since before Halo CE for PC, whoa.

 

[ShinRa]

More fun. I connected an HDMI cable from my monitor to my GPU. Now if I remove the DVI cable my screen goes black and doesn't recognize the HDMI...but when the DVI cable is plugged in the monitor is USING the HDMI port. WTF

 

[DEATHMASTER]

Yeah get rid of that shit, dvi is better.

 

[Stigmata]

More fun. I connected an HDMI cable from my monitor to my GPU. Now if I remove the DVI cable my screen goes black and doesn't recognize the HDMI...but when the DVI cable is plugged in the monitor is USING the HDMI port. WTF

Try uninstalling your monitor drivers in Device Manager while plugged in with DVI, unplug both cables, then plug in HDMI only. Bit of a shot in the dark though :V

 

[ShinRa]

Didn't work. Just ended up ditching the HDMI cable.

So I really don't wanna make another thread for this, so I'll just ask here:

When I play CSGO, everythings smooth, no issues. I installed Crysis (having never played it) and played a few hours, ran smooth. Next day I go to play Crysis, game starts...and its kinda choppy for a few seconds, then everything smooths out...then choppy....then smooth. I tried uninstalling/reinstalling it nothing. Updated all drivers...nothing. So I figured **** it must be a compatibility issue. Now I download GTA4 on steam, and the SAME SHIT is happening there! The game stutters/choppy for 3-4 seconds, then smooths out for 3-4 seconds, then rinse and repeat. WHAT THE ?!?!?!?!

 

[ShinRa]

GPU is sitting cool at 30c, CPU sitting cool at 35c. 850w PSU. I don't know. Faulty GPU maybe?

 

[Vegeta897]

What other programs are you running?

 

[ShinRa]

Nothing. I have nothing running except steam.

 

[ShinRa]

And these

 

[Vegeta897]

What's with the IE processes?

Is your browser open while you play those games? Is there a flash applet running in any of your tabs?
Or a virus scan? Or defrag?

It's not easy to troubleshoot what could be causing periodic slowdowns in games without physically being at your computer, and I'm not too experienced in doing so anyway.

 

[Stigmata]

GPU is sitting cool at 30c, CPU sitting cool at 35c. 850w PSU. I don't know. Faulty GPU maybe?

Are you taking these temperatures while idle? My new first guess is that your CPU cooler was sitting on the brink of overheating until you played Crysis, at which point the mote of dust that broke the camel's backplate entered the heatsink. I know my stock 3770k cooler idles at around 35C but hits nearly 80 at load, and it was installed only a week ago.

 

[ShinRa]

Vegeta I have no idea what those processes are. They start up with my comp.

And Stigmata that would be a good point but I've had a Noctua NH-14 on it since day one. Those temps are under load. It sit idle at 22c

 

[ShinRa]

I'm thinking a re-format and fresh install of drivers (even though I just did this 2 weeks ago)

If that doesn't fix the problem, I'm gonna give EVGA a call. I heard their customer service is phenomenal.

 

[Krynn72]

Download this.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb963902

Its an app that shows you everything that "auto runs" when you start the computer, and lets you delete their entry so they dont start up anymore unless you re-enable it. Go to the IE tab, and just delete every entry in there. That should get rid of any funky plugins you're using with IE that may be causing those processes to run. While you're at it, you can also delete some of the stuff in the "Everything tab". Be careful there though. Only delete stuff at the top, and only delete stuff that are third party programs. Do not delete any .dll files, or exe files that aren't from programs you recognize. If you want, take a screen shot of the page and I can tell you whats safe to delete.

 

[ShinRa]

Thank Kyrnn! I'm at work right now, I'll do as you say as soon as I get home. I thought a 3700k would be able to handle all this. Guess I overestimated the CPU's abilities >_<

 

[ShinRa]

Guys I ****ed up. I ****ed up bad. So I tried all your suggestions. Still nothing. So I reformat. No big deal. I go to install the GTX680 drivers from the cd. Nvidia "does not detect any compatible software". Ok, strange. I go into device manager and it says GTX680 right there. Ok. I go into BIOS. I uncheck "auto" for primary display and choose "GPU". System restarts and NOW MY MONITOR IS BLANK. I CAN'T EVEN SEE BIOS. NOTHING. I HAVE NO WAY OF GETTING BACK TO BIOS. WHAT THE **** DO I DO? And does this mean its been my GPU this whole time? Was it recognizing my graphics card but using the on board video? I'm completely lost.

 

[Krynn72]

lol. Well, it doesnt use your onboard video card unless you have your monitor plugged into the onboard port.

To get your display back, you can try one or more of these:
-Plug your monitor into the onboard port if you have one, then change the bios option back.
-Unplug the CMOS battery (looks like a watch battery on the Motherboard), remove the RAM, and hold the power button down for 30 seconds. Then hook it all back up and see if it works.
-Get someone elses video card and see if that works.

 

[ShinRa]

Thanks Krynn. Resetting the CMOS worked. Was I supposed to do that when I first got the computer? All of a sudden I have more options available in bios, and I got a higher WEI score (7.9 now opposed to 7.7). Haven't been able to test any games yet. Will let you know. Thanks for everyone's help so far. Modern technology, you'd think it would get simpler.

 

[Krynn72]

Nah, you're not supposed to reset the cmos when you first set it up, but it can fix a number of things.