I Bought a Computer, and when I have a game up if I tab out the screen jumps about once a minute. Lack of power issue?

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VeeBee1

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Aug 15, 2013
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As the title describes, my pc works fine. I have had a Crossheir V mobo with HD7870 and AMD 6300 processor.

Basically if I load up the PC it is completely fine, and has no issues. However, when I open a game, if I tab out the flickering happens. It's like the screen jumps up about a cm, for about 0.1s then jumps back. Its very irregular (i.e. does not happen consistantly more of a once per minute thing) and as such I'm not too worried about fixing it (note it doesn't happen actually IN a game, only if I'm alt_tabbed out of one).

One thing I have noticed however is that my mobo has an 8 pin and 4 pin power connector, and the only power slot plugged in is the 4 pin one (the 8 pin one is unused). Is this OK, since I thought the 8 pin was required? I have an XFX 750W so no shortage of power and I have a connector. Should I just unplug my pc and switch the cable to the full 8 pins (The current connection to the 4 pin is a 2x4pin with 1 of the 4 pins being unused)? Will this be ok to do. Thanks so much for your help!

EDIT: I'm wondering if this lack of power could be the cause of the flickering?
 
Solution
COLGeek
Are you gaming at the same native resolution that the monitor supports? This really sounds more like a change in resolution (like the game is set to a lower resolution than the display's native (highest) setting).

Regarding the aux power connection on the motherboard. If you have a 8-pin socket and you have a 2x4 or 8-pin PSU cable (make sure NOT to try to cram a 8-pin PCIe connector into the socket), then you should connect all 8 pins in the socket. 4-pins will work in most cases.
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COLGeek

COLGeek

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Are you gaming at the same native resolution that the monitor supports? This really sounds more like a change in resolution (like the game is set to a lower resolution than the display's native (highest) setting).

Regarding the aux power connection on the motherboard. If you have a 8-pin socket and you have a 2x4 or 8-pin PSU cable (make sure NOT to try to cram a 8-pin PCIe connector into the socket), then you should connect all 8 pins in the socket. 4-pins will work in most cases.
 
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VeeBee1

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Yes I game at 1920x1080 same as monitors max. So do you think I should switch the cable?
 
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VeeBee1

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OK thank you! Do you think that could be what's causing the flickering? I suppose under load maybe it's just slightly not enough power from 1 cable?
 
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VeeBee1

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No overclocking has been done so that's not it then. I know that a 4 pin should be enough to power, but was hoping I'd miscalculated. Also since the 4 pin is connected to a dedicated 4 pin port (not an 8 pin) I thought that may be a further issue. I know that some people would call this a "Tertiary" port (or something like that). But I'm fairly new to this stuff.

With regards to drivers, is there any way to tell for sure? I recently re-installed windows so I may have missed one or two. Thanks :) Sorry for being so new!!
 
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VeeBee1

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I am using HDMI, it seems to be in ok. I can try swapping out the cables if you think it will help?
 
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VeeBee1

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This is what the really strange thing is. It only starts jumping if I have a game up. If I'm just on the internet normally it's completely fine. Very strange :S.
 
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COLGeek

COLGeek

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You can use the VGA as a means to check the problem, however I don't recommend it as a long term solution. I am not a fan of analog connections at high resolutions. I prefer digital connections (like provided by DisplayPort, DVI, and HDMI).

If the problem goes away, then you likely have a HDMI cable or connector issue.
 
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