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An extremely unusual problem with digital display. Looking for help.

Tags:
  • Graphics
  • AMD
  • Displays
  • Windows 8
  • Digital
  • Asus
  • Radeon
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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May 10, 2014 5:27:50 PM

Hi, I'm hoping someone could help me.
My system specs are posted at the end and if more technical information is needed please ask.

I've been having a problem for quite some time with my display and/or graphics card. It's inconsistent and seems to happen apparently at random without good cause and I've not been able to find anyone else with a similar problem. It has been happening since upgrading from Windows 8 RTM to Windows 8 Pro through to my current OS; Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Pro (obtained through Microsoft Dreamspark).

Sometimes when either a player such as YouTube, Vimeo or Steam's video player (for trailers) is open in a browser, or Steam client, or when I start Skype (on the Skype splash screen) my display will suddenly turn to this: http://i.imgur.com/yUYHuOq.jpg This only happens on my digital display (Hannspree HSG1142 32-inch Full HD 1080p) and not on my second VGA display (Compaq TFT1501 15-inch). The digital display is connected through HDMI and the VGA through a DVI adapter, both on the graphics card. Sometimes closing the browser or program will cause the display to return to normal while other times I will need to either put the machine to sleep or shut down.

- As it only seems to happen with these programs I think we can rule out hardware failure or overheating (there is good cooling and air flow (see tech specs)).

- During a short period over the last year in which I updated Catalyst to a beta version the problem appeared solved, however I'm not sure if it's just a coincidence and I was lucky; like I said, it doesn't always happen, it's about 20% of the time.

Does anyone have any ideas what may be causing this and how to fix it? Thanks.

Side note: I also have a, probably, unrelated power issue. If I shut down and leave mains power switched on the machine will not always start when the power button (or the mobo "start" button) is pushed. I have to turn off mains until I next to go to use it, or if I forgot to turn off mains power I have to cut power, let the mobo drain capacitors, and wait a few minutes before turning mains back on and the machine will then start. It's truly bizarre...

System specs:

OS: Windows Embedded 8.1 Industry Pro
CPU: AMD FX 8150 8-core overclocked to 4.415GHz
Motherboard: ASUS CROSSHAIR V FORMULA
RAM: Corsair Vengeance DDR3 dual-channel 1600MHz 16GB (4x4GB)
GPU: XFX AMD Radeon HD 7970 BE DD (GPU clock 1000MHz, memory clock 1425MHz, 3GB GDDR5)
HDD: 2TB Seagate Barracuda 7200rpm SATA 3 64MB cache (various other secondary HDDs SATA 2/3 and USB 3 varying from 250GB - 2TB.)
Optical Drive: Pioneer BD-RW BDR:207D
PSU: 850W Corsair AX850 Full Modular.
Cooling: CPU cooled by Corsair Hydro H100 and rest of system fan cooled
Case: NZXT Phantom

A large amount of USB devices are connected and I can list them if needed.

All drivers are up to date. Current graphics driver is Catalyst 14.4.

System information file available here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/re4a3wjd2c06h4n/System%20info...
Application List available here: https://www.dropbox.com/s/xfqj1wrzniiem5b/ApplicationLi...
(Application list appears to be incomplete for some reason. I can provide another if needed)

More about : extremely unusual problem digital display

a c 299 À AMD
a b * Windows 8
a c 986 Ĉ ASUS
May 22, 2014 6:05:32 PM

Interesting, how many USB devices are in use and do any draw power for any kind of charging purposes? What is the model number(s) of the DRAM and were they all in a single package when purchased? Do you have the latest BIOS and mobo drivers?
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June 16, 2014 11:29:46 PM

Tradesman1 said:
Interesting, how many USB devices are in use and do any draw power for any kind of charging purposes? What is the model number(s) of the DRAM and were they all in a single package when purchased? Do you have the latest BIOS and mobo drivers?


None of the USB devices are used for charging. On occasion I may plug my phone into the front (top with NZXT Phantom) panel USB for charging at the desk. In terms of USB devices I have a simple webcam, Kinect (for mic, and use of the Kinect for Windows and XBLA dev kits), wireless Xbox 360 device hub, external HDD, mouse, keyboard (requires 2 USB for band width and power), graphics tablet/card reader (swap the two as needed), printer, scanner and finally a flash drive for Window's ReadyBoost. Sometimes a second Kinect is also plugged in for motion capture.

The RAM was in a single package when purchased but was installed on my mobo by the 3XS team at Scan Computers International during a free custom overclock. The model number on the invoice is CMZ16GX3M4X1600C9 (Corsair Vengeance Performance 16GB DDR3 1600MHz duel chanel (4x4GB)).

My BIOS and drivers are currently up to date.

Since this post new video drivers have been released, I am now on Catalyst 14.6 beta and I've installed an old GeForce 9500 for the use of it's DVI-I socket. There haven't yet been any errors or conflicts between the two card's respective driver sets. Plugged into that socket is an additional Acer V173 which hasn't experienced any issue.

I still haven't fixed my original issue.

Thanks for taking the time to reply to my post. I'm sorry it's taken so long for me to get back to you, I didn't realise you'd replied. It'd been so long without any replies that I'd given up and stopped checking back!
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Related resources
a c 299 À AMD
a b * Windows 8
a c 986 Ĉ ASUS
June 17, 2014 7:34:59 AM

With 4 sticks try raising the DRAM voltage + 0.05 and the CPU/NB voltage + 0.10
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June 19, 2014 9:33:05 AM

Tradesman1 said:
With 4 sticks try raising the DRAM voltage + 0.05 and the CPU/NB voltage + 0.10


I'll do this in an hour or so, but I won't be able to post the results for about a week or so. This is because, like I said in the OP
Quote:
It's inconsistent and seems to happen apparently at random
Sometimes I'll get it multiple times in a single day and sometimes not at all. It's very rare to last a week without the problem popping up though.

Thanks.
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