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)