Monitor refresh rate problems. Please help!

Syninc

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So my monitor (20.1" LCM-20v5 Plug N Play from Westing House Digital) has been having some refresh rate problems. My old video card (x1950 PRO AGP) had constant lines in my display moving around and making my eyes strain. No matter what resolution or refresh rate I set it at.

I recently got a new card (HD3850 AGP 512MB) and on the optimal resolution 1450-1050 I see the lines appear randomly. They aren't always there but when they show up I have to restart my computer to get rid of them. I'm just wondering why all other resolutions can increase the refresh rate above 60hz but 1400-1050 cannot.

I'm hoping someone had the same problem and was able to fix it. I don't have the budget to purchase a higher end monitor. Just would like to hear some opinions on it.

Thanks,

Chris

p.s. sorry if this is in the wrong section I couldn't find a section for monitors.
 

pbrigido

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Sounds like a case of screen tearing. I would enable vsync. That should match your FPS output to your monitors refresh rate. A 3850 running at 60 FPS would be the best solution I can think of right now.
 

Syninc

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Lines are back and vsync didn't work. Is it just that my refresh rate isn't high enough for this resolution?
 

pbrigido

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Interesting. Your refresh rate should be just fine. I'm curious if the lines are actually what one would identify as screen tearing, or if they are actually lines that may be caused due to a defective piece of hardware. If that is the case, I would suspect that the monitor may be fine, but you may want to check your RAM for any sort of defects...just to be safe.
 

vochtige

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maybe you have psu problems. i had with my 8600Gt same problem. so i put a 600W in it instead of 400 non brand psu.

how much Wattage has your psu? and do you like the 3850? when not tearing?
last thing: v-sync gives you the max fps that your refreshrate of your screen can give. if you screen is at 60 hz, than you'll get 60 fps

 

Syninc

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I have a 700W psu. And yes the 3850 really helped my fps in games. I don't think the lines are from screen tearing. I don't know what to do. How would I find out if my ram is defective?
 
Easiest way is to run the system with just on RAM chip installed at a time and see what happens. If all is well with one chip, remove it and install the next until they`ve all been tested. If the problem occurs with just the one chip installed, you have your anwser, if not, post again.

And yes, I know you know this but, never remove a component from a running computer, always shut it down, turn off the power and wait for a slow count of 30 before doing so.
 

Syninc

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So i took out two of my four RAM sticks and so far im not seeing any lines. Usually it would happen after i had been playing CoD4 for a while. Ill keep you posted.
 

Syninc

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so a couple hours after i removed the RAM and no lines. Pretty interesting.. I had no idea that RAM could effect anything to do with the monitor. Thanks alot coozie and everyone that helped me out.
 

Syninc

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Ok guys I found out that it was a faulty 1g memory stick and I want to buy an upgrade. My motherboard is a SY-P4I875P Dragon 2 from Soyo. Am I limited to PC2700 and 3200 DDR memory?