Monitor going in/out of powersave mode ONLY during W7 startup

[Falcon66]

This problem only occurs during W7 startup, after the "Starting Windows" logo screen. My display then goes black. A few seconds later the status light on the monitor changes color and it displays "Entering Power Save Mode". Several seconds after that, the display wakes up, showing me the user login screen. Then, all is well until next startup.

My PC is a new build:
Intel i5 2500K CPU, has onboard GPU (unused)
Mobo is ASRock Z77 Extreme4
GPU is a GeForce GTX 560
(known good) Dell monitor, ST2220

I've tried different monitors and tried switching to the other DVI connector on the GPU, no joy. Removed & reseated the GPU, no luck. Don't see any BIOS or Windows settings that seem to apply here.

Does anyone have suggestions on how to fix this? Or, should I go ahead and call EVGA support for my GPU? Reaching the end of my rope, as I can't seem to find anyone else with this particular problem on the Inter-Webs. Thanks!

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

If you have tried another monitor and its the same...its your graphics card...

All the best Brett

 

[Falcon66]

Hi

If you have tried another monitor and its the same...its your graphics card...

All the best Brett

I thought the GPU seemed like the leading suspect. If the monitor isn't getting a video signal, it seems more likely to be the GPU's fault rather than W7 but I'm far from an expert in these things.

I've heard good things about EVGA's customer service. Since I managed to break the little locking slider on the GPU when I reseated it, I guess I'll be putting them to the test. Thanks Brett!

 

[Falcon66]

It turns out that this is apparently not a problem at all! Here is what I've found out since the last post...

Swapping out the GPU didn't fix the problem, much to my chagrin.

I dried my tears, and continued researching until I found this article from Microsoft:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2721719

Microsoft states that:
When “Starting Windows” is displayed, Windows OS kernel is performing Windows OS initialization. Windows kernel is responsible for providing monitor display in basic video mode.

After OS initialization completes, display mode is switched to a more advanced video mode. This video mode switch is normal behavior on a Windows 7 system. The video mode switch happens after “Starting Windows” and before LogonUI is ready.

During the video switch, Windows initializes the new video mode. The initialization involves device re-enumeration. And it completes after device re-enumeration is done.

During the video initialization, there is no input to the display monitor device. We might see a few seconds of black screen and monitor entering power saving mode if device re-enumeration take a few seconds because video initialization does not complete before the display monitor detects no input.

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I hope that this experience can help others with the same issue. It's good to know that there's nothing wrong, and I can enjoy my new build without obsessing on this perceived problem.

Thanks again and best wishes, Brett.
Cheers!!!