Monitor Flicker Issue - VGA Related?

AlanBee

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Nov 28, 2013
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Hello all,

I'm having an issue with a newly purchased desktop. After a little research I can't figure out if it's related to the monitor itself, graphics card or simply the cable I'm using.

Basically I am seeing flickering horizontal lines on my monitor that appear faint but are definitely there. The odd thing I've just found out is that when I use my pc for something "demanding" such as playing Far Cry 3 just now, the flickering becomes much worse both in game and when I alt tab to the desktop.

The monitor is a HANNS.G HE225 21.5 inch with a VGA and DVI connection. I don't have a DVI cable available and the desktop does not have a VGA connection so I'm using a VGA to DVI adapter on one end of a VGA cable to connect the two.

My initial hope is that purchasing a DVI cable may solve the issue but after the significant increase in flicker when running a game I'm worried it may be a PSU or GPU issue. Is there any way to troubleshoot this? Or should I just try my luck and buy a DVI cable?

Here's the possibly relevant specs of my rig:

CPU:
AMD FX 6350
GPU: R9 270x

Any help would be hugely appreciated as I've been wracking my brain over this all day.

Thanks guys.
 
Solution
I'm sorry to say but it's your monitor that has dying pixels.

the best course of action would be up to you really.

if you don't mind the flickering you can keep it.
If you have the cash to buy a new monitor you should.

Me personally, I could not stand seeing a flicker while I game or watch a movie. I would replace the monitor.

Andy11466

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Mar 21, 2013
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If the connections to your vga, or hdmi to your graphics card, and the graphics card to the pci-e slot is firmly in place, it's either a dying graphics card, or dying pixels on the monitor.

But for a more demanding game to increase flickering would indicate it's the graphics card. as the monitor is only producing colors and frames at a certain hz.

you should try both monitor and graphics card to makes sure.
as they're both pricey.
 

AlanBee

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Nov 28, 2013
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Hi Andy thanks for the reply,

I just took the desktop to my sitting room (heavy ah heck!) and hooked it up to my television via HDMI. It solved the flickering issue completely.

This at least put my mind at ease as to whether the graphics card is faulty. So now I need to find out whether it's the VGA cable or perhaps the DVI converter causing the issue. If that's the case I'll just buy a DVI cable. But then again I'm not sure if it's actually the monitor that's at fault. Like I said, the monitor barely flickers at all when it comes to basic web browsing, only high CPU usage. It's strange indeed.

What course of action would you reccomend?

Thanks again

 

Andy11466

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Mar 21, 2013
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19,060
I'm sorry to say but it's your monitor that has dying pixels.

the best course of action would be up to you really.

if you don't mind the flickering you can keep it.
If you have the cash to buy a new monitor you should.

Me personally, I could not stand seeing a flicker while I game or watch a movie. I would replace the monitor.
 
Solution

AlanBee

Honorable
Nov 28, 2013
6
0
10,510
I just solved the issue.

I went out and bought a HDMI to DVI cable and the flickering is solved. I guess I'll put it down to a faulty VGA adapter or faulty VGA input on the monitor.

I wanted to solve the issue quickly so I had to go to my local electrical stores and the cheapest I could get the cable was £20 which I'm not thrilled with but hey, at least I can run games without getting a headache now.

Thanks again Andy for trying to help, it was very much appreciated. Cheers