White Horizontal lines flash across screen

[ethansmolik]

Hello, I just built my first pc for mainly gaming. Its running a R9 290, i3 4130, m97 gaming 5, and running Windows 10 and dual monitors.

My issue is that when I'm in a window or on the windows desktop white lines flash across one screen. It occurres mainly when the mouse is moved, and doesn't happen when standing still. It's not connection related as I booted in linux and no lines have appeared. I have already reinstalled graphics driver as well.

What confuses me most is when I am in a game the lines do not appear at all. After exiting out it'll be clear for 30 seconds or so, and then they come back. Hoping for some assistance, as these lines are annoying.

 

[Sedivy]

Considering it doesn't happen in linux, it's safe to say your hardware, which was the biggest concern, is ok. It could be your drivers. Latest drivers may not be the best. When reinstalling drivers, use DDU to completely remove previous drivers, then install version you know is without issues on your rig. This may require delving into driver version notes and reading about current still ongoing issues with them as well as what was fixed and what was not, to know if there's anything affecting your rig.
Even more, if it's a matter of only in windows and not in games, maybe look at your mouse drivers, if you have any mouse specific applications (like the ones from razer and steelseries). If applications are present try turning them off temporarily.
Check what resolution you're running at and try changing it, see if it makes any difference. Same for refresh rate of your monitor (linux may have had different default presets that worked better).
Otherwise not sure to be honest. Any issues I can think of aren't specific to an OS, and even more to a desktop view of the os only.

 

[ethansmolik]

Thanks for the reply. Currently using a generic 3 button mouse, so no application there. Are there any drivers I should look into other than gpu? Also I have an older gpu laying around I may throw in to see if there's any effect

 

[Sedivy]

You could try with a different gpu to see if the line happens. Play with monitor and different resolutions/refresh rates on both cards and see if you get the same response on both.
If no matter what resolution or refresh rate you still get them on one but not the other, then it might just be your gpu drivers, and it's a matter of finding a version that doesn't create the lines.
If it does happen on both, then find at what resolution/refresh rate and hash out the compatibility issues with the gpu/monitor manufacturers.

 

[ethansmolik]

So switching to an old hd7870, the issue has dissapeared. Going back to the 290, I've played with all refresh rates and resolutions, which only made the issue worse. I have installed different drivers and still to no avail. Getting pretty frustrated at this point honestly.

 

[Sedivy]

Yeah if this is an issue with the card itself, at this point I would contact the gpu manufacturer. If it's the card itself, it might (or might not depending on when you got it) qualify for an rma. If it's a matter of incompatibility between the card and that specific monitor (like if you try your 290 with a different monitor and it works fine), then it's up to both/either of the manufacturers to supply you with suitable drivers or compatible replacement cause what you have isn't working.

 

[ethansmolik]

All parts are second hand so getting anything replaced is out of the question. I'm using 2 different monitors, and it'll do it on either one, leading me to believe it's not an incompatibility issue.

 

[Sedivy]

Then it's probably your card, which unfortunately leaves you with not many options. You can try different driver version in hope it might resolve issues. You could try downclocking it though this is not a heat issue and so I don't think that'll help, and you could try firmware update for your card which is last ditch option (since like mobo bios it can wreck the card should anything go wrong), providing there's a firmware update for it at all.
Otherwise you need a new card. I'd still try it in a different system, just to confirm.

 

[ethansmolik]

If it was the case of the card itself having an issue, it doesn't make sense that as soon as its "under load" such as in a game, it all goes away. I've played for hours on end with no problems., Until I turn the game off. I've already tried different driver versions I think, at least from what and has on their website. I also unfortunately don't have another system to test it out in.

 

[Sedivy]

If the card is going, it won't manifest necessarily the same within game as on desktop. When my card was going I had lines on desktop but within games had these strange triangular shapes appearing on various 3d models. As for desktop itself, I mean, you could try repairing or reinstalling it with the windows cd if you think the windows installation itself is corrupt. This is why I'm suggesting putting your card into a different computer. This should pretty definitively tell you if the issue is the card/its drivers, or something else.

 

[ethansmolik]

So upon lots of research, I finally found in AMD forums that this is a driver issue with R9 cards. Something about the driver underclocking too much in 2d, and communication with both dvi ports. Which makes sense why it doesn't do it when playing games. Either way, its been an issue for a couple years and likely won't ever be resolved.

 

[Sedivy]

Sorry to hear that but thanks for the feedback for anyone with similar problems.