Problem with monitor blinking

JMCtg

New Member
My monitor will blink randomly, and usually come right back on, but sometimes it will be off for 10 secs or more.

Hardware:

umm... not sure about the motherboard, I'm not at home. But it has PCIe, DDR3, Socket 775
550W PSU (came with the case, not sure what exactly...)
Intel Q6600 Quad Core
Corsair 6GB DDR3 RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX hooked up via HDMI to a 32" HDTV.

Now, the only thing that has changed is the mobo and ram. I haven't updated the BIOS on the mobo yet, but I suspect that may be the issue. I have the latest drivers and updates for vista.

Anyone had problems with a blinking screen before? I've been told it may be that the video card is overheating... that's not it, because this happens under no load at all.

I've also heard it could be the PSU, but I had no problems like this for 4 months before I replaced the MOBO and RAM.

I appreciate any help.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Q6600 2.4ghz Quad Core
    Memory
    6GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 (PC3 12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX OC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32" Sharp Aquos HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    74GB Western Digital Raptor WD740 10,000 RPM SATA HDD
    1.5TB Seagate Barracuda SATA HDD
    PSU
    Some piece of ****, came with the case 650W
    Case
    COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKR7-GP Black
    Cooling
    4x 120mm fans.
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX5500 Revolutions Bluetooth
    Mouse
    Logitech MX5500 Revolutions Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    http://www.speedtest.net/result/408590158.png
To the top.... any ideas?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    Intel Q6600 2.4ghz Quad Core
    Memory
    6GB Corsair Dominator DDR3 (PC3 12800)
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 9800GTX OC
    Monitor(s) Displays
    32" Sharp Aquos HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    1080p
    Hard Drives
    74GB Western Digital Raptor WD740 10,000 RPM SATA HDD
    1.5TB Seagate Barracuda SATA HDD
    PSU
    Some piece of ****, came with the case 650W
    Case
    COOLER MASTER RC-690-KKR7-GP Black
    Cooling
    4x 120mm fans.
    Keyboard
    Logitech MX5500 Revolutions Bluetooth
    Mouse
    Logitech MX5500 Revolutions Bluetooth
    Internet Speed
    http://www.speedtest.net/result/408590158.png
The same thing started happening on my laptop just yesterday and was concerned my Nvidia card was headed south on me.

I looked at what I had installed and started going backwards uninstalling or disabling services and utilities until it would stop. (Before I had done this, I rebooted into the safe mode to see if the problem went away. It did. that told me it was software related and not hardware)

Nonetheles, I uninstalled Adobe Flashplayer and as soon as it was uninstalled, the video off and on blinking stopped.

It would seem to me that a large corporation like Adobe would not screw up with x64 operating systems. They want big bucks but they're realy, really, bad about staying on top of things.

I believe CS3 has serious issues with Vista x64, too!

Give that a shot. I bet you'll be fine after its uninstalled.

Cheers!
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    HP
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 2.5Ghz
    Memory
    4GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Nvidia GeForce 8400M GS
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Laptop LCD
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 800
    Hard Drives
    320GB 7200rpm
    Case
    Laptop
I am not 100% sure but I doubt you have DDR3 RAM if you are using a LG775 CPU and board but, let's skip that for a moment and tell me this:

Go to Device Manager and tell us what you have under Monitors. If you have something like "Generic Pnp Monitor", you need to update your drivers as this may be a problem.

While under Device Manager, also check under Display Adapters, write down what you have and double click on it, go to the Drivers Tab and give us the Version and Date of your video driver... chances are they are outdated.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Q9650 w/CM V8 Cooler...
    Motherboard
    EVGA 780i SLI FTW... Latest Bios & Drivers
    Memory
    Corsair Dominator 8GB (4 x 2GB) PC2-8500C5D
    Graphics Card(s)
    EVGA GTX260
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Def Onboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer 22" LCD Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050
    Hard Drives
    WD Velociraptor 160GB
    Samsung Sata 750GB
    Maxtor External 160GB
    PSU
    PC Power & Cooling 750w Silencer
    Case
    Thermaltake Speedo Advance
    Cooling
    Air Cooled... See CPU
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15
    Mouse
    Logitech G7
    Internet Speed
    Comcast 6MB Broadband
    Other Info
    Linksys WRT54G router
Hi!

We have a similar problem. Here is a little history.

All the workstations in our company have a dual monitor setup. Most are equipped with nVidia Quadro FX 4500 or 4600 and 21" or 24" monitors connected using DVI-I (a few have larger size monitors, like 30", 40" or 52"). We deployed 64-bit Windows Vista SP1 around March 2008 with the driver available at that time: 169.39 WHQL (2008-02-22). At that time and until recently, everything was fine, display-wise. The only annoyance was that the nView utility was not available.

Around November 2008, we deployed a new batch of computers. Of course, the latest drivers were used: 178.26 WHQL (2008-10-15). Suddenly, we started having a wave of blinking monitors. I troubleshooted the problem and found that the blinking seemed to start after Windows awakened the monitors from sleep state (after system went to sleep, or simply at power on if the monitors were left on power save during the night). I found that disabling the affected monitor in Windows display properties and enabling it back right away made the blinking stop temporarily (not turning the monitor off and back on, this has absolutely no effect). Preventing Windows from putting the monitors to sleep also reduced the recurrence of the blinking during the workday. However, every morning, I had to run through the company to disable/re-enable the monitors everywhere a new computer had been placed.

This lasted a few weeks. As they became available, I tried newer driver versions, up to 182.08 WHQL (2009-02-26). But no luck, the blinking stayed. Then I noticed I got the blinking on the "older" computers as well if I updated the nVidia driver there too. This only affected computers with an FX 4600 installed, not those with an FX 4500. With monitors from the "Eizo" brand, we get blinking. With monitors from the brand "Dell", instead of blinking, we get artifacts. This is especially noticeable on vertical lines: they "tremble", as if looked at through hot air (like on roads in hot summers, or mirages in the desert, if you see what I mean). With monitors from the brand "Samsung", we also get artifacts, but usually more like colored pixels running in lines along the edges of the monitors.

The symptoms are different according to the brand of the monitors (blinking or artifacts) but they are always caused by the newer versions of the driver. Disabling/re-enabling the affected monitor always stops the problem temporarily. So far the only solution I have found is to install an older version of the driver. In my case, driver 169.39 WHQL (2008-02-22) and earlier versions do not have the problem; driver 178.26 WHQL (2008-10-15) and all newer versions up to 182.08 (2009-02-26) have the problem. I did not have any version available between 169.39 and 178.26 to test, so I can't tell for sure for those in between.

I hope this information can be useful to others (and maybe prevent them from wasting as much time as we did on the problem). I haven't tried uninstalling the Adobe Flash Player. It is true it has been updated as well between the two deployments.

Alexandre
 
Last edited:

My Computer

Hello Alexandre Siriu,

Welcome to the Vista Forums.

Thank you for the information.

Enjoy,
Gary
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS420
    CPU
    Intel Core2 Quad Q6600
    Memory
    Crucial Ballistix 4x2GB PC2 6400
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GTS 256 MB
    Sound Card
    Creative SB X-Fi
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207 + HPvs15
    Screen Resolution
    1680x1050 + 1024x768
    Hard Drives
    2-WD5000AAKS-500 GB
    WD 5000AAV-500 GB external
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve
    Mouse
    MX Revolution
    Other Info
    Wacom Intuos 2 Graphics Tablet
    Experience Index=5.5
Hi Alex,

Do you get the same problem if you use 2 monitors of same make and model on a single PC, or doesn't it matter?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
    CPU
    Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.2GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
    Memory
    4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GeForce GTX770 Gaming OC 2GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0)
    Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2
    Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II
    Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0
    WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0
    PSU
    XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular
    Case
    Gigabyte IF233
    Cooling
    1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB)
    Mouse
    Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB)
    Internet Speed
    NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2)
    Other Info
    Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray
    Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB)
    WEI Score: 8.1/8.1/8.5/8.5/8.25
    Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
We always have two monitors of the exact same make and model hooked to the computers. I have not tried with different monitors (could be interesting, though).

The problem (blinking or artifacts) only happens on one of the monitors at a time, but not always the same.
 

My Computer

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dwarf Dwf/11/2012 r09/2013
    CPU
    Intel Core-i5-3570K 4-core @ 3.4GHz (Ivy Bridge) (OC 4.2GHz)
    Motherboard
    ASRock Z77 Extreme4-M
    Memory
    4 x 4GB DDR3-1600 Corsair Vengeance CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B (16GB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    MSI GeForce GTX770 Gaming OC 2GB
    Sound Card
    Realtek High Definition on board solution (ALC 898)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VA1912w Widescreen
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900
    Hard Drives
    OCZ Agility 3 120GB SATA III x2 (RAID 0)
    Samsung HD501LJ 500GB SATA II x2
    Hitachi HDS721010CLA332 1TB SATA II
    Iomega 1.5TB Ext USB 2.0
    WD 2.0TB Ext USB 3.0
    PSU
    XFX Pro Series 850W Semi-Modular
    Case
    Gigabyte IF233
    Cooling
    1 x 120mm Front Inlet 1 x 120mm Rear Exhaust
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 3000 (USB)
    Mouse
    Microsoft Comfort Mouse 3000 for Business (USB)
    Internet Speed
    NetGear DG834Gv3 ADSL Modem/Router (Ethernet) ~4.0 Mb/s (O2)
    Other Info
    Optical Drive: HL-DT-ST BD-RE BH10LS30 SATA Bluray
    Lexmark S305 Printer/Scanner/Copier (USB)
    WEI Score: 8.1/8.1/8.5/8.5/8.25
    Asus Eee PC 1011PX Netbook (Windows 7 x86 Starter)
I am not 100% sure but I doubt you have DDR3 RAM if you are using a LG775 CPU and board but, let's skip that for a moment and tell me this:

Go to Device Manager and tell us what you have under Monitors. If you have something like "Generic Pnp Monitor", you need to update your drivers as this may be a problem.

While under Device Manager, also check under Display Adapters, write down what you have and double click on it, go to the Drivers Tab and give us the Version and Date of your video driver... chances are they are outdated.

He could very well be using DDR3. There are several DDR3 motherboards for 775, such as the nforce 790i's. :)

Have you tried using a DVI cable instead of HDMI?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Custom Built
    CPU
    Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
    Motherboard
    XFX MB-750I-72P9 NF750i
    Memory
    4096MB Corsair XMS2 PC-5400
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS Nvidia Geforce GTX470
    Sound Card
    ASUS Xonar DX
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dell 24" S2409W & Dell 20" E207WFP
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080 & 1680x1050
    Hard Drives
    750GB Western Digital Caviar Black & 500GB Samsung
    PSU
    750 watt Thermaltake Toughpower
    Case
    Coolermaster Dominator 690 Nvidia Edition
    Cooling
    Zalman CNPS9700-NT Cooler, 6x 120mm Chassis Fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G11 Keyboard
    Mouse
    Logitech G5 Laser Mouse (2007 edition)
    Internet Speed
    100Mbps
    Other Info
    abit airpace 54mbps wireless PCI-E x1 card
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