Computer screen freaking out, can't find a problem like it. Help greatly appreciated!

[kmumper]

Okay so this is my first time posting I hope I'm doing everything right. Been a long time lurker and really appreciate your help. I've been able to solve all my problems based on other people's questions until now. Here it goes:

I built my own rig about a year ago and it started acting up recently. What happens is my screen will "freak out."

*This is flashing and the lines sometimes move around*

Now I have a second display which is set up as an extended screen and everything functions normally. If I'm watching a video it will continue to play and I can even drag things from the primary screen over and keep working. If I unplug the main display or change it to 1 display (the working screen) then that screen gets the same problem. The only solution is to press the power button on the tower and allow it to reset.

Specs:
CPU: Intel Core i5-2500k 3.30GHz
GPU: AMD Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition
Display: Dell UltraSharp U2312HM IPS-Panel Black 23" 8ms
Secondary Display: iSymphony 37" LCD TV
Motherboard: ASUS P8Z77-V PRO LGA 1155

This has happened probably 6 times in the last 2 months. I've noticed (not positive that everytime) it seems to be when I'm watching a video on project-free-tv on the secondary screen is when it happens. However normally when I'm using my computer this is what I'm doing so that could be a confound. I'm kind of assuming this is a GPU problem but it's strange that it only affects one monitor at a time. I don't have a backup GPU to try and I'd rather not buy a new one unless I have to. I've updated all my drivers. Any help here would be awesome. Thank you all so much!

 

[gaborbarla]

Have you tried using another port on your graphics card for the screen that freaks out?

 

[kmumper]

Have you tried using another port on your graphics card for the screen that freaks out?

I just switched ports while it was doing its thing but it continued to 'freak out.' When I unplugged it it switched to the LCD TV screen as the only screen and it didn't do the exact same thing it was doing. The screen was legible and looked normal for the most part but everything was "line-y" it looked almost like it was all strike-through or duplicated on top of itself several times.

Note: It did fix it for a second but then resumed. This appears to have just been a result of unplugging it and plugging it back in.

 

[Flying-Q]

I have seen almost identical behaviour on a 2 screen setup similar with yours. What worked in that situation was a complete uninstall of the graphics driver and then clean out the remnants with CCleaner or this driver uninstaller from Guru3d then install the latest driver from AMD.

 

[gaborbarla]

Hi re-install the drivers, but completely remove them first. If that doesnt help, go back to an older driver and try that.
I Had a 5870 and it was only stable with every third driver.

Gabor