Curious Issue: Monitor not always powering on when PC started from cold - takes up to several restarts?

[Fineus_]

Hi all,

I recently (this weekend) completed a new system build and am experiencing a weird issue that I've not seen before.

The issue:

When starting the PC from 'off', the monitor does not always / reliably turn on. Sometimes it stays in what looks like a standby mode (an orange light on the monitor as opposed to the regular blue one that denotes it's 'on')... and the only fix I've found so far seems to be turning the system off and on again... repeating until it eventually turns on.

Bug fixing:

I've tried the monitor and it turns on reliably with my old system.

The new system seems to work reliably once it is started up... no further issues from any component including graphics card or monitor and it's good for hours of use after that.

I've checked all the cable connections as well as the graphics card power connector and how it's seated on the motherboard. The computer is not moved between the times it doesn't work and the times it does.

I can't explain it.

The system:

- Palit Jetstream GeForce GTX 980Ti
- Dell U2412M Monitor

- Intel Xeon 1231v3 Quad Core CPU
- 16GB Corsair Vengeance RAM
- 500GB Samsung EVO 850 SSD
- 4TB Hitachi Deskstar HDD
- Evga Supernova 850W G2 PSU
- Noctua NH-U12S Heat Sink
- Windows 10 Home

 

[lantrich]

I would look in the Control Panel to see if the monitor is detected correctly. Make sure your video card is recognized correctly. You might want to check the power cables going to the GPU. If you have a power supply that supports sli then switch between the power cables to see if that helps.

 

[QSV]

I had exactly the same issue once. It was caused by a defective graphics card. I fixed it by simply using a different output port of the graphics card.
Still, I would also try different monitor cables. If its a defective port, its your choice to send it in or just use a different one.
It could of course also be the graphics card generally.

 

[Fineus_]

Thanks guys, I'll try the different output port first and see how I go... it's bizarre that it seems isolated to startup. Hopefully it can be fixed easily!

 

[QSV]

You could also probably circumvent it by using sleep instead of turning off your PC.