Display randomly "cutting out" not sure if it is gpu or monitor

[Guest]

As the title states i am having issues where the display will go black and then after a moment or two come back. I just got a new monitor (Dell s2440L) and it is connected to my radeon 7850(it was overclocked to 1000/1300, but i reverted to the factory oc, which did not seem to help) I just spent some time playing borderlands 2 and the screen went black twice while gaming, but the issue is not only limited to gaming. I have 4 more days before i can no longer return the monitor. The monitor is connected via hdmi, the hdmi cable is new from amazon (although it is a cheap one), i can switch it to see if the problem persists after that, but the issue is that the problem isnt consistent, it is totally random, so i dont want to be stuck with a defective monitor that i am unable to return if the monitor is in fact the issue. It is also possible that it could be an issue with the radeon, or maybe the drivers. Any help with he matter would be greatly appreciated. I dont think it makes much difference here but my motherboard is a msi z77a-gd65 with a 3570K @ 4.4.

 

[ryand8]

I think the best course of action is to figure out what exactly is having the problem, then attempt fixing it.

I.E. Do you have something else you can plug your monitor into to see if the problem persists? Do you have a DVI or VGA cable you can try plugging into your computer rather than HDMI? Do you have another monitor you can test via HDMI to see if it still happens? etc.

If you can't figure out the solution by the time your warranty is up then I would be safe and return it.

 

[Guest]

I think the best course of action is to figure out what exactly is having the problem, then attempt fixing it.

I.E. Do you have something else you can plug your monitor into to see if the problem persists? Do you have a DVI or VGA cable you can try plugging into your computer rather than HDMI? Do you have another monitor you can test via HDMI to see if it still happens? etc.

If you can't figure out the solution by the time your warranty is up then I would be safe and return it.

Unfortunately, i do not have another hdmi monitor, on my old monitor i was using dvi (which this monitor lacks), and as far as i know i did not have any issues, but i was busy with school and work so i did not have much time to play, but as i have said the blackouts are completely random, one time it happened right after i turned on my computer, other times it wont happen, and sometimes it will happen 2 or 3 times after an extended period of time with the monitor being on. Some of the times it occurs, while i am not monitoring gpu usage, i would imagine that there is little to no usage on the gpu. I am about to switch the cable out but i have a hard time believing that it would be the cable. I do have a nvidia gpu that i could try but it would take me a few days before i can get to it because it is not at my hosue, but i could also try the intel graphics on my 3570

 

[ryand8]

I think the best course of action is to figure out what exactly is having the problem, then attempt fixing it.

I.E. Do you have something else you can plug your monitor into to see if the problem persists? Do you have a DVI or VGA cable you can try plugging into your computer rather than HDMI? Do you have another monitor you can test via HDMI to see if it still happens? etc.

If you can't figure out the solution by the time your warranty is up then I would be safe and return it.

Unfortunately, i do not have another hdmi monitor, on my old monitor i was using dvi (which this monitor lacks), and as far as i know i did not have any issues, but i was busy with school and work so i did not have much time to play, but as i have said the blackouts are completely random, one time it happened right after i turned on my computer, other times it wont happen, and sometimes it will happen 2 or 3 times after an extended period of time with the monitor being on. Some of the times it occurs, while i am not monitoring gpu usage, i would imagine that there is little to no usage on the gpu. I am about to switch the cable out but i have a hard time believing that it would be the cable. I do have a nvidia gpu that i could try but it would take me a few days before i can get to it because it is not at my hosue, but i could also try the intel graphics on my 3570

Yeah, I agree that it's most likely not the cable itself, but rather the monitor and/or GPU. To be honest, I would just return the monitor now so you don't lose out on it's cost. Whether it's the monitor or not, better safe than sorry. Plus, once you get a new monitor, you'll know whether it was the monitor or not and can troubleshoot accordingly.

If it were me, I'd try the new cable and the intel graphics for a day and see what happens.

 

[Guest]

I tried doing some things spending a little time with the integrated and the other cable, no black screens but then again yesterday i gamed for several hours without a single issue, left for dinner, now im back with my gpu and the other cable. My monitor also has dust underneath the glass, debating returning it just for that reason anyway. I really like this monitor but having dust beneath the screen seems like bad quality control to me.

Come to think about it, it must be the gpu or the cable, because the monitor pops up a box that moves around and says no input shutting down in 5 minutes when it loses connection, so i have a feeling that it is not the monitor losing its connection but rather either the gpu going out for a second, or maybe its connection being faulty, or maybe it is the cable. I had taken the gpu out to get the integrated going again, and i put the card back in played borderlands for a while and didnt get a black screen, going to play some crysis now and see if i have any issues.

Update: Haven't had any issues since reseating my gpu and changing cables, could have been either of those, or it could be the fact that it just hasn't had an issue yet. Also on further inspection of the dust underneath the screen, there is alot in the bottom corner near the buttons, and there is a ~2.5 inch long scratch on the inside of the glass near the middle of the screen. These however you are only able to see when there is a large amount of light directly pointing at the screen

 

[ryand8]

I tried doing some things spending a little time with the integrated and the other cable, no black screens but then again yesterday i gamed for several hours without a single issue, left for dinner, now im back with my gpu and the other cable. My monitor also has dust underneath the glass, debating returning it just for that reason anyway. I really like this monitor but having dust beneath the screen seems like bad quality control to me.

Come to think about it, it must be the gpu or the cable, because the monitor pops up a box that moves around and says no input shutting down in 5 minutes when it loses connection, so i have a feeling that it is not the monitor losing its connection but rather either the gpu going out for a second, or maybe its connection being faulty, or maybe it is the cable. I had taken the gpu out to get the integrated going again, and i put the card back in played borderlands for a while and didnt get a black screen, going to play some crysis now and see if i have any issues.

Update: Haven't had any issues since reseating my gpu and changing cables, could have been either of those, or it could be the fact that it just hasn't had an issue yet. Also on further inspection of the dust underneath the screen, there is alot in the bottom corner near the buttons, and there is a ~2.5 inch long scratch on the inside of the glass near the middle of the screen. These however you are only able to see when there is a large amount of light directly pointing at the screen

Eh, there shouldn't be dust inside the casing of a monitor. I doubt it's really effecting anything unless there's quite a bit, but like you said...it'd be smart to return it and get your money's worth.