Help needed; horizontal lines on screen during games, subtle but frustrating!

[KimmyDare]

Hi there.

I recently built a new PC and its been working great so far, however, there is a hangup with what seems to be a graphical error; while in some games (specifically Archeage and the Sims 3 so far), these subtle horizontal lines will appear on my screen and move up/down. They're subtle enough to not really pose an issue to gameplay but just enough to catch my eye and be highly annoying. To boot, there seems to be a high pitched humming/sound from my left speaker when these lines appear, and continues to whine until I exit the game or alt tab out of it.

These lines do not exist anywhere else other than in these games, and even some games have no problem - I can play League of Legends and Dragon Age with no lines present. It really is a befuddling issue.

What I have tried so far;

• 
  ■ Unplugging/replugging the VGA cords, even trying a different one. No dice.
  ■ Rolling back drivers with no results. Reinstalling them too.
  ■ Trying various settings in game to no avail.
  ■ Changing all screen options with no results.

At this point I'm lost and would love some help. Some info on my system;

• 
  ■ Windows 8.1, 64 bit
  ■ Monitor: ASUS VS Series VS247H-P Black 23.6" 2ms LED Backlight Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 cd/m2 50000000:1 (ASCR) Here is the Newegg link for it.
  ■ Graphics Card: ASUS R9280X-DC2T-3GD5 Radeon R9 280X 3GB 384-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card Here is the Newegg link for it.
  ■ To note: My Device manager also lists Intel(R) HD Graphics 4600 under display adapters, and this has crashed a couple times on me. All the times it has crashed I've been able to uninstall/re-install the driver with success, but I wonder if this related somehow?

If you need any more information please let me know, this issue is pretty annyoing and I don't know what to do at this point!

Thanks a lot!

- Kimberly

 

[CrazyMav]

It could be the drivers for your video card, I know you stated that you tried different drivers but sometimes it can still be that. Have you tried playing the game with Vsync on/off? Your Device Manager shouldn't show the Intel HD Graphics, did you disable it through Device Manager? If it keeps popping up when you restart your computer, press the Start/Windows key or get into Search and type in "services.msc" then look for Intel HD Graphics Control Panel, right click on it and go to properties, under Startup make sure it is disabled.

I don't have much more input on this but I am suspecting it to be a driver issue, if not that, the interference with your Intel Graphics.

 

[KimmyDare]

Hey thanks for getting back to me!

So if I have my graphics card, I should disable the Intel graphics? This is my first pc to be honest, I've been using laptops until this, haha. I appreciate the help. As of right now, it is enabled, but I'll disable it to see if it helps!

Edit: It looks like that helped a little, but the lines are still there. I did notice, however, having V-sync on does help a bit - the lines are still there, but not nearly as numerous.

 

[CrazyMav]

Yeah, that is mainly what needs to be done when you are adding a video card. If it isn't too much trouble, uninstall the ATI drivers then remove your video card and make sure that your Intel HD Graphics are enabled and running good, then check to see if you get the horizontal lines in Sims 3. Then disable the Intel HD Graphics, turn off your PC, install the video card, recent drivers, restart and see if you have any problems.

 

[CrazyMav]

What type of cable are you using on your monitor?

 

[KimmyDare]

I'm using a vga cable, but there is a white adapter the vga is connected into that is connected to the pc itself. I believe its a dvi to vga cable adapter.

 

[CrazyMav]

Yeah, that should be a DVI-VGA adapter. Can you try using the cable only with VGA, would you happen to have an HDMI cable around? Possibly from a TV, that you can try your PC with.

 

[KimmyDare]

I do believe we have an hdmi cable, I'll try both and get back to you!

 

[KimmyDare]

Okay so! When I took off the adapter, it seems like there is only one place to plug the vgi cable into, which was near the top of the tower. The adapter is plugged in lower, towards the bottom. The vga by itself did not work, nor did an hdmi cable, is that odd?

 

[CrazyMav]

Okay, well I failed to look at your card and noticed there is no direct VGA input, which is normal of newer cards. Did you put the HDMI cable into the card or your motherboard? It should be connected to your card. If that did not work the problem with the lines should be because of the driver or the game itself.

 

[KimmyDare]

Sorry about the confusion - the hdmi worked! I thought it wasn't because when I put the monitor into hdmi mode, it wasn't detecting anything and went back to vgi while I plugged in the hdmi cord. So, I plugged the hdmi in right as I hit hdmi mode, so now we're golden. The lines are gone! However, my resolution has gone a bit wonky; theres a black border to my screen now and no way to increase my resolution size. Although with the lines gone, thats a huge relief in itself, haha.

Any idea about the new resolution issue?

 

[KimmyDare]

I found it in the CCC, things look good now! Thanks for your help!

 

[CrazyMav]

Okay, glad you got it working. I'd stick with the HDMI, you can pick one up for less than $10 online.

 

[KimmyDare]

Will do, thanks a ton!