Multi Monitors Disconnecting

[general gred]

I recently got two new monitors to add to my computer so I now have a triple monitor setup, however several seconds after my desktop loads both monitors disconnect. Several seconds after the desktop loads my primary monitor flashes black rapidly a couple times like its resetting or something and then both secondary monitors disconnect. Both secondary monitors extend to the left and right, neither duplicates the primary monitor. This has become very annoying not only because I have to reconnect them in Screen Resolution every time I turn on my computer, but also because one of my main reasons for getting more monitors was to have more desktop space which I cannot do because this shifts all my applications and taskbar back to my primary monitor in a mess.

All my drivers are up-to-date and cables are brand new. This problem only occurs after boot-up as mentioned above, it doesn't happen any other time.

Intel Core i7-5820K
GIGABYTE GA-X99-UD3P Motherboard
CORSAIR RMx Series RM1000X 1000W PSU
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 16GB x2
Zotac GTX 970 4GB Extreme Core Edition

 

[ThomasLeong]

Q1: How are you connected between monitors to your graphics card? - all Display Port? or a combination of DVI, HDMI and DP?

Q2: Are you using any Display Port - DVI/HDMI adapters?

Q3: How long are your cable runs between graphics card and monitors?

The general cause of display connection lost are bad adapters and/or loss of EDID information (Extended Display Identification Data). Loss of EDID also usually occurs when more than 2 monitors are connected to one graphics card. It occurs less often with 2 or less monitors (nature of the beast).

 

[general gred]

Q1: How are you connected between monitors to your graphics card? - all Display Port? or a combination of DVI, HDMI and DP?

Q2: Are you using any Display Port - DVI/HDMI adapters?

Q3: How long are your cable runs between graphics card and monitors?

The general cause of display connection lost are bad adapters and/or loss of EDID information (Extended Display Identification Data). Loss of EDID also usually occurs when more than 2 monitors are connected to one graphics card. It occurs less often with 2 or less monitors (nature of the beast).

Sorry I completely forgot to add that info:

A1: Primary and Secondary Monitor (Left) use Displayport, my third (Right) uses HDMI

A2: I do not have any adapters on any cable of any sort

A3: Both Display Ports cables are 6FT and the HDMI is I believe 8FT

 

[ThomasLeong]

6-8ft cables are not considered long, so the loss of signal would not be due to that. A bad cable is a possibility.

But the problem is likely due to loss of EDID with more than 2 monitors.
So try with only 2 monitors connected. Is there any signal loss after a while?
Swap the 2nd monitor for the one that was not connected, and try again. If 2 monitors work fine, that eliminates any one monitor being a problem, and you would have narrowed it down to having 3 connected, or rather 'more than 2'.

Unfortunately to solve EDID problems is not cheap, i.e. you need an EDID manager of some sort, to trick the graphics card into thinking that "a monitor of such-and-such a resolution is connected and therefore it should continue to output a signal regardless".

The cheapest I know of is Gefen's DVI Doctor at about USD100 each. There are others - Lightware EDID Manager or DVI Parrot. Both the latter two are proven products, and more expensive. You could buy one and try but chances are you will need more than one. Sorry, can't nail down the number for you - it is a buy and try situation.

And since these are usually DVI (maybe HDMI ones exist), you would also need ACTIVE DP-DVI Adapters (http://www.accellcables.com/collections/adapters/DisplayPort). Note the word 'ACTIVE'.

The adapters and additional cables if any would also depend on the connection available at the monitor end.

One other thought - probably cheaper than buying and trying an EDID Manager - is to buy 3 DisplayPort 1.2 to HDMI 2.0 Active Adapters and at the monitor end, connect via HDMI if there are HDMI ports there.

 

[general gred]

I appreciate your help and you gave me some good info that will help me later, however I found the problem and fixed it (because I'm an idiot who can't think clearly). I forgot to mention something that may normally not be an issue and that brands. My primary monitor is a BenQ, I found out that the problem was actually the BenQ Display Pilot software, even though I tried syncing its settings with Windows and Nividia it had no effect. I uninstalled the Display Pilot and now I have no problems. Why I didn't see it before is beyond me, the delay between the desktop loading and the monitors disconnecting should have made it obvious to me. Thank you for your help though ThomasLeong and I wanted to post this for others with my problem that have BenQ, you need to uninstall the Display Pilot software!