Question Screen Flickering in-game

[LaserDashz]

Hello,

I am having a really odd issue and I can't seem to resolve it myself. Basically, every time I run a game, any game, the screen starts to "flicker". The flicker seems to be a small but noticeable change in brightness and that's the only way I can describe it. I tried to record it with my phone but you can't really see it at all. I've messed around with Free-Sync settings and to be honest I don't really know what I am doing or how to solve it. I've had it for quite a while but it's really starting to annoy me. The flickering does not happen on the desktop or when watching videos. I have the latest driver for my GPU. I've reinstalled windows and nothing has been resolved. There also seems to be a weird ghosting issue in certain games like rust and dead by daylight, where if I turn, some objects in the game have a weird shadow/ ghost around them, but when I stand still, they don't.

Also, when I disable free-sync, my monitor still says it's on when I jump into the settings. I really don't know what's happening but my guess is that settings across the game, monitor, and AMD program are all conflicting with each other somehow. Thank you to anyone who helps/reads/replies to this post.

Thanks.

Specs:

CPU: Ryzen 5 2600
GPU: RX 580 8GB by Sapphire
Monitor: MSI Optix MAG241C 144hz

 

[Nemesia]

I had the same problem with this monitor when using 144Hz plugged with a display port cable. I'm using an HMDI cable now running at 120Hz and it fixed it for me. Could be the DP cable I was using too.

 

[LaserDashz]

I had the same problem with this monitor when using 144Hz plugged with a display port cable. I'm using an HMDI cable now running at 120Hz and it fixed it for me. Could be the DP cable I was using too.

Thanks for your reply. I am currently using a HDMI cable from Sandstrom. I've also discovered something really, really, really weird. Every time I press the escape key on my keyboard in CS:GO, it does that weird flicker. I have no clue what is causing this.

 

[LaserDashz]

Hmm and also, when I hold down the ESC key on my keyboard, the FPS and the refresh rate on my monitor goes down. What is happening?!

 

[LaserDashz]

Okay, I've figured out the cause. I can hear a fuzzing noise at the back of my PC without pressing any key on my keyboard. As soon as I hold down the ESC key on my keyboard, the fuzzing noise changes in tone. It seems that it's some sort of electric interference causing this issue. I will try and figure out what device is causing it!

 

[LaserDashz]

When I close the game, the electric sound thing completely goes away. However, when I open any sort of game, the sound comes back. Starting to think this is a GPU failure issue. I will attempt to reseat the GPU.

 

[LaserDashz]

Ok, when I move my mouse around, the weird electric interference sound also intensifies. When I stop, it stops. There are many factors of what this could be. This could be the motherboard, GPU, or the PSU. Can anyone help me?

 

[Nemesia]

Sounds like GPU coil whine or PSU.

 

[LaserDashz]

Sounds like GPU coil whine or PSU.

Hmm yes. Any way I could test either to see which one it is? I don't have any spare parts.

 

[LaserDashz]

The sound is coming from the GPU though. So is it the GPU?

 

[LaserDashz]

I removed the GPU and turned on the PC without it inside. The interference sound stopped which means it's not the PSU. There seems to be a fault with the GPU then.

 

[LinuxDevice]

I removed the GPU and turned on the PC without it inside. The interference sound stopped which means it's not the PSU. There seems to be a fault with the GPU then.

This tends to happen when capacitors start failing, but are not yet dead.

 

[LaserDashz]

So, I've found the culprit. As Namesia said, it's GPU coil whining. A lot of people also have coil whining when moving their mouse around so it sounds like it's a normal thing. The screen flickering however was easily solved like this:

Opening AMD software
Go to global display options
Disable AMD Free-Sync

For some reason, my monitor says Free-Sync is still enabled. There must be a conflicting setting somewhere, but disabling it in the monitor options, stops the flickering on the screen.

 

[Blick.]

So, I've found the culprit. As Namesia said, it's GPU coil whining. A lot of people also have coil whining when moving their mouse around so it sounds like it's a normal thing. The screen flickering however was easily solved like this:

Opening AMD software
Go to global display options
Disable AMD Free-Sync

For some reason, my monitor says Free-Sync is still enabled. There must be a conflicting setting somewhere, but disabling it in the monitor options, stops the flickering on the screen.

BRO YOURE A LIFE SAVER! It INSTANTLY worked! Thank you SO MUCH! LOL I made an account just to thank you! xD