Question What causes these horizontal lines on my monitor when I start up my PC?

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Full system specs, including PSU make and model (or part number) is? Also, how old the PSU is, and was the PSU bought new or used/refurbished?

It looks like GPU artifacts, but could be monitor issue as well.
Answer the above questions for further troubleshooting steps.
 
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Aeacus said:
Full system specs, including PSU make and model (or part number) is? Also, how old the PSU is, and was the PSU bought new or used/refurbished?

It looks like GPU artifacts, but could be monitor issue as well.
Answer the above questions for further troubleshooting steps.
Click to expand...
I bought the PSU new from Amazon around February 2020, so it's almost 4 years old.
 
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unicornbetrayal said:
PSU: GameMax Power Supply 600W (RGB)
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That's a poor PSU. Borderline low quality.
Scratch that. Looked up some info on that unit and it's actually far worse, a crap quality PSU.

For example, official specs: https://gamemaxpc.com/productkkk/683-en.html
In summary, it says "Efficiency: 85+ Bronze". There is no such 80 Plus efficiency level as 85+ Bronze. What there are, are: 80+ (White), 80+ Bronze, 80+ Silver, 80+ Gold, 80+ Platinum and 80+ Titanium. So, that's 1st red flag.
2nd red flag comes form rail load-out, whereby the PSU itself is actually 480W unit (max what +12V rail can deliver) and not 600W unit as label claims it to be. (Even if you wishfully add all the rails together, you'll end up with 598.5W and not 600W.)
3rd red flag is the RGB fan in it, which is clearly there, so that someone actually would buy that crap. Since: "RGB is pretty and if PSU has RGB, it is nice.", right? Well, No. Almost all PSUs that come with RGB fan are crap quality. Sure, there are very few select PSUs with RGB fan that are good quality (e.g few Thermaltake high-end units) but overall, RGB fan in PSU is to mask the crap quality of the unit itself.

So, new PSU is essentially a must.
This time, get good quality PSU, like Seasonic Focus/PRIME or Corsair RMx/RMi/HXi/AXi, in 650W range.
(All 3 of my PCs are also powered by Seasonic, full specs with pics in my sig.)

While PSU outright won't cause graphical artifacts as you're currently seeing, PSU could be the underlying issue behind it. Namely, when PSU feeds out of spec voltages to hardware, it can damage hardware over time, resulting into all sorts of issues (including the one you're seeing). And it can end up with complete hardware failure as well.
Since what you have is crap quality PSU, i wouldn't be surprised if PSU is behind of all that. Though, continued use of that RGB crap can lead to it killing your entire PC. Because PSU powers everything, it is the most important component inside the PC.

As of what component is degraded, my best guess would be GPU. So, you need to get your hands on 2nd, known to work GPU and test if image is good or not.
If issues go away with 2nd GPU, your current GPU is damaged (most likely thanks to your cheap RGB PSU). If issues remain, try with 2nd, known to work monitor, since it could be monitor issue as well. But new PSU is a must regardless.
 
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Aeacus said:
That's a poor PSU. Borderline low quality.
Scratch that. Looked up some info on that unit and it's actually far worse, a crap quality PSU.

For example, official specs: https://gamemaxpc.com/productkkk/683-en.html
In summary, it says "Efficiency: 85+ Bronze". There is no such 80 Plus efficiency level as 85+ Bronze. What there are, are: 80+ (White), 80+ Bronze, 80+ Silver, 80+ Gold, 80+ Platinum and 80+ Titanium. So, that's 1st red flag.
2nd red flag comes form rail load-out, whereby the PSU itself is actually 480W unit (max what +12V rail can deliver) and not 600W unit as label claims it to be. (Even if you wishfully add all the rails together, you'll end up with 598.5W and not 600W.)
3rd red flag is the RGB fan in it, which is clearly there, so that someone actually would buy that crap. Since: "RGB is pretty and if PSU has RGB, it is nice.", right? Well, No. Almost all PSUs that come with RGB fan are crap quality. Sure, there are very few select PSUs with RGB fan that are good quality (e.g few Thermaltake high-end units) but overall, RGB fan in PSU is to mask the crap quality of the unit itself.

So, new PSU is essentially a must.
This time, get good quality PSU, like Seasonic Focus/PRIME or Corsair RMx/RMi/HXi/AXi, in 650W range.
(All 3 of my PCs are also powered by Seasonic, full specs with pics in my sig.)

While PSU outright won't cause graphical artifacts as you're currently seeing, PSU could be the underlying issue behind it. Namely, when PSU feeds out of spec voltages to hardware, it can damage hardware over time, resulting into all sorts of issues (including the one you're seeing). And it can end up with complete hardware failure as well.
Since what you have is crap quality PSU, i wouldn't be surprised if PSU is behind of all that. Though, continued use of that RGB crap can lead to it killing your entire PC. Because PSU powers everything, it is the most important component inside the PC.

As of what component is degraded, my best guess would be GPU. So, you need to get your hands on 2nd, known to work GPU and test if image is good or not.
If issues go away with 2nd GPU, your current GPU is damaged (most likely thanks to your cheap RGB PSU). If issues remain, try with 2nd, known to work monitor, since it could be monitor issue as well. But new PSU is a must regardless.
Click to expand...
Yeah, you have very good points. Back then, I was less knowledgeable in hardware leading me to be more focused on aesthetics rather than performance which was an extremely bad call from me in retrospect. I'll look into your tips, thank you.
 
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