Jumpy/Flickery display

RealityRipple · Aug 18, 2009, 07:28 PM

Last night, I installed the latest Catalyst drivers (9.8) as well as AMD OverDrive. After restarting, my computer screens (two) started... doing strange things. Parts of the screen will glitch, and the whole thing will seem to jump and flicker whenever something on the screen changes. After doing some tests, I've observed the following things:

- Mouse doesn't cause flicker, only things that require some sort of redraw.
- While running DirectX or OpenGL programs (games, screen savers), the flickering halts.
- It's not drivers. Running in Linux did the same thing.
- It doesn't do it except when Windows/Linux/Whatever reaches the desktop, and usually some application that uses a graphics library has to initialize before it begins.
- On multiple monitors, the flickering seems to be "synchronized". That is, the same flickers happen in the same relative places on both screens, DVI and VGA (haven't tried HDMI output yet).
- My RAM is fine.
- Resetting the BIOS did nothing.

I'll add to the list as I learn things. I'm going to try and see if someone has a PCI-E 2.0 video card I can use to see if maybe it's my integrated card's fault. If anyone's got any questions or ideas, please let me know! This is getting really annoying.

procupine14 · Aug 20, 2009, 08:41 PM

So here's the deal. If it isn't the graphics driver that doesn't leave a whole lot left that it could be. Does your card require an extra power connector to work? If that is loose or the PSU is not delviering enough power to your card this could be a possible problem.

The only other thing that stands out for me in this situation is a faulty or bad video card but I wouldn't call failure quite yet.

RealityRipple · Aug 20, 2009, 08:47 PM

First off, it's onboard video. No card. Secondly, I did a lot of stuff on one restart, and one (or a collection) of the things I changed fixed it. I'm not sure what did it, but I:
*Removed my TV Tuner card
*Set my one and only IDE device to master (it was set as slave for no good reason)
*Overclocked the video from 500 to 700MHz
*Set the shared video memory from Auto to 512 MB
*Uninstalled all video drivers and wiped remnants

When I restarted again, it was working fine, so I downloaded some stress test software and it seems to be back to normal. Hopefully it won't crop up again!

Cow_160483 · Aug 21, 2009, 10:49 AM

Ahh... the joy of PC's Some mysteries just have no straightforward solution

Aug 18, 2009, 07:28 PM	#1
RealityRipple Embrace Entropy Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Berros Canyon, Nipomo, CA Posts: 195 Rep Power: 27 System Specs	Jumpy/Flickery display Last night, I installed the latest Catalyst drivers (9.8) as well as AMD OverDrive. After restarting, my computer screens (two) started... doing strange things. Parts of the screen will glitch, and the whole thing will seem to jump and flicker whenever something on the screen changes. After doing some tests, I've observed the following things: - Mouse doesn't cause flicker, only things that require some sort of redraw. - While running DirectX or OpenGL programs (games, screen savers), the flickering halts. - It's not drivers. Running in Linux did the same thing. - It doesn't do it except when Windows/Linux/Whatever reaches the desktop, and usually some application that uses a graphics library has to initialize before it begins. - On multiple monitors, the flickering seems to be "synchronized". That is, the same flickers happen in the same relative places on both screens, DVI and VGA (haven't tried HDMI output yet). - My RAM is fine. - Resetting the BIOS did nothing. I'll add to the list as I learn things. I'm going to try and see if someone has a PCI-E 2.0 video card I can use to see if maybe it's my integrated card's fault. If anyone's got any questions or ideas, please let me know! This is getting really annoying. __________________

Aug 20, 2009, 08:41 PM	#2
procupine14 Why is it Beeping!?!?! Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: USA, Missouri Posts: 1,400 Rep Power: 56 System Specs	Re: Jumpy/Flickery display So here's the deal. If it isn't the graphics driver that doesn't leave a whole lot left that it could be. Does your card require an extra power connector to work? If that is loose or the PSU is not delviering enough power to your card this could be a possible problem. The only other thing that stands out for me in this situation is a faulty or bad video card but I wouldn't call failure quite yet. __________________ HTPC/file server: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom x4 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 800 (2x2GB) - 1TB WD Black - 4 x 1TB Hitachi DeskStar in RAID 5 - ATi TV Wonder Digital Cable Tuner - HIS Raedon 4850 512MB - ASRock N68C-S UCC mobo - OCZ ModExtreme Pro 500W PSU GF's Gaming PC: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit - AMD Phenom 9850 - 4GB OCZ DDR2 1066 - 500GB Western Digital GP - HIS Raedon 5770 1GB - ASUS M3A78-EM - Zalman 650W PSU Media Streamer: Win 7 Pro 64-bit - AMD Athlon x2 3200+ - 4GB SuperTalent DDR2 800 - 250GB SeaGate Barracuda - MSI K9N6PGM2-V2 - ASUS Raedon 5450 SILENT - FSP group 250W PSU

Aug 20, 2009, 08:47 PM	Thread Starter #3
RealityRipple Embrace Entropy Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Los Berros Canyon, Nipomo, CA Posts: 195 Rep Power: 27 System Specs	Re: Jumpy/Flickery display First off, it's onboard video. No card. Secondly, I did a lot of stuff on one restart, and one (or a collection) of the things I changed fixed it. I'm not sure what did it, but I: Removed my TV Tuner card Set my one and only IDE device to master (it was set as slave for no good reason) Overclocked the video from 500 to 700MHz Set the shared video memory from Auto to 512 MB *Uninstalled all video drivers and wiped remnants When I restarted again, it was working fine, so I downloaded some stress test software and it seems to be back to normal. Hopefully it won't crop up again! __________________

Aug 21, 2009, 10:49 AM	#4
Cow_160483 HH's only cow moooooo... Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: BOTSWANA Posts: 6,687 Rep Power: 280 System Specs	Re: Jumpy/Flickery display Ahh... the joy of PC's Some mysteries just have no straightforward solution __________________ Decode! Muhahahahah!