Can you run it without the graphics card, using some internal VGA graphics? If not, try any old/cheap graphics adapter.

Gonna test it with my old HD4870, which I ran perfectly for months before I upgraded to this 970. Even though the 4870 requires the same power as the 970... It's worth a shot.

I know my PSU can handle my rig with watts to spare, but maybe my PSU is on it's way out?

The most annoying thing is, the problem comes and goes. I can't just do something to replicate the issue. It's random. And when it's happening, nothing I do seems to fix it.

Found this to be interesting. Sounds like what is happening to me...

http://www.quartertothree.com/game-talk/showt … TF-is-happening

You could try throwing the graphics card in the oven for 6-7 minutes. Yep, sounds crazy but sometimes the heat is just enough to make bad solder joints reconnect. Search YouTube for "Re-balling" and "GPU". Mostly it is a fix for laptaps where you cannot easily replace the GPU.

MiniMax wrote:

You could try throwing the graphics card in the oven for 6-7 minutes. Yep, sounds crazy but sometimes the heat is just enough to make bad solder joints reconnect. Search YouTube for "Re-balling" and "GPU". Mostly it is a fix for laptaps where you cannot easily replace the GPU.

I am totally confident that the GPU is fine, it is a Palit Jetstream GTX 970 and is less than 7 months old. I also have it covered with warranty still, so if it IS the GPU, which I'm totally sure it isn't, I'll just send it back for a replacement. I think it's much more likely to be the PSU, although I have ran a KFA 2 GTX970 OC Edition with this exact same PC for 4 months without any problems at all earlier this year.

Thinking this way, I'm sure it's either the monitor itself, the power brick or the DVI cable.

I'll start with testing the easy things. DVI cable (i'll try an HDMI / Displayport one), then I'll try a spare monitor (I have a dozen or so old ones) followed by the graphics card itself. If needs be I can "borrow" a PSU from my friends computer shop for a night.

Just didn't need this trouble while in the middle of an illustration degree. All my work is saved onto the PC and I use my screen to draw from reference.

Similar problem happened to me about 3 years ago.

Powered on my PC, and everything worked fine for a few minutes. Then monitor started blinking.
Shut down everything.
Restarted. Worked fine for the rest of the day.
The next day, powered on the PC. Monitor was blinking constantly when powered on.

I changed 2 blown capacitors (their top was bulging) on the LCD monitor's power transformer, and it fixed the problem. Still using that monitor at the moment on my main PC.

Capacitors cost me about nothing so I'm glad I checked that first.

I agree with the bad monitor power supply theory. I had something similar happen, and I changed a few capacitors...now it's fine. Sometimes if you're lucky there will be a guide for your monitor on the fixit type websites that show you which ones to replace.

Well I don't have a soldering iron and pretty much zero experience of changing capacitors. I'd sooner buy a new power brick, even if it's an imitation one from eBay for £10 or something. I won't go into the actual monitor to repair anything, nowhere near confident enough for that.

In a way, I hope it IS the screen / power brick which is the problem. A new PSU would be £60, as I'd go for a 650W/750W model. I don't want the hassle of sending this graphics card back either, would be without a good card for a month while they tested it and sent a replacement, and I'd probably have to cover some part of the shipping costs.

This monitor has served me well for 4 years almost, and it only cost me £125 on a deal. It's an E-IPS model, so not much of an IPS, although probably better than a similar priced TN panel was of the time. These days they fetch less than £40 used. I was going to give it to a friend in January anyways, and go for a 1440p screen myself.

I'll test everything tomorrow. It's not done the blinking thing since it "fixed itself" a few hours ago. I haven't dared turn off the screen yet, or the PC. Waiting for all downloads to finish just in case it goes haywire again.

Thanks for the replies. I'll keep you posted.

We have this problem at work. We have a monitor, SyncMaster 920N, which I use as my secondary display. It has been repaired twice and it's about to be repaired for the third time soon.

At first the green lines on several dark shades of colors appear. They are there 80% of the time, but sometimes I turn the PC on and they're gone. The next stage is flickering, the image appears on the screen and slides down in a matter of milliseconds and then appears again. Just as you said, it might be there when you turn the PC on, it might be not. That's when we usually send it to be repaired.

In my case, this must be a design flaw, since the caps get blown wether they're quality or not.

Iris030380 wrote:

Well I don't have a soldering iron and pretty much zero experience of changing capacitors. (...) I won't go into the actual monitor to repair anything, nowhere near confident enough for that.

I shared the same sentiment as you when I changed my capacitors 3 years ago.
1. Didn't own a soldering iron.
2. Zero electronics experience.
3. No confidence to repair.

I figured paying $2 dollars for capacitors was worth trying instead of ordering a complete power supply OR a even a new monitor.

Since I didn't have a soldering iron, I used a woodburning tool (to write/draw on wood) and it worked.
Keep in mind that I still had zero experience, and about zero confidence that it would work. I simply found a couple of youtube videos on "how to replace a capacitor" and when I felt I had understood the guidelines of the procedure (honestly, it's more simple than I first thought) I just went and did it.

If I were you I would at least open the monitor to look at the capacitors, even if you don't plan on changing them. It takes 5 minutes, you only need a screwdriver, and you'll know right away if the problem is the monitor or not. Even if you don't plan to repair yourself, it's still good to pinpoint the problem.

Anyway. I was expecting a very long procedure. Took me about 10 minutes and my monitor was good as new.
More fear than harm 😀

RacoonRider wrote:

We have this problem at work. We have a monitor, SyncMaster 920N

Funny. The monitor I repaired 3 years ago is a SyncMaster 940bw !

Soldering is a useful skill for anyone into retro computing. Not essential, but useful.

Beegle wrote:

Since I didn't have a soldering iron, I used a woodburning tool (to write/draw on wood) and it worked.
Keep in mind that I still had zero experience, and about zero confidence that it would work. I simply found a couple of youtube videos on "how to replace a capacitor" and when I felt I had understood the guidelines of the procedure (honestly, it's more simple than I first thought) I just went and did it.

I don't know about Canada, but if you take stuff produced in the USSR, the only real difference between a wood burning tool and a soldering iron is the shape of the point. People back then valued uniformity so much.

Nowadays, it's hard to find those wood burning kits. An uncontrolled iron would make a great substitute.

Turns out it was the monitor. Or the power brick for the monitor. But definitely one or the other. Took the screen to a friends house and it did exactly the same thing. I have now replaced it with a 27" Asus TN panel with a 1920x1200 resolution. I got it for next to nothing from a friend, who just upgraded to the ROG Swift 1440p IPS G-Sync. The colours on this TN panel are really washed out compared to that LG IPS, even though it was a cheap E-IPS, it's very noticable when looking at Ori And The Blind Forrest. The extra space is nice though. It will give me plenty of time to save for a new screen next year.

Gonna try another power brick on the LG when I find a compatible one, just in case. You never know...

I'd say your monitor power supply went toast, but you already found it out.