Ok so i can't figure out what's wrong so i thought i'd ask tww. I have an 8800gtx with a dell 2408, and a dell 2407. I'll list the various symptoms:

1. About a month ago the secondary right monitor (2407) started to have weird jiggle problems. If you looked close enough you could see horizontal lines jiggling. I don't know how else to describe it.

2. Also on occasion the 2407 would not come back on when the monitors turned off automatically. I would have to disable/enable to fix the issue.

3. Then the primary left monitor (2408) started to have horizontal jiggle issues and a couple times a bunch of the screen turned blue in a distorted kind of way.

4. Today i just noticed the primary monitor was turning on/off at the windows log in screen. Once i logged in, and turned the monitor on/off with the power button it fixed the issue.

5. Call of Duty 5/ Fall Out 3 have been crashing and i fixed the issue by turning up the fan speed to 100%. The gpu idles at about 58C right now (ambient: 74F). I also clocked the gpu back to stock 8800gtx settings (card was factory OCed). Now it's back at the factory overclock and everything seems to be working fine.

Any of these problems can be fixed by either:

A. turning off/on monitors with the power buttons, or
B. disabling/enabling the monitor.

I'm pretty sure this is a GPU issue. Benchmarks run fine, stress tests run fine. Turning the fan up to 100% seemed to fix the game crashing issue. Basically it runs fine until some weird issue occurs on either monitor. Bad gpu memory? I have no idea. I've searched google and i guess i'm not being specific enough.

I have searched youtube also, and found stuff like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1lgsWMpG5Y

Which doesn't appear to be my problem. The video card is not overheating when the problems occur, and any type of benchmark/stress test do not seem to be changed by this. They just seem completely random.

-Ok so i tried to replicate the problem and here's what i did:
Unplugged both monitors from the dvi ports, and plugged them back in. After they came back on the primary monitor (2408) had the bluish horizontal line jiggling problem, i took a video of it:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yov6wl3RZlk

It's hard to see in the video but there were a bunch of random pixels surrounding the right side of the monitor around the jiggling that were blue. This problem was then solved by simply turning on/off the monitor using the power button.

[Edited on November 17, 2008 at 11:00 PM. Reason : .]

11/17/2008 10:35:51 PM

bad refresh rate? (didn't know it mattered on LCD's)

i have no idea on this one, but i guarantee you it's a video card issue. check ALL your settings in the nvidia control panel

11/18/2008 2:19:10 AM

hmm i moved the cables around behind my desk and the problem stopped for the moment. Can dvi cables get interference from power cords or something? I can't figure this out. I think there's multiple problems.

11/18/2008 2:34:02 AM

Quote :

"hmm i moved the cables around behind my desk and the problem stopped for the moment. Can dvi cables get interference from power cords or something? I can't figure this out. I think there's multiple problems."

I haven't really heard of this before, but it is plausible explanation. Refresh rate of monitor is 60Hz, which is the same frequency that AC power is on. Moving the cables could also fix a loose connection. If it still sounds like a GPU problem, run something at the highest resolution you can output with intensive AA/AF. I don't really know a way to test monitors for problems.


I think that you have multiple issues on hand at one time. There is not a single explanation I have for all of these problems.

[Edited on November 18, 2008 at 9:25 AM. Reason : :]

11/18/2008 9:22:48 AM

So weird. Haven't had any issues in the last couple of days. I think it might have been some type of power interference with the power/dvi cables going to the monitors. Although i would have thought dvi cords had enough shielding to prevent this. Oh well.

^but yeah i think my gpu was over heating as well. Two different problems. It needed a good cleaning. No more dust in the gpu fan now.

[Edited on November 22, 2008 at 3:35 PM. Reason : .]

11/22/2008 3:34:20 PM

My first hunch after you mentioned "jiggling" in the picture and monitor sleep issues was the monitor cables themselves.

But with DVI, the channels aren't encoded on separates lines, so it's odd the picture could just turn blue. Some monitors will, for some reason, use the analog signal off the DVI instead of the digital, is your monitor on the digital input?

[Edited on November 22, 2008 at 4:28 PM. Reason : ]

11/22/2008 4:27:53 PM

Yes they're both dvi and digital. Haven't noticed the problem again. It seems like it's a cable issue. I have so many cables behind my desk.

11/22/2008 6:30:39 PM

Ok after getting new nvidia drivers the ONLY issue i'm having is after my monitors wake up from sleep mode (happens maybe 1/5 times) my 2nd monitor has weird 1 pixel thick flicking lines at maybe 2-3 horizontal positions across the whole monitor. The only way i can fix this is by disabling/enabling the secondary monitor. Disconnecting/reconnecting the secondary monitor does not solve the issue. This makes me believe it's a gpu issue. My 8800gtx runs idle at about 55 degrees so it's not overheating. What could cause the secondary dvi port on a GPU to get weird like that?

The only googling i've found so far is an issue with the new Mac Book Pros that is similar:
(similar as in possibly GPU related, occurs after monitor wakes up from sleep, happens on secondary, nvidia related, and fixed by re-enabling display)

http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1778812

My issue isn't as severe because i just have a few horizontal flickering lines, but re-enabling the secondary monitor fixes the issue just like them. Any ideas?

[Edited on December 14, 2008 at 9:20 PM. Reason : .]

12/14/2008 9:15:41 PM

maybe I missed it but have you tried swapping your monitors? Making your 2nd the primary. That would tell you if its a monitor or card issue easily.

12/15/2008 7:28:43 AM

^while the problem was occurring on the secondary monitor i swapped the monitor inputs on the video card, and the problem was the same on the other monitor. Also the fact that disabling/re-enabling the 2nd monitor fixes the problem hints to me that it's a gpu issue.

12/15/2008 3:04:29 PM

Unfortunately I will agree that it seems gpu related but it could still be your monitor cable. I assume you only swapped the cables on the gpu and not at the monitor as well. I only say this because you said that earlier it seemed fixed when you rearranged the cables.

On a side note, how old and who manufactured your card? You may be able to rma it still.

12/15/2008 5:04:13 PM

^got the 8800gtx June 2007. I don't know how long evgas warranties are. I'll try swapping cables again. It hasn't done it in a day or so. So weird.

12/15/2008 8:32:38 PM

EVGA has a lifetime warranty with a 90 day step up program.

Just register it on evga's website and then see if you have an rma button.

12/16/2008 8:21:22 AM