HELP! My U2711 has gone crazy!

Devrij · 31 Mar 2013 at 19:46

Hi guys, I've had my monitor for about 2 years (bought from OcUK on a deal with a reduced warranty unfortunately) and it started freaking out. The other day it started flashing all sorts of colours so I restarted it and after a few restarts it faded back to normal behaviour. I just got home and turned it on, but no amount of restarts has fixed the issue (see video below). The weird bit is that it works fine in the BIOS, just not windows. I've installed fresh drivers, am about to try a new cable too if I can find a DVI cable (currently mini DP to DP)

EDIT: 1080p on hdmi seems fine (if a bit rough around the edges) with no flickering. Could it be a dodgy DP cable or port? Or could it be the higher resolution causing the problem to appear? And now it's fixed itself on DP. AGH! The uncertainty is unreal!

Any idea how to fix this, what's causing it etc? I just got made redundant so the last thing I can afford is a replacement

Speed · 31 Mar 2013 at 20:10

Have you tested the screen with another system? Could be the graphics card, especially as it doesn't happen in the BIOS.

Devrij · 31 Mar 2013 at 20:12

Speed said:
Have you tested the screen with another system? Could be the graphics card, especially as it doesn't happen in the BIOS.

True true. It seems to have fixed itself again after I switched it off at the wall and powered it on again though.

I'm really hoping it's just a cheap cable or something benign like that.

AHA! I jiggled the cable while putting my gf's DVI cable back, and the flicker returned for a second, so it seems like the mini-DP connector is just really rubbish on either my card or cable. Next time it happens I'll have a jiggle and see if that sorts it. I may pick up a replacement cable in the meantime for future testing.

Speed · 31 Mar 2013 at 20:15

It could be yes, get yourself a Dual Link DVI cable to test it with. They are pretty cheap on that well known auction site if you can't locate one.

I feel for you though, these sort of unpredictable issues are a right pain to diagnose.

I'd also check the GPU temps and ensure it is properly seated, free of dust etc.

Hyburnate · 31 Mar 2013 at 20:17

Have you changed anything recently? Drivers etc.

Devrij · 31 Mar 2013 at 23:07

Thanks for the suggestions guys. I'll monitor the situation and if it crops up again I'll try reseating the card. I was away for the weekend and switched my pc off at the PSU (my gf insists) so I may have knocked the cable reaching down. I'm feeling reasonably confident that's the problem, although it's still weird that it was fine in the BIOS and not windows.