Monitor blacking out and going to sleep

Astravagrant · 15 Jun 2015 at 20:02

Hi,

I've had an intermittent problem with ANY monitor I put on as primary on my system. At the moment, it's a Samsung S27D850 in a dual-monitor setup. It's usually the primary monitor, but I've switched them over and even replaced one with a Dell and the problem still happens (think it's happened the secondary one a few months ago, but not so sure now).

I'm using GTX 970s in SLI and have tried switching them over, too. Also tried removing one and then the other and just running it as a single GPU system.

Because it's a work PC, I haven't tried going to single monitor setup, but not sure if that would prove anything. Interested to hear your thoughts on that, though.

I've disabled any form of sleep mode and updated all MB, GPU and monitor drivers to latest.

The system is this:

Intel 5930K
2x Gigabyte GTX 970s in SLI
16GB Geil Potenza
512GB Samsung EVO 850 SSD (also a Hybrid 2TB)
MSI SLI X99S Plus
Windows 8.1 Pro 64
2x Samsung S27D850 (both running on the primary card in top PCI slot)

I've been trying to fix this for ages, so would really appreciate any advice or insight you might have.

Cheers.

Meddling-Monk · 15 Jun 2015 at 20:17

Thinking it's port (gfx or display end) or cable issue if it's intermittent and you've disabled the sleep options.

Display 1 (one you noticed issue). When you swapped it with Display 2, did Display 2 show the issue? (Blackout/Sleep) Or was it Display 1 still only?

Astravagrant · 16 Jun 2015 at 01:09

Cheers, both good points. I hadn't thought to check the cable. The problem stayed with the port on the GPU it was connected to, but that also used the same cable (a high likelihood, anyway). It can't be the port as I've been trying different ones and the only consistent elements are the cable (probably) and whatever windows thinks is the primary monitor (that's an idea, I could try swapping them in display options, be weird, but I could probably deal with it for a day).

I'll swap them and give it a test. Cheers for the tip.

Astravagrant · 26 Jun 2015 at 13:10

Well, I switched the cables over and that seemed to switch the problem from the primary to secondary monitor. I waited a few days to be sure and all instances of the issue only occurred on the secondary monitor (which has the 'dodgy' cable).

Just for extra safety, I then switched cables back again and sure enough, the problem migrated to the primary monitor. I waited a few days to be sure again and I didn't get any issues with the secondary and all instances occurred on the primary.

So, I bought a new cable! a Lindy with chrome/gold connectors and suchlike, which got good reviews on Amazon. I haven't had the problem on the primary monitor in the last 24 hours since I installed it, but guess what? The problem has happened on the secondary! WTF?

I am completely confused by this. Either

a) someone is having a laugh.
b) both cables are dodgey and I was just extremely unlucky with that fact as well as the diagnosis and timing/instances of events.
c) it's not the cables at all.
d) someone is having a laugh.

I'm tempted to go with A or D at this point, but that's probably just paranoia.

Does this type of behaviour and the sporadic (multi-headed) problem make any sense to anyone?

Astravagrant · 5 Jul 2015 at 11:35

OK, so I bought some new cables just in case. And guess what? No problems in the last 5 days.

What a joke.

Thank you so much to Meddling monk for the advice, I just wouldn't have thought that a) dodgy cables could have produce such strange effects and b) 4 of the 6 cables would have had a problem.

So. Much. Unlucky. Avoid CableMatters DP cables, 4 out of 6 broken is a goddam awful average.

In case you're wondering, I got some Lindy gold and chrome cables for twice the price (£21).