Graphics Cards

[pedros500]

I had 2 Samsung S27F350 monitors connected to my PC and have been working with them for the last few months without incident.

When starting some games, I would notice some resizing issues as games started and occasionally screen tearing on the non-gaming screen as I played. Occasionally on startup, on the 2nd screen I would see discoloration on start-up, but this would be fixed by restarting the monitor. Any discoloration would disappear shortly after. I also noticed that when resizing certain applications (Citrix), it would appear to struggle with screens flashing, especially if a game was being played on the primary.

Yesterday, I noticed that the 2nd screen had horizontal lines scrolling through the bottom half of the screen whilst I was working full screen on the primary. On reboot, the 2nd screen displayed a ghosted version of my desktop, veritical lines could be seen overlaying on the screen and it was unresponsive. Within a few minutes it would get gradually darker and was useless.

This morning I connected a replacement monitor (Dell P2419H) in the 2nd position. When setting it up, I noticed the same lines develop on the primary Samsung S27F350 and the exact same fault developed over the next few minutes.

Both Samsung monitors are now completely dead within 12 hours of each other. One was connected tot he RX580 with displayport, the other with HDMI. One was directly to the card, the other through a HDMI switch. One was on the main walled power supply, the second was on a surge protector.

The only constant seems to be the graphics card. Is it possible that I was stressing the monitors too much with the Radeon settings? Could a recent driver update be a problem? I don't want to blow a replacement monitor, so need to know if there's settings I need to change.

[pedros500]

Also, if you see the attached pictures, how would you describe what's being shown? A lot of searches get me to screens with physical damage or one or two lines, this is the whole image not being displayed and deteriorating over time.

[elstaci]

Try with just one Monitor connected directly to the GPU Card and not through a HDMI switch. See if the Monitor works normally. If it doesn't then it is a good chance your GPU card is defective.

Possibly your GPU card is defective. If you can install it on another computer and see if it does the same thing or not.

I would also check the PSU to make sure it is giving proper 12 vdc output through a Monitoring software.

Connect both Monitors to a different computer and see if they work normally. If they do then your monitors are fine and it is the GPU card the problem.

[pedros500]

Hi Elstaci,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Attached is a photo of both monitors powered up with no inputs at all. The displays are both broken. The 2nd (On the right in this case) happened 12 hours after the first failed. I noticed a few distorted lines as I was connecting the replacement monitor, then within a few minutes, it was as below. You can see the input select screen, but if I attempt to go into the options, it isn't even displayed.

What really concerns me is whether the GPU has incorrect configurations that will affect future monitors?

And I am really confused how this happened to 2 monitors within such a short time.

[elstaci]

To tell you the truth, I have never heard of a GPU card damaging a display monitor before, especially two monitors at the same time.

You need to connect one monitor to the computer and see if the same thing occurs. If it does then you need to connect it to another computer and see if he monitors are defective.

Check the Monitor's (DP and HDMI) cables, they may have gone bad. The HDMI Switch might be defective.

I checked the internet and just about every article or thread I read mentions that no one has heard of a GPU card damaging a connected Monitor.  Most likely it is a bad GPU or cable.

One really old article (2006) mentioned that a GPU card won't damage a monitor but a huge Static Electric charge can damage both the monitor and GPU card.