[Need Help] Black Screen flashes for a second or two

[Gemballa]

Hi HWZ Tech Gurus, recently I am experiencing black screen flashing for 1 or 2 second and it disappear on my PC. It occurs at a random interval. Most of the time it happens when I am playing game. Specs of my PC is updated as per my profile and I am using 2560x1440p resolution and 144hz refresh rate. I have done the following below but the problem still occurs:

1. Doing a clean uninstalling of driver using guru3d DDU and installing latest driver.
2. Doing a clean uninstalling of driver using guru3d DDU and installing a older driver.
3.Plugging out and plugging in back my GPU.
4. Changing HDMI cable of my monitor.

However, when I change to a older monitor (only supports up to 60hz refresh rate), the black screen flashing stops. So I decided to lower the refresh rate of my Samsung monitor to 60hz and the issuse seems to be gone. Now, is this suppose to be my monitor issue or my GPU issue?

I tried searching the forum but cant find any answer so decided to post to seek for help. Any hwz guru faced this problem before or know where the problem lies? All my PC parts are brand new (1 month old)

Gam xia alot for your all help replies in advance.

 

[elmariachi]

Some games have an internal refresh rate built into the game settings. You may have set the correct refresh rate in the driver settings but the game may have set it to something else. Make sure both the game settings and the driver settings have the correct refresh rate set.

The other possibility is your cable to your GPU which may be faulty. Nowadays, most of the monitors, TVs, and graphics cards feature at least an HDMI 1.4 port which is enough for 144Hz at 1080p, 75Hz at 1440p, and 30Hz at 4K.

However, keep in mind that some monitors have limited bandwidth over HDMI 1.4 making it max out at 120Hz or even at 60Hz in some cases (mostly G-SYNC and older monitors).

In fact, most 144Hz monitors are limited to 120Hz over HDMI 1.4, but some monitor manufacturers will use custom timing parameters, pixel rates, etc to use the full potential of the HDMI 1.4 bandwidth thus getting 144Hz at 1080p.

So, make sure that the exact monitor you’re looking at supports 144Hz or at least 120Hz over its HDMI 1.4 port.

If your monitor supports DisplayPort, it will be much better for you to use that instead.

Lastly, you could check if your monitor panel is overclocked within the monitor OSD. Some monitors have a native refresh rate and you can manually select an overclocked refresh rate. However, some panels may not be able to hit the overclocked refresh rate. Set it back to native or if you can, drop down the overclocked refresh rate.

Hope this helps!

 

[Gemballa]

Some games have an internal refresh rate built into the game settings. You may have set the correct refresh rate in the driver settings but the game may have set it to something else. Make sure both the game settings and the driver settings have the correct refresh rate set.

The other possibility is your cable to your GPU which may be faulty. Nowadays, most of the monitors, TVs, and graphics cards feature at least an HDMI 1.4 port which is enough for 144Hz at 1080p, 75Hz at 1440p, and 30Hz at 4K.

However, keep in mind that some monitors have limited bandwidth over HDMI 1.4 making it max out at 120Hz or even at 60Hz in some cases (mostly G-SYNC and older monitors).

In fact, most 144Hz monitors are limited to 120Hz over HDMI 1.4, but some monitor manufacturers will use custom timing parameters, pixel rates, etc to use the full potential of the HDMI 1.4 bandwidth thus getting 144Hz at 1080p.

So, make sure that the exact monitor you’re looking at supports 144Hz or at least 120Hz over its HDMI 1.4 port.

If your monitor supports DisplayPort, it will be much better for you to use that instead.

Lastly, you could check if your monitor panel is overclocked within the monitor OSD. Some monitors have a native refresh rate and you can manually select an overclocked refresh rate. However, some panels may not be able to hit the overclocked refresh rate. Set it back to native or if you can, drop down the overclocked refresh rate.

Hope this helps!

Thanks bro for the reply! I have checked and made sure my games are all set to 144HZ which is the same as what I have set in the Nvidia control panel.

As for the cable, I am using the cable which came with the monitor. I have just purchased this monitor as well (its like 2 Weeks old only). It support 2.0 HDMI so it should support 144hz @ 1440p. I have also tried using other HDMI cables but they don't work too. It has a mini DP port for the monitor but my GPU only has a standard DP port. Maybe I should get one that has DP to mini DP cable to try.

There are no settings for G-Sync as the monitor does not support so the Nvidia control panel and monitor doesn't show that. However I have disabled Vertical Sync in the 3D settings but issue still occurs.

As for monitor Response rate, it has the setting of "Standard", "Faster" and "Fastest" I tried all 3 but all failed to solve the issue.

I will try find DP to mini DP cable to test and let you know result

Appreciate your reply there bro!

 

[elmariachi]

Thanks bro for the reply! I have checked and made sure my games are all set to 144HZ which is the same as what I have set in the Nvidia control panel.

As for the cable, I am using the cable which came with the monitor. I have just purchased this monitor as well (its like 2 Weeks old only). It support 2.0 HDMI so it should support 144hz @ 1440p. I have also tried using other HDMI cables but they don't work too. It has a mini DP port for the monitor but my GPU only has a standard DP port. Maybe I should get one that has DP to mini DP cable to try.

There are no settings for G-Sync as the monitor does not support so the Nvidia control panel and monitor doesn't show that. However I have disabled Vertical Sync in the 3D settings but issue still occurs.

As for monitor Response rate, it has the setting of "Standard", "Faster" and "Fastest" I tried all 3 but all failed to solve the issue.

I will try find DP to mini DP cable to test and let you know result

Appreciate your reply there bro!

No, No the monitor response rate has nothing to do with the flickering. See if you can reduce the refresh rate from 144hz to maybe like 120hz within the monitor. If you cannot, means the monitor is natively 144hz. I would most definitely prefer using DP cable if you can especially for driving 1440p at 144hz if I were you.

No worries!

 

[Gemballa]

No, No the monitor response rate has nothing to do with the flickering. See if you can reduce the refresh rate from 144hz to maybe like 120hz within the monitor. If you cannot, means the monitor is natively 144hz. I would most definitely prefer using DP cable if you can especially for driving 1440p at 144hz if I were you.

No worries!

I see, The monitor has setting has 60hz, 100hz, 120hz and 144hz. I reduced it to 60hz and it has been stable so far. Will try out for 100hz and 120hz again. Do you have any recommendation for a DP to Mini DP cable?

 

[elmariachi]

I see, The monitor has setting has 60hz, 100hz, 120hz and 144hz. I reduced it to 60hz and it has been stable so far. Will try out for 100hz and 120hz again. Do you have any recommendation for a DP to Mini DP cable?

You can try 100Hz or 120Hz. DP to Mini DP I'm not sure which one is good maybe some fellow HWZers can chime in.

 

[Mclairs83]

u can get Ugreen cables to test it out

https://www.ugreen.com/product/UGRE...Displayport_Audio_Video_Adapter_Cable-en.html

ShopeE should sell it.

 

[Gemballa]

So yesterday, I decided to try undervolting my GPU and see if it can solve the problem. I lowered my Power limit to 85% and increased my core clock by +140mhz. Surprisingly, it seems to be stable. I dont see the black screen flashing after gaming for an hour. Then I decided to try increase my power limit to 90%, and the black screen flashes again. Could this be a PSU problem? My PSU is 500w which is supposed to be enough for a 1660ti and my PSU is brand new, 1 month old only...

EDIT: I used MSI Afterburner