Is my monitor dying or is there something wrong with my PC?

eatingrich

Howdy y'all!

Bit of an odd thing has started happening to my monitor on several occasions lately. Basically it suddenly starts turning black and flicking back to the screen. Its not turning itself off, the pc is continuing as normal, and it will do this 'flicking' (which can last several seconds no matter what I do) repeatedly, getting worse and worse.

I wondered if it was something to do with Windows so loaded up Dungeon Siege, and when I was in the menu screen it stopped, but when I went into the game itself it was just as bad. I'm not sure if its kickstarted by being on the internet (just an inkling). I turned the computer off for half an hour and have come back on now and its fine.

The thing is I think the monitor will need replacing in the next year or so anyway as the screen flickers occassionally and momentarily seems to stretch before clicking back into place. Do you think it'll be related to that?

Thanks in advance!

savak

Try a diffrent Video card or a diffrent monitor

Dyre Straits

Make absolutely sure that all the cables, cords and plugs are firmly connected. If you have another power cord available, try that. Also, if your monitor has a video cable that can be replaced, try another one. (Some don't but if it does, give it a whirl.)

Trying a different video card is also a very good idea as it could very well be the card itself. It IS pretty old after all. If you've got a good friend who will let you borrow one long enough to try it out, do so.

Good luck and keep us posted.

eatingrich

Ah, I saw this and realised I kept noone posted, though I'm sure it was hardly gripping.

I'm still using the same monitor, the problems have died down. It never turns black now but occasionally the screen does very briefly flicker for a bit.

I'm not sure it isn't related to the connections as sometimes the colour on the screen will alter slightly, go a slight blue, and I'll make sure the cable is pushed into the graphics card fully and the screen will go back to normal again.

Plus I've moved house and it's still going, so I'm wondering if there was interference from somewhere.

It's still working and only flickers very occasionally so I still use it!

Mousey

It might be the display driver that's crashing and recovering. Something similair happens to my rig sometimes under vista. Have a hunt around, see if you can find any newer drivers for your graphics card, or try reinstalling the ones you've already got

swimtech

Is your monitor a CRT? Sounds like it...

I think you might have bad solder connections on the board that sits on the back of the CRT, and/or some bent pins on the end of the connector on the cable from the monitor.

Aside from checking the pins on that connector, the easiest and most effective way to check is to swap out the monitor with one you know is good.

eatingrich

Yup it is a CRT. I don't really have the funds to swap it but the extra space on the desk would sure be good if I got a decent LCD one! Next time it happens I'll check the pins and stuff. Thanks for that advice!

swimtech

Sorry, I wasn't implying that you go buy one, just borrow a monitor from a friend for a day or two to test with.

I bet if you made some phone calls, you could find a pawn shop or a repair shop that would let you borrow one for that time if no one you know has a spare laying around.