Dell U2715H follies (two RMAs later), help?

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Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 6, 2012
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302
So I'm sitting here with my second Dell U2715H monitor and second video card (GeForce 970), after RMAing both, yet I still don't have a usable display.

The first U2715H was worse, but it's only a question of degree. The replacement, despite being hardware revision 01 (original was rev. 0), still goes blank randomly. It also goes into "power save" mode when it shouldn't. Only way to temporarily "fix" that is power cycling the monitor.

At least I have one monitor that works. I have an old Samsung BX2440 plugged into the video card's DVI output. It works perfectly. It doesn't, for example, go into power save at random, which is how I know the U2715H is malfunctioning. It's only the U2715H, connected via DisplayPort (using the cable supplied by Dell), with which I have problems.

I could post full system specs, but it seems pointless. Sure feels like a hardware problem. I am running Windows 8.1, and not using the Dell Display Manager software.

I could do another Dell warranty exchange, I guess.

Help?
 
I had it hooked up by HDMI with my old video card since it didn't have any DisplayPort outputs, but the picture quality was bad. It would run at 2560x1440 but the image was fuzzy. I was surprised at the greatly improved picture quality when I first used DisplayPort after I got the new video card. And then the going blank/into powersave mode/failing to wake stuff started.

Anyway the monitor should be usable via DisplayPort. As well as going blank at random, sometimes it will fail to wake at all after the computer has been in a suspended state ("sleep" mode). I have to power cycle the monitor in that case to get it to work at all.

It's hard to believe I've gotten two defective monitors in a row, but I don't know how else to explain these odd malfunctions.
 
Not only two monitors, but two GPU's? Dang...I have the same setup - works fine. Best of luck.
 
No, I had a GeForce 560Ti, but sold it after I got the new monitor. Both the older monitor (Samsung 1920x1080 on DVI) and new one (Dell 2560x1440 on DisplayPort) are connected to the new video card (GeForce 970). One GPU, two monitors.
 
So I'm sitting here with my second Dell U2715H monitor and second video card (GeForce 970), after RMAing both, yet I still don't have a usable display.

Ehh might want to reword that then. That reads that you are on both your second U2715 and 970.

Maybe try another 970 then? At this point it's either the card, motherboard, or some weird software glitch (unlikely).
 
That's correct. I have received replacements for both video card and monitor.
 
Doing a clean Windows 10 install over the next couple days. Well see whether it makes any difference.
 
That's correct. I have received replacements for both video card and monitor.

Ohh... I meant, "wow, you replaced both potential culprits and STILL having issues?" Haha. It would be hard to imagine Windows or the motherboard to be an issue when the other monitor works fine. A Google search yields multiple people with "power save mode" issues, so I guess it could still be the monitor. But hard to believe!
 
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Yes, the whole situation is a mess.

Since I started this thread, things have gone from bad to worse. Now, the monitor won't display any picture at all, no matter how much I turn it on and off, plug and unplug things, or reboot or turn the machine off and on.

The most I can get it to do now is show the on-screen display for choosing an input. Then it just stays blank. The video card seems to think the monitor is working normally, as it tries to show my desktop on it (I had the desktop configured as "extended" across the two monitors when all this nonsense started). But of course since it stays blank I can see nothing except the background on the second monitor (which actually works).

Time to have a chat with Dell tech support.
 
Had a chat. They were ultimately unhelpful. Said they didn't want to send out a replacement monitor or even just a replacement cable because they couldn't figure out where the problem was. Well no kidding, neither can I, except I'm fairly sure it isn't the video card since I replaced that and it works fine through DVI with another monitor!

I'm pursuing a refund. This is probably the worst experience I've ever had with a computer product.
 
Is it possible to try another monitor with an HDMI cable? If that monitor works, I mean it pretty much has to be the Dell.
 
I don't have an HDMI cable or any other DisplayPort source, so I've done all the troubleshooting I can.
 
Ok looks like I might be able to borrow an HDMI cable from a friend this weekend. If the monitor works that way I guess it at least could prove that the Dell-supplied cable is bad.
 
Borrowed an HDMI cable. So, this is what it's like to have a properly working display. I guess I must have a bad mini DP port on the monitor, or the cable included with it was defective. Again. Anyway, with the HDMI cable, the monitor works exactly as it should. Also, display quality is noticeably better than it was over HDMI with the old video card. I wasn't expecting that. In fact it is hard to tell any difference in display clarity with the HDMI cable on the current video card vs DisplayPort. Operating at 2560 x1440 in all cases.

Also obtained a regular size DisplayPort cable. Going to try that this evening.
 
Been using DP to DP cable for about a week. Display is A-OK. So it seem either I got two bad MiniDP cables in a row, or else two monitors with a bad miniDP input.

Annoying. I'm not thrilled that I had to buy my own cable to fix Dell's issue, but meh. At least it's fixed. Pretty dang awesome monitor now that it works properly.
 
OK so after several extended discussions with Dell tech support, they've agreed to send me a new DisplayPort-to-miniDisplayPort cable.

It will be interesting to see whether my problems were merely the result of a bad DP-mDP cable.

Still doing fine with the regular DP-to-DP cable I bought.

If I had it to do over again, knowing what I know now, I would have bought a different monitor. This whole thing has been a gigantic hassle.

I've read several reports, on the Dell tech support forum and elsewhere, of this or different Ultrasharp models, having issues with the miniDP or regular DP inputs. Fingers crossed, I won't have any more issues once I get the new cable...

If I still have problems then I guess the miniDP input on the monitor is bad. In that case it will be time to exchange the monitor for hardware revision A03. Stay tuned.
 
Replacement cable did not help. A second replacement monitor is supposedly on its way.
 
Second replacement monitor received. Haven't had a chance to try it yet.
 
OK, this has gone from annoying to just plain ridiculous.

I've had the second replacement monitor hooked up alongside the last one for a couple of days. As I've had time I've tested various aspects. So far, good news:

-no dead pixels
-no uneven light/dark spots

and best of all:

-miniDisplayPort input works flawlessly.

Today I set about testing the USB ports. I tried to plug a USB stick into the power port (the one that's on the back, oriented so you can plug something straight in rather than vertically) and it wouldn't fit. I assumed I just had the USB stick turned the wrong way.

Long story short, this is why I couldn't plug the USB stick in:

nsgmI7W.jpg


Fail. :(

OJ13cNC.jpg


This is the port that stays powered when the monitor is in Standby, so you can use it to charge things even when the computer is asleep. It is to the right of the VESA mounting area as you look at the back of the monitor.

For reference, here is what that port is supposed to look like (this is a shot of the previous U2715H, the one with a defective miniDisplayPort input):

4Xg1Czg.jpg


So monitor #3 is going back, too.

FWIW, this third U2715H is hardware revision A02, just like the last one.

I just can't win!
 
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Dell is replacing the monitor yet again. This will be monitor #4.

Shipped monitor #2 back this afternoon.

Maybe they'll get it right eventually.
 
Don't know if this helps, but I have a GTX970 and an U2414H monitor, and I have had to reinstall the GPU driver in order to get a picture on screen using mini DP. I can't remember if you can force the DP via the Geforce control center.
 
Can you just get a refund? Why even bother with these monitors after all this?
Monitor #4 is supposed to ship soon. If that one is also defective, I will press the issue of a refund with Amazon. I emailed them about a refund after the second monitor (first replacement) proved also defective, but they never got back to me. Next time I'll get on the phone.

I don't know what I would buy instead, if I did have my money back. Any suggestions? I thought I'd be safe going with a Dell Ultrasharp, but clearly not.
 
Don't know if this helps, but I have a GTX970 and an U2414H monitor, and I have had to reinstall the GPU driver in order to get a picture on screen using mini DP. I can't remember if you can force the DP via the Geforce control center.
I've been through a few graphics driver updates, a new video card, and even an entirely new OS (Windows 10) since I originally purchased the monitor in June, so I think if that had been the issue, I'd have fixed it by now.

Good point anyway. I noticed that when I had three monitors hooked up (two Dell U2715H and one Samsung BX2440), I had to manually re-enable the two DP monitors in the Nvidia control panel after a Windows 10 system update. I didn't know that Nvidia's control panel application had precedence, but it does. If you have a monitor deactivated in the Nvidia control application, it won't show up in Windows' own display settings controls.
 
Looks to me like the 3rd monitor has part of a usb device broken off in the port. Can't you just pull it out with a tweezers or something?
 
No, there's nothing broken off in the port, it's just that the metal socket is so poorly aligned with the hole that you can't plug anything in.

It looks as if the black plastic casing has a sort of flange or tab that is meant to rest against the outside of the metal USB socket, positioning it correctly and giving it extra mechanical strength. Instead, the tab is inside the USB socket. That's why I can't plug anything in, and why I can't pry the socket into place. I assume this problem happened when the monitor was being reassembled, since it is a refurbished unit.

Fixing the USB port would require opening the monitor, and there's no way I'm going to do that. It should have been fine when Dell shipped the monitor.

If all goes well, I should have monitor #4 by some time next week.
 
Received monitor #4 on Friday (11/6). Also hardware revision A02.

So far so good. No physical defects noted, all ports seem to work.

The only feature I was unable to test was Multi-Stream Transport, that thing where you daisychain 2 or more monitors via DisplayPort. It seems you have to do MST through regular size DisplayPort cables, but I only have one (I'd need two, to daisychain two U2715H's).
 
What an ordeal. :eek:

Definitely makes a case for not purchasing a high-cost LCD monitor via an online seller...
 
I wouldn't be so sure about that. The only thing that would be different if I had bought via a brick and mortar store is...nothing I can think of.

I'm not at all surprised that I found at least one other person having problems with multiple defects: http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/peripherals/f/3529/t/19637653

He had exactly the same problem with the back USB port being misaligned. And is on replacement #4.

I think the message, if any, is "don't buy a Dell Ultrasharp monitor." Their quality control simply doesn't exist.

There's just no way I should have had to get three replacements to finally get a monitor that was assembled correctly, with all features working.

I guess I got "lucky" in that all four have had good LCD panels: no uneven brightness, artifacts, or dead/stuck pixels.
 
Is it a general quality control issue with recent UltraSharps or that one in particular?

Would your experience have differed appreciably if you bought from Dell and not Amazon?
 
Is it a general quality control issue with recent UltraSharps or that one in particular?

There does seem to be a general problem with Ultrasharps over the last few months. When I initially researched my problem with the first one - what turned out to be a simply broken miniDisplayPort input - I found at least two other threads on the Dell product forums where someone was having exactly the same issue with a different-size Ultrasharp model.

Specifically, here's a fellow having the problem with the U2515H:
http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/peripherals/f/3529/t/19626679

In the first part of that thread he links to another post where someone is having the same problem with his U2515H. Further down in the linked thread, yet a third U2515H owner is having the "randomly goes blank" problem.

Here's another person whose miniDP input on his U2715H never worked at all:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1862784

Here's yet another person on the Dell support forums, suffering from a bad HDMI input on his U2715H:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/peripherals/f/3529/t/19657626

I saw another thread on the UK Dell support forums in which a fellow had a series of physical defects as well: Two with a misaligned/defective bezel, one of those with also a blemish on the screen. His replacement #3 had a misaligned USB port, exaclty like my replacement #2. I presume he is on replacement #4 by now:

http://en.community.dell.com/support-forums/peripherals/f/3529/t/19637653

So yes, there does seem to be an epidemic of poor quality control with at least two recent Dell Ultrasharp models, encompassing both new-purchased and refurbished models (the latter being what Dell sends out for warranty replacements).

Would your experience have differed appreciably if you bought from Dell and not Amazon?
I don't see how. After the initial purchase, I was dealing entirely with Dell technical suppport. That would have also been the case, had I originally purchased my U2715H through the Dell online store.

Thanks for further stimulating this discussion. I hope that the links I have provided can help people make a more informed decision, if they are considering purchase of a Dell Ultrasharp monitor.

My experience has been very frustrating. While I appreciate Dell's rapid and persistent replacements until the problem was fixed, I've never before had to wait until replacement #3 to get a device that functioned as advertised.

Their tech support was a little frustrating to deal with at times, but good overall. Once it became clear that each replacement unit had not solved the problem, they did not dither on sending out yet another replacement unit. The main thing I had to spend time on was the online tech support chats, and dropping off the defective monitors for return shipping. Fortunately, there is a UPS store not far from my house.

All return shipping was prepaid by Dell. I'm pretty sure the last two monitors were sent overnight, because I received them the day after the ship notification.

bonus defect mention: here's another poor soul having the "goes blank" problem on a U2715H purchased about a month ago:
www.cnet.com/forums/discussions/dell-monitor-display-goes-black-every-few-seconds/
 
I've had a grand total of maybe two months of trouble-free use of my last (third warranty replacement!) U2715H. Not really even that long, as I was out of town for two weeks in December.

Now in the last week, it's starting to go blank again.

This time around, it's only black for perhaps a second, and it happens only very occasionally. So far it's happened while playing a game (Deus Ex: Human Revolution) and while watching a movie through VLC Media Player. Not with any pattern- sometimes I'll go hours between occurrences.

As before, monitor #2 (Samsung 1080 display on the video card's single DVI port) was unaffected.

Windows does not reconfigure the desktop when these blackouts happen. Normally if I turn one of the monitors off, Windows will automagically shove all of the primary desktop stuff to the monitor that is still on. Since that isn't happening, I suppose Windows doesn't "know" the U2715H is briefly "off." So I guess this implies that once again, something is screwy inside the monitor.

So far I've tried switching to use of a full size DisplayPort input and associated cable, rather than the DP to mDP cable supplied with the monitor. Unfortunately, this had no effect.

Going to try hooking it up via HDMI later this week.

I'm not sure I even want to bother with another warranty return. Given the above-related experiences, I feel I'd risk getting another monitor with a broken DP or mDP input, or another physical defect like the misaligned USB port. If I don't have the issue over an HDMI connection, I might just call it good and be done with it.

Ugh.
 
HDMI cable obtained. If I see another seemingly non-caused blank-out, Imma try it.

BTW you guys are awesome. Thanks for putting up with this seemingly endless tale of woe.

I don't think I ever want to buy a Dell monitor again. :p
 
HDMI cable obtained. If I see another seemingly non-caused blank-out, Imma try it.

BTW you guys are awesome. Thanks for putting up with this seemingly endless tale of woe.

I don't think I ever want to buy a Dell monitor again. :p

I read through your whole thread today, and I have one suggestion. Please try another monitor with MiniDP --> DP. ANY monitor. Buy one, test it, and return it. With the number of issues you're having, I suspect there's a better than good chance of the MiniDP out on your GTX 970 having issues. The reference (and most models) of the GTX 970 has 1xHDMI, 1xDVI, and 3xDP. The MiniDP is an addon by OEMs, so it's not part of the official spec. That makes me question the reliability of it.

I'm probably wrong, but if you have yet another monitor working on HDMI and not MiniDP...I'd suggest finding a way to test it.
 
Displayport has been hot garbage on the GTX9xx cards. I have had several monitors and cards from that series and all combos have the same problems with Displayport. Random sleep requiring power cycle being the biggest issue.

It's HDMI, DVI, or nothing with these cards.
 
I read through your whole thread today, and I have one suggestion. Please try another monitor with MiniDP --> DP. ANY monitor. Buy one, test it, and return it. With the number of issues you're having, I suspect there's a better than good chance of the MiniDP out on your GTX 970 having issues. The reference (and most models) of the GTX 970 has 1xHDMI, 1xDVI, and 3xDP. The MiniDP is an addon by OEMs, so it's not part of the official spec. That makes me question the reliability of it.

I'm probably wrong, but if you have yet another monitor working on HDMI and not MiniDP...I'd suggest finding a way to test it.

No, my version of the card doesn't have a mDP ouput. It has the reference model outputs as you stated. So when I have the monitor hooked up via DisplayPort or miniDisplayport, I'm using either the mDP->DP cable supplied with the monitor, or a regular DP to DP cable I bought.

I don't blame you for missing that. It's confusing. EVGA has a whole series of GTX 970 cards, all at slightly different clock speeds/memory configurations/etc. and with different output setups.

It's possible I still have a bad card, I guess...even after RMAing it once. But given the number of people having the same problems with this particular monitor (check out the 1 star reviews on Amazon!), I'm leaning towards Dell's QC being as atrocious as it appears.
 
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