Faulty? With XFX R9 295x2 dual 4K, the secondary monitor flickers intermittently

Thug Esquire

[H]ard|Gawd
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May 4, 2005
Messages
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Sometimes my secondary 4K monitor blinks black when I'm just using Windows and it's driving me nuts. Suddenly goes completely black, doesn't stay black for more than a second and when it comes back, it looks completely normal, like nothing happened. I can't seem to cause it at whim, but it happens frequently enough that it doesn't take long for the issue to appear. What should I do? Is it worth the hassle of opening a support ticket or should I just return the card to Amazon and go nVidia?

A few basics about my system:

Windows 8.1 fresh install
Corsair AX1200 PSU (both PCIe 8-pin connectors connected, no splitters in use)
2x Dell P2715q 4K monitors running at native res
2x brand-new StarTech DisplayPort 1.2 mini-to-DP cables
Used DDU in safe mode to cleanly uninstall old drivers whenever upgrading/downgrading

This issue occurs across:

AMD 14.12 WHQL
AMD 15.3 beta
Windows Basic driver

I've also tried:

disabling ULPS via regedit
disabling ULPS via Afterburner
enabling AMD OverDrive (no change)
swapping DP cables
using different miniDP ports on the R9 295x2
disabling DDC/CI on the monitor (wild guess)
uninstalling/reinstalling drivers (using DDU every time)
re-seating the video card
disabling hardware acceleration in Chrome

I don't think I have a lemon because I even swapped the card out for ANOTHER brand new XFX R9 295x2 and it had the same problem! :confused:
 
You might try pm mark at xfx and see if he's heard of this issue http://hardforum.com/member.php?u=143946
but in the mean time, Have you tried just disabling power play with afterburner? have you tried to see if there is a dell driver for your display? instead of the generic plug an play Microsoft one. heck just throwing out ideas. Maybe double check you power options and make sure its not somehow just trying to turn off to save power? been a long time since i have used multi display so im a bit rusty but im sure somebody here will post a fix
If you run out of ideas im curious if the issue still happens with win 10 latest build? if nothing else it does uses a completely different driver 15.20 and only take about 5 min to install but i can understand your reluctance if not wanting to explore that idea is it very well could create a bunch of new issues being beta and all...but you could see if it happens using Spartan instead of chrome?
A better question does it only happen when a browser is open?

In all honesty i don't like the idea of disabling power play if possible since it will make your card run hotter and use more power especially on a 295x2 but if it stopped the issue it would at least give us an idea of what was causing it
if nothing else i would try the driver http://www.dell.com/support/home/il/en/ildhs1/Drivers/DriversDetails?driverId=KVHFN
Another question if you switched cables and ports around does it still happen on the same display? just to rules out completely the possibility of one of the cables being bad? Didn't see it on your check list anyway
 
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Thanks so much, took your advice. Here's what I found:

1. In Afterburner it's not clear how to disable PowerPlay--willing to try it but not sure that I've done this.
2. In Windows Power options, I disabled "adaptive brightness" and restarted but the issue has occurred since.
3. I have tried different cables and ports on the card.
4. As for the browser, I've tried with hw acceleration on and off, but not having a browser running is a little unrealistic.
5. If I click the refresh button in MSI Afterburner, it causes both displays to flicker black in exactly the same way. But the secondary monitor always flickers.
6. I have the latest Dell driver installed for the monitors.

I can't really try Win10 TP at the moment as I need the system in good shape for work.
 
when you say refresh you mean the reset button? also the power play drop down box option is directly underneath the disable ULPS in afterburner settings...i guess its easy to miss in case you still want to try it at least
Have you checked for an updated bios for your card? When mark jumps in he could let you know if theirs anything they haven't quite released to public yet, in case you already checked
 
Have you tried the accell brand mini dp to dp cable?

There has been other people that have issues and that cable has solved issues for a few people.
 
Thanks for the advice!!

* I did mean the reset button in Afterburner--causes the exact same flicker, except on both monitors. So it seems like the flicker on the second monitor is a symptom of the card "resetting" in some way on the second mDP output.
* I'll try disabling PowerPlay.
* I've not tried the Accell brand mDP-DP cable, but I have tried several different brands so far, and it's not helped.
* I checked for a new BIOS and I have the last one available on http://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/index.php?manufacturer=XFX&model=R9+295X2
 
You def want the accell brand of minidp to dp adapter. It solved all my issues with regards to my 4k monitor.
 
You def want the accell brand of minidp to dp adapter. It solved all my issues with regards to my 4k monitor.

well see i asked him if he switched ports and cables...and he said he did...so im confused how it could be a cable if one display is always perfect and second gives trouble.....if it were a bad cable would not of switching them around have done soothing? like put the problem on different display? Not saying your wrong by any means just trying to wrap my head around how that changes things
 
Thanks for all your help, guys. I removed the R9 295x2 and swapped in a single GTX 980--voila, no more screen flicker. Which puts me in a bit of a tough position--how can this be anything but an inherent AMD chip issue?
 
Had a similar issue with a Radeon 7950. My troubleshooting led to the memory down clocking at idle being the issue. If I left a video or game running on that secondary monitor the flickering or random black screens never happened.
 
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