Eyes hurting - either a broken GPU or a messed up setting / GTX 670

[thewhitestig]

So I have this serious problem with eye strain. But there are two separable components to it.

 

1. Flickering. I was experiencing slight flickering when launching any kind of 3D application which was causing me very significant headaches. Though I was experiencing headaches even when not playing games. Thought it was the monitor. So I tried 3 separate monitors connected trough VGA - same thing, no change. So I thought it might be something wrong with the GPU or GPU port - got a VGA to DisplayPort adapter and voila, the flickering and the headaches went away. 

 

Buuuut....

 

2. Eyestrain. I was still experiencing this very serious eyestrain. My eyes will start hurting after like 30 minutes and they become all red. It's just awful. I have never experienced such a thing with any of my videocards, and I've been using this one since Oct of 2014 - so pretty much my life has been completely miserable since then. So I decided to remove the videocard from the PC and run only on the Intel graphics, and whatdayaknow, the eyestrain went away. 

 

So the problem is obviously from the GPU. This is something very unusual to me, since I have never experienced such a thing. I've had a 6870, a 4830 and a 9250 -  they all ran perfectly without such problems. 

 

Sooo.... I reckon it might not be anything hardwarily wrong with the GPU per se, but a messed up setting somewhere. So please if you have any suggestions on which settings to change, shoot. Otherwise I'll have to throw away that piece of shit videocard and get an AMD. 

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Why god, why are you using VGA?

[MrYuriy]

VGA is Cancerous to your computer. That might be the problem. Bend your PC over and cuff its...fans.

 

"Why So Seriousssssss?"...

 

Most of the issues you mentioned, however, are almost exclusively linked to GPU problem(s). Of course, not always the case.

And to be completely honest, this unfortunately does sound like a hardware issue instead of software... But that's just my first impression.

 

Try the usual, turn it off, move some shit around make sure hardware is seated, etc, restart PC and check.

Any changes yet, or still experiencing exact same issues?

[thewhitestig]

Try the usual, turn it off, move some shit around make sure hardware is seated, etc, restart PC and check.

Any changes yet, or still experiencing exact same issues?

I have actually done that many times. No impact.

[MrYuriy]

I have actually done that many times. No impact.

 

Okay, good. So besides that, what HAVE you done?

Let me know so I can rule it out & further assist.

[S1lent_5am]

you could uninstall the driver completely then reinstall them which should clear out any settings you have made or changed. If that doesn't do anything to solve the problem than it more than likely a hardware issue not sure if is the whole card or it could be the adapter you are using to change from dvi to vga. Before trashing the card I'd try the driver reinstall and get a new adapter or upgrade your monitor to either display port or dvi. 

[thewhitestig]

Okay, good. So besides that, what HAVE you done?

Let me know so I can rule it out & further assist.

Well, I've pretty much done only the things I described in the OP. Tried it with 3 different monitors connected trough VGA with a 2 different DVI-I adapters, there was still flickering. Bought a VGA to DisplayPort adapter and the flickering went away. But on the issue of eyestrain I've pretty much done nothing but to remove my graphics card. 

 

 

you could uninstall the driver completely then reinstall them which should clear out any settings you have made or changed. If that doesn't do anything to solve the problem than it more than likely a hardware issue not sure if is the whole card or it could be the adapter you are using to change from dvi to vga. Before trashing the card I'd try the driver reinstall and get a new adapter or upgrade your monitor to either display port or dvi. 

I've tried reinstalling the drivers. I even reinstalled the OS. 

The thing I am gonna do next is give my GPU to a friend to use it for a week so that he can tell me weather or not he is getting the same type of eyestrain I am. If he is not then the problem would be somewhere else. Maybe a broken PCI slot or screwed up PCI frequency

[thewhitestig]

@MrYuriy @S1lent_5am Hey fellas. So I got this 280X from a friend of mine and installed it in my PC. Been using it for the past 6 hours and as far as I can tell my eyes feel perfect at the moment. If had used the PC for 6 hours straight with the GTX 670 I would've been in significant pain. So the problem might in fact be the videocard. I'm now waiting on my friend to say weather or not he is noticing any eyestrain with my 670 - he is using it now. Will update when I get an answer. Wonder what may be the real cause of that though. What hardware component on the card itself could've gone bad? I wonder weather or not there is a way to fix it. 

[0x1e]

VGA flickers, it always has.

If you can do go full DVI, not a VGA converter.

 

You can also try to increase or lower your resolution. Just because you have a 1080p monitor doesn't mean you have to use 1080p. You may need glasses and your eyes are straining to see the thin letters.

If a lower resolution works then you can go back to 1080p if you decide but increase the size of writing. That can be done in windows and is very easy. You can change the size, font, boldness and so on.

 

You can also try increasing or decreasing the refresh rate. I used to have a 75Hz monitor, but I could never use it as my eyes would hurt. 50Hz works best for me but I have to stick with 60.

 

Give those a go.

[MrYuriy]

@MrYuriy @S1lent_5am Hey fellas. So I got this 280X from a friend of mine and installed it in my PC. Been using it for the past 6 hours and as far as I can tell my eyes feel perfect at the moment. If had used the PC for 6 hours straight with the GTX 670 I would've been in significant pain. So the problem might in fact be the videocard. I'm now waiting on my friend to say weather or not he is noticing any eyestrain with my 670 - he is using it now. Will update when I get an answer. Wonder what may be the real cause of that though. What hardware component on the card itself could've gone bad? I wonder weather or not there is a way to fix it. 

 

Honestly, It could be a plethora of things But as of now I'm just super curious to see if you feel the same with another GPU (280X). Let me know if your friend experiences anything along the lines of what you did! Also, is he also using VGA? 

 

The bet way to really see wtf is going on is to control as many variables as you can. Less variables, less variances of what the problem could be. So have him use not only the Same connection, but the same exact cord, software, etc. Again, as much as possible, of course.. I'm sure he can't recreate your exact scenario.. But anything will help.

 

But yeah, let me know what happens! Quite curious...