Visible Wavy Pattern/Lines On Display.

[TechFan@ic]

I removed my HD 4870 and installed my 7970 in my second system (older system).
Removed all older drivers, re-installed latest non-beta drivers and now I notice a wavy pattern or lines that start from the left upper corner of the screen all the way down to the right lower corner of the screen.

They literally look like ocean waves, very subtle with high brightness but quite noticeable with lower brightness or with a dark background.

 

The monitor is a Dell E1912H 1366x768 connected to my 7970 via a DVI to VGA adapter.
I should also mention that the monitor is quite new, only bought it 3 months ago.

The issue did not exist with my HD 4870.

[Levent]

are you running your monitor at 60hz?

[TechFan@ic]

are you running your monitor at 60hz?

According to my monitor's menu it's running at 60hz but according to catalyst control center the monitor is running at 75Hz, I changed it manually to 60Hz but the issue remained exactly as it was.

[Levent]

do you have any other dvi to vga adapter you can test with? it sounds like a cable or adapter issue 

[TechFan@ic]

do you have any other dvi to vga adapter you can test with? it sounds like a cable or adapter issue 

Would there be any specific reason why a possible issue with the adapter only occurs with my 7970 and not with my 4870 ?

I used the same adapter with the 4870.

UPDATE : I played a bit with the resolution and the issue disappears at 1280x720.

[KaareKanin]

Just to be clear here, you have verified the issue with another monitor as well? Or even tried the the GPU in a different build? First step is always localizing the issue Same goes for testing different adapters/cables, as mentioned above. The more tests you can perform the better can the issue be pinpointed

[TechFan@ic]

Just to be clear here, you have verified the issue with another monitor as well? Or even tried the the GPU in a different build? First step is always localizing the issue Same goes for testing different adapters/cables, as mentioned above. The more tests you can perform the better can the issue be pinpointed

The 7970 was in my main build which has a 1080p 60Hz panel, no issues there.

I took the card and installed it in my second build (1366x768) which had a 4870 in it, with my 4870 installed I don't see this wavy pattern only when I installed the 7970 did I start seeing it.

The waves completely disappeared when I dropped the resolution to 1280x720, which leads to me believe that somehow the 7970 drivers are running my monitor at a higher refresh rate than the maximum spec for the monitor allows.

I manually played around with the refresh rate to no avail.

 

[GoodBytes]

The problem is that you are using VGA, and I think the problem is that the graphic card manufacture simply stop carrying in providing a good digital (DVI) to analog (VGA) converter, as VGA is being phased out.

It could be a driver issue, as you mentioned it, but I doubt it's on AMD priority list, as, well, it's VGA.

[terrytek]

Yeah, I got the same issue, but I had integrated graphics, so I upgraded my graphics. But you may try another cable to adapt VGA to DVI or HDMI or something like that.

[TechFan@ic]

I'm still not sure what's causing it, the manual for the monitor listed this as a common issue, but none of the fixes suggested for it work.
I tried different driver versions all the way back to 13.4 but nothing changed, I'll try a different converter next week.

Googling the issue suggests that the power supply might be the culprit, it's quite old, rated for 450W and only has one 8-pin connector.
Still doesn't explain why the issue disappears when I drop the resolution down to 720p.

[GoodBytes]

I'm still not sure what's causing it, the manual for the monitor listed this as a common issue, but none of the fixes suggested for it work.

I tried different driver versions all the way back to 13.4 but nothing changed, I'll try a different converter next week.

Googling the issue suggests that the power supply might be the culprit, it's quite old, rated for 450W and only has one 8-pin connector.

Still doesn't explain why the issue disappears when I drop the resolution down to 720p.

Is it possible to provide us a picture, just to be sure we all understand exactly what is going on?

[TechFan@ic]

Is it possible to provide us a picture, just to be sure we all understand exactly what is going on?

It looks exactly like this except going from corner to corner instead of being horizontal.

[terrytek]

It looks exactly like this except going from corner to corner instead of being horizontal.

 

Tried a different graphics card? It may just be a bad card.

[TechFan@ic]

Tried a different graphics card? It may just be a bad card.

My 7970 works just fine on my other monitor.

[ces160]

Perhaps its a dead monitor. My work screen went like this and it was a Dell as well. Tried it on both Nvidia graphics and Amd with no results.

[terrytek]

Perhaps its a dead monitor. My work screen went like this and it was a Dell as well. Tried it on both Nvidia graphics and Amd with no results.

 

How can it possibly be dead? If you can see a screen on it, it can't be dead.

[ces160]

How can it possibly be dead? If you can see a screen on it, it can't be dead.

Perhaps the word dead is not the best adjective, dieing may be more sutable. It's possible that some of the internal image processing components are on their way out or causing some signal interference.

[TechFan@ic]

I've narrowed it down to either the power supply or the adapter, I'll confirm in a few days.

I also want to point out that I can only see the waves on a grey, green or beige background.
I can't pick it up on blue or red, could because of my own eyes or could be for more technical reasons having to do with how VGA carries the color signal.