LCD monitor flicker...don't know what else to do now

my system specs:
MSI x1950pro
rosewill 550W
2gb OCZ ram
amd 4200+
MSI k9a platinum mobo crossfire xpress 3200 chipset
20.1" viewsonic vx2035wm LCD
windows XP pro SP2



i'm having monitor flicker issues with my LCD. it only happens at my monitor's native 1680x1050 @ 60Hz resolution (max supported). there is a very noticible pulsating occurring mostly along the top half of the monitor. this happens as soon as the XP welcome screen comes up and persists for hours and hours or it is gone after a simple, quick refresh of the monitor's screen (such as during a game's load-up sequence). the flickering is erratic in terms of its duration. i have tried an innumerable amount of things to remedy and even diagnose the problem. my x1950 comes with VGA and DVI. flickering occurrs through both ports. i plug my monitor into my laptop (which is running on an ATI x600 mobility graphics chip AS WELL AS THE SAME RESOLUTION) and there is absolutely NO flicker (using the VGA on my laptop). i have tried about 5 different versions of CCC and the ati display driver as well as at least one or two versions of the omega catalyst drivers. no flicker when another monitor (17in LCD, 13in CRT) is plugged in (however i havent been able to test at the same 1680x1050 resolution with other monitors). haven't tried reseating the card or using the DVI-to-VGA adapter yet. computer is not with me at college. i moved to an interference-free area and still there's flickering. i tried a new DVI and VGA cable and still there's flickering. i'm still unsure whether or not i tried running my display under the windows monitor driver or viewsonic's drivers first. there is definitely flicker with viewsonic's drivers.


what do you guys think? driver issue? the card? the monitor? i've tried so many different things and i've poured so much money (poor college kid) into this machine that i'm a little desperate at this point. i've been trying to sell the card, but is the card really to blame? i was sure a week or so ago that it was, but not so much anymore. i bought my X1950PRO from newegg for $154.99 and i think that i might have paid a higher price than that for going with the "value buy". would buying a cheapo (MSI) version of the x1950pro cause this? i want to get as much money together as i can and buy an X1950XT. do you all think that would that solve the flickering issue? are there any drivers that i can try that i wouldn't have already found and tried? is there a windows update for viewsonic monitors? with all the money that i spent on this system and the decent technology that this machine is built around, one would be inclined to think that everything should work more or less the way it's supposed to...right?

thanks everyone.

Hi East and welcome to Dev Shed.

Have you tried updating the drivers to the latest version for the card ? Always use drivers from the card vendor.

If it is still flickering, I would lower the resolution and/or refresh rate.

thanks aitken

i've tried all different versions of the video card drivers and nothing worked. i can't lower the resolution on my monitor because the picture is degraded and distorted when it's not set to 1680x1050. my refresh rate is set at 60Hz for the native 1680x1050. what's the point of having a good video card and a decent LCD if it doesnt display without flicker at its native resolution? i'm a tad frustrated by all this nonsense

how old is this monitor? to me it sounds like your back light is dieing

my only guess would be to adjust the brightness of the monitor, if that doesn't help then you could try resetting the monitor back to default settings and see what happens

it might be covered under warranty, so i would look into that if its relativity new, if its old then i would say you probably need to get a new one

i bought that monitor no more than a month ago. i don't think that it's the backlight though because there is absolutely no flickering when i plug it into another computer with a lower-end graphics accelerator that displays the same resolution and uses the same refresh rate. i'm so stumped at this point...i put the card up for sale but i'm having doubts now which is why i'm posting this thread. i should have made sure that it was definitely the card. the monitor is new(not refurbished) and only a month old. the monitor works in another computer running the same settings. different sets of drivers don't correct the issue. wouldn't all these things point to a defective-ish card?

Have you tried a different monitor with the card you think
might be faulty?

I've now determined that it's a driver incompatibility between the ATI catalyst drivers and my viewsonic monitor. I have tested every scenario of monitor and card combinations with a friend's peripherals. All ATI cards cause my Viewsonic monitor to flicker. All versions of the catalyst drivers do this. Are there other versions of the ATI drivers that don't involve this catalyst garbage? And I know that you can download the display driver only, but that doesn't solve the problem. Are there other third-party ATI drivers that aren't omega that anyone here has used? Thanks.

well i don't think a driver will help, according to this ATI has problems with some LCDs and Viewsonic has problems with ATI

i would just go out an buy a Nvidia Card

well i built my system around ATI...getting an nvidia card would just be pointless. the video card is already being sold. now i have to buy a new monitor so i have to sell my current one too!....it's a freaking amazing monitor...stupid ATI...

So what are you doing with it ? Are you buying another ATI card and another monitor ?

i have no choice. i cashed in some bonds so i have a little extra money that i could use for it. this whole ordeal means i'm out close to $300. i'm pretty upset that two major computer peripheral companies can have products that are so incompatible with each other. i have to believe that other people have purchased viewsonic monitors and ATI cards together. those people are having these issues too and that's not right. there should be more rigorous driver testing on ATI's end of all this because it is the drivers that are at fault here. i also find it extremely hard to believe that there isn't a software fix for this. i paid good money for all this equipment to work properly and to have this happen is a huge slap in the face (not to mention a ravaging of my wallet)...