Hello, I've been having some very frustrating issues with my monitors lately, but I suspect the problem might be video card related. Actually, I'm guessing the problem is either with both my monitors, my adapter, or the video card, so I'm not really sure which forum to post in. Anyway, the problem started with my Acer 24 in widescreen. It's almost an $800.00 monitor which worked beautifully for the first few months or so. After those first few months, my monitor began to fail. It would suddenly (for no clear reason) display "no signal" in the front center of the screen whilst everything around appeared normal. The no signal error message displayed on the monitor didn't make sense because there clearly was a signal since I could still see everything normally around the error message. Initially, I was able to ignore the problem because it was infrequent enough to be overlooked. I would simply turn the monitor off via the power button on the front, turn it back on, and wait for the video to come back up on its own. Over time, however, the the problem not even became more frequent but would eventually no longer return to its normal state simply by turning the power off and on. Instead, I'd get a multitude of vertical rainbow colors filling the screen rather than actual video. Interestingly enough, even after turning the power off in the front, the colors would remain on the screen until turning off the whole computer. Leaving the power off of the whole system for a time usually meant that turning it on again would restore its proper functionality, but the problem seems to return sooner and sooner. Now, unfortunately, I can't even get the monitor to work properly for more than a few minutes before malfunctioning. I tried calling Acer technical support (it is under warranty). After months of communications, troubleshooting, and even paying over $70.00 from my own pocket to ship it to repair services, it still hasn't been fixed and I'm not closer to a solution. Much to my dismay, I only recently discovered that the repair services failed to find any problems whatsoever and didn't change anything. They merely shipped the monitor right back to me in the same state as it was originally shipped to them. During my last call with their tech support, they suggested that the problem might be a compatibility issue with either my video card or my motherboard. I reserve my doubts because it seems awfully convenient for them to point the finger in the direction of other hardware, thereby escaping responsibility for what might be a faulty Acer product. However, I'm not inclined to place blame - I'm merely interested in finding the true problem and ultimately finding a solution. The problem might be my video card, but it seems unlikely to me because I've been using it quite regularly. I've been playing a lot of Eve Online (with the recently released Trinity graphics) and Crysis over the past month or so. Crysis was a little choppy and buggy as was expected since my hardware specs aren't quite as good as the game was intended. Also, my video is fairly new. I haven't had it for more than a year. It's the NVIDIA 7950 GT video card. The problem might also be my cable adapter. There's a small white little adapter thing that connects to the cable that came with my monitor so that it can be plugged into my video card on the back of my tower. The monitor's cable itself doesn't have the end that fits the video card without this adapter. I've noticed the metallic connector at one end is somewhat loose inside its plastic frame. Could this be the elusive culprit responsible for all of these problems? I'm currently using a very old (barely functioning) Sony Trinitron Multiscan E400 (think it's a CRT) to type this. When I plugged it in to replace the new widescreen that wasn't working, I immediately noticed that the colors on this monitor seem somehow dull and faulty. Some colors aren't what they should be. For example, some text appears bright, bright yellow (to the point where I have to highlight it with my mouse just to read it). I acknowledge the very real possibility that this problem is merely because this is a very old monitor that, by all rights, should have died years ago. But I can't ignore the possibility that there may be a connection between the symptoms with this monitor and the symptoms with the new one. To summarize, I believe the problem is either with my widescreen Acer monitor, my video card, or the adapter. I don't know which is the culprit. Is it possible that a faulty adapter (as described) could be causing all these problems? Which of the three is more likely? What steps should I take toward finding a solution? I should mention that can't afford to send my hardware away to be tested and repaired. I have very little money so naturally I'm hoping that the problem is merely the adapter. I plan to buy a new one just to rule that out if nothing else. I can't afford a new monitor or a new video card, though. But I'd especially HATE to eventually replace one only to discover that the problem lies with the other, thereby wasting a lot of money. Thank you very much for your assistance and happy holidays!
first off, which one of the adapters are you using, the top or the bottom one shown in the picture. From there i can narrow things down a bit, and not just speculate. vga-dvi-adap - Vga to Dvi Adapter Vga Female to Dvi-I Male - Only £6.99 at www.tvcables.co.uk
Aren't they the same? It looks like the top adapter is just the bottom one flipped over (showing the other end). My adapter looks like the top one in the picture on one end and the bottom one in the picture from the other end. The cable from the monitor plugs into the blue side and the gold side plugs into the back of the video card in back of the tower.
