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Alienware 18 with dual AMD 290x connected to Asus pb287q 4k monitor goes on and off -unusable
I just received my brand spanking new pc and it's great. However i also bought 2 4K monitors from ASUS (PB287Q) and realized I have 2 problems.
1. When connected to the 4k monitor via hdmi , the monitor screen goes completely blank and comes back, it does this if I have certain programs and not others. ie I'm a developer and if i open Android studio on the monitor , it immediately begins to flicker on and of. basically its unusable. However Outlook, Chrome etc all work on the same screen without a problem
I downloaded the latest amd drivers from this dell site, No Effect.
I noticed that if i lower the resolution a notch below the 3k, it doesnt go on and off. So i'm tempted to think this is a driver issue and not that the monitor has a problem
2. How do i connect both monitors to the alienware? ie can i use the mini displayport and hdmi at the same time? or should i get a hdmi splitter?
The monitor going on and off is driving me insane and I hope someone has a solution.
Thanks
kuriandungu
14 Posts
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June 12th, 2015 00:00
Hello,
I downloaded catalyst from the link pasted at the bottom.
My flickering problem just magically went away. I'm not sure what did it. I used CRU (custom resolution utility) to lower the resolution to something like 3740x2160 and found that the flickering would stop. infact it seemed to be a problem with the horizontal refresh rate or something because if I put the monitor in potrait mode, no flikering. I eventually went back to the native 3840x2160 at 30hz and it hasnt flickered since.
It could also be that some windows updates fixed the issue. I'm not sure which.
On your issue, It sounds like one adapter is physically disable and the catalyst software detects that and dis-allows crossfire. While you could give it a try and download another version of catalyst, its likely you'll need to have the actual laptop checked to see why one adapter is disabled.
http://support.amd.com/en-us/download/desktop?os=Windows+8.1+-+64
DELL-Milena M
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2.7K Posts
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June 1st, 2015 13:00
Have you try the monitor with a different HDMI cable?
What happen if you use the display port?
kuriandungu
14 Posts
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June 1st, 2015 21:00
Thanks for taking time on my question.
Yes i've tried the display port and different hdmi cables.
On the display port i have a belkin displayport to hdmi converter. The issue with it is that once connected, it wont go over 1920 x1080 even when i get new drivers etc
The hdmi direct connection will show 4k at 30hz but like i said, is unusable because the screen goes on and off many times. and this is using certain programs only like android studio.
Actually i'm quite dissapointed because i paid a *** of alot of money to get the best pc i thought money could buy along with a 4k monitor only to find they dont match.
Also found that I cant connect 2 monitors. If i connect one monitor on hdmi and other on display port, the pc sees them but only allows 2 at a time ie either laptop screen and one monitor or both monitors without laptop screen.
Game7a1
727 Posts
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June 1st, 2015 22:00
Question. Why do you have a mini DP to hdmi when the monitors have a display port port? I think when the rep asked if you used the display port, she meant no HDMI, just display port.
So, have you tried mini DP to DP? As well, you don't really want 4K at 30 Hz as 60 Hz is preferable. That's more of a monitor limitation rather than a computer limitation (see here).
kuriandungu
14 Posts
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June 1st, 2015 22:00
Thanks for the reply.
I think I may have not understood the question. sorry.
I got the mini displayport to hdmi to see if i could connect 2 monitors at the same time, using the display port to one and hdmi to the other. (which didn't work)
I'm purchasing a mini displayport to normal display port cable today and hope to connect it to the 4k monitor , hoping to get 60hz as the specifications say. (laptop only has a mini display and hdmi ports)
The issue remains however that even with the hdmi connection to the PB287Q it flickers on and off.
Would you be having any suggestions on how I could connect 2 monitors (a PA284 and PB287Q) to the alienware laptop and get 4k on the 4k monitor and standard 1920x1080 on the other?
thanks again for your time
Game7a1
727 Posts
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June 1st, 2015 23:00
Have you tried disabling crossfire?
kuriandungu
14 Posts
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June 2nd, 2015 00:00
I've tried disabling. issue persists. I've upload a short video on youtube heres the link. http://youtu.be/9vYYMofqTqo
bluesleebeats
2 Posts
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June 11th, 2015 21:00
I'm so sorry KurianDungu but I don't have a solution for your problem. Only a question. I have an Alienware 18 Laptop. And 2 x R9 M290x GPUs. But when I install catalyst, there is no option to turn crossfire on or off. And in information/hardware, it has primary adapter, and disabled adapter. Leading me to think something is definitely wrong and crossfire is not turned on, on my machine. Where did you get Catalyst Control Centre, and which version of catalyst control centre are you using?, because mine is definitely, not showing anywhere to turn on crossfire. Dell have tried countless versions of catalyst through tech support but nothing will show my crossfire is on. I just want to give them proof that you have the ability to turn crossfire on, and have the same laptop, (basically) as me.
Thank you
Bluesleebeats
89fordprobee
1.2K Posts
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June 12th, 2015 18:00
I had similar issue to OP with older M18x R2 and dual 680M's , I did exactly as he did and custom sized and had no issues yet, I used HDMI(monster cable) but on a 65 inch Samsung 4k tv ..
anyway other issue with only 2 monitors its actually a limitation of the system, I run 1 external and the laptop or 2 externals, shutsdown laptop screen..
bluesleebeats
2 Posts
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June 25th, 2015 01:00
Hi There, thanks for getting back to me. And providing the link. I'd already had a technician replace the second graphics card. No luck, and I'd pretty much been through every version of catalyst I thought possible. Finally Dell sent the technician again. He replaced both GPUs the cross fire cable and the mother board, then it automatically prompted me to run catalyst again. (As I had uninstalled it). I'm not even sure what version of catalyst I'm using as it doesn't say, a specific version. Like it does in the usual place, but it says AMD CCC version 2014.0317.2206.37857. And I'm getting a pop up to install 14.4 (So it's before 14.4). But at least now the second card is enabled and crossfire can be switched on. The annoying thing though is everytime I install catalyst, it changes my Display drivers from 2 x R9 M290x to 2 x HD 8970 (the tech said the R9 has 2 names and HD8970 is one of them, but I don't feel comfortable without the official driver name, that is available from the dell website. I don't know why AMD keeps changing the driver. And I can't find much info on this so called HD8970 GPU. Did you have the same issue. I'm glad you fixed your monitor problem. But is 30Hz sufficient or doesn't it make any difference. Do you want to use 3 displays? Your laptop and your 2 monitors, or just the 2 monitors? Thanks for your reply.
Alex