Problem with new monitor

[DEH32]

Recently I bought a new desktop Dell XPS 8930 with an NVIDIA GeForce 1060 6 GB graphics card running Windows 10 Pro. I paired it with an LG 34UC80-B 34-Inch 21:9 Curved UltraWide QHD IPS Monitor with USB Quick Charge (works great). My older machine, also a Dell XPS, but with an AMD Radeon R9 270 graphics card running Win 7 Pro SP1, had been paired with a 27" Samsung monitor (also worked great). I installed an IOGEAR 2-Port HDMI Cable KVM Switch, and connected both computers to the ultrawide monitor with a common Logitech wireless KB and mouse. The Win 10 machine works perfectly with this arrangement but the Win 7 blacks out randomly. The first problem came when running the Radeon at the monitor recommended resolution of 3440 x 1440. This caused the monitor to blink rapidly with horizontal lines flickering and long blackouts. Changing to 2560 x 1080 improves the situation considerably, and changing to 50 Hz refresh stabilizes it even more. Nonetheless, things are still not great:

I turn on the W7 machine first and there are several minutes of black screen with only momentary flashes of desktop. Then it seems to warm up and stabilize with fewer blackouts. Running a non graphics program such as MS Word also seems to help. In 10 - 15 minutes it is stable with only occasional 1 second blackouts. I'm sure the KVM switch is working all right since I have switched cable sets between the 2 with the same result. It seems to me that the AMD graphics card is the problem, but I would like to hear any other opinions before springing for an expensive NVIDIA.

Edited the bolded font size, so
it's properly formatted for people on
portable devices.

AT Mod Usandthem

 

[Tweak155]

Have you tried connecting the AMD card straight to the monitor and removing the KVM as the middleman?

 

[DEH32]

Hi Tweak155, thank you for your suggestion. I had not done that, but now that I have, the problem goes away. I am running at 3440 x 1440 and no blackout. Unfortunately, my wireless KB and mouse don't work without the KVM HDMI connection. Having seen this, it seems to me that IOGEAR's cable is not up to the task of transmitting the high resolution signal in conjunction with my video card. I say this because the HDMI cable that worked was a very heavy duty one, and the KVM cable works with the NVIDIA card. If this is the case (and again I invite comment), it looks like I lneed a new and stronger video card.

 

[Tweak155]

Hi Tweak155, thank you for your suggestion. I had not done that, but now that I have, the problem goes away. I am running at 3440 x 1440 and no blackout. Unfortunately, my wireless KB and mouse don't work without the KVM HDMI connection. Having seen this, it seems to me that IOGEAR's cable is not up to the task of transmitting the high resolution signal in conjunction with my video card. I say this because the HDMI cable that worked was a very heavy duty one, and the KVM cable works with the NVIDIA card. If this is the case (and again I invite comment), it looks like I lneed a new and stronger video card.

I would think it would be cheaper to replace the KVM as clearly the AMD card works with the monitor, it's likely a compatibility issue.

 

[mnewsham]

I would think it would be cheaper to replace the KVM as clearly the AMD card works with the monitor, it's likely a compatibility issue.

I agree, KVM seems like the likely issue if the GPU works fine without it.

I'd suggest looking at Displayport KVMs as they tend to have better support for higher resolution displays.

 

[DEH32]

Thank both of you for your helpful comments. I just contacted Amazon Support and they are sending me a replacement switch. If that doesn't do the job I will certainly look into the displayport KVMs.

 

[pcslookout]

Thank both of you for your helpful comments. I just contacted Amazon Support and they are sending me a replacement switch. If that doesn't do the job I will certainly look into the displayport KVMs.

Amazon rocks!