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  • Recommendations for new monitor

Lauda89 NVRAM values. Disconnect the power and pull the CMOS battery connector out and leave it off for an hour to give it a good long time to discharge. When you reconnect it, all the contents will have been blanked and it will load the values in again from the chip that is present. You will know it has happened because you will need to set the time and date again. If there is no connector, then just remove the battery itself, usually a CR2032 coin cell or similar.

The reason this is worth trying is because downgrading doesn't necessarily overwrite a value if it has no reason to if a value is present.

      Sunspark Don't know about the motherboard he has, but I'm aware of certain motherboards that store user configuration and other variables in nonvolatile storage and use the lack of power as a cue to potentially clear it, rather than the "old" practice of storing the config in RAM or similarly power backed storage that would be blanked upon removing all power. What is the difference? I've seen evidence the former isn't entirely perfect due to potential firmware bugs.

        Practically, not much difference, but flashing a new bios by itself does not reset/clear settings. Manually pressing reset-to-defaults may work, but that is dependent on an understanding of how the function works. What is it doing? Is it just writing in values it knows about and is visible in the user interface, or does it blank the whole thing? The fact that it doesn't reset the clock indicates to me that it doesn't blank everything and maybe it's accessing values that a different bios version set in the memory. So, if he's complaining about his computer being "different" despite a downgrade, there is value in clearing the bios nvram by removing the battery. I've done it plenty of times on my NUC, there is no risk on a modern system, this isn't a glitchy network router from 15 years ago.

        • JTL replied to this.

          Sunspark I wasn't implying a risk, more so the fact modern BIOS's operate using nonvolatile storage that's usually shared with the flashed image and attempting a "reset" by removing the battery does not necessarily guarantee all nonvolatile storage is cleared as a result.

          If you want to go further into this you can use an external programmer to read out and manipulate the BIOS flash out of band.

            I hadn't considered that he might have a motherboard that doesn't clear any settings at all even without the cmos battery present.

            Thankfully mine isn't one of those.

            Thanks, guys for the replies!
            I have an ASUS crosshair vi hero, there is a specific bottom on the back to do a CMOS but it didn't fix the problem.
            Today i want to try to remove the battery and let see if it works.

            I didn't think the motherboard bios was related to our problems. I am beginning to think that the image rendering is not the real problem.

              Lauda89

              Hi,

              After a while I am returning back to this issue, mine is with a new 12400 intel based system if you remember. Just a question - did you try to insert the 1660 super to your old amd 1700-based system (when it still worked)? If so was the GPU output good or not?

                  Lauda89 With the battery method the time is reset but still dizziness. Well i fucked up my old system, now i know to not upgrade the BIOS for the future.

                  machala
                  I can give you a summary:

                  OLD system:

                  1700X + RX480 + Alienware monitor was good until W10 1909/2004.

                  New system november:

                  7900X + RX480 bad with eveythings i tried:

                  Old W10, W11, alienware monitor AW2518HF and BENQ CCFL V2400W monitor.

                  7900X + 1660 Super the same.

                  7900X + 970 the same.

                  So i decide to buy an intel CPU and try to use it with the BENQ CCFL monitor like i am doing with the accenture notebook: dell latitude 7420 intel 1145G7 xe ipgu.

                  New system march:

                  13700K + 970 + W11 21H2 (like the latitude 7420) is bad with the alienware, BENQ CCFL and also with the portable monitor UPERFECT 17". Maybe the UHD 770 do something different then the Xe igpu or maybe is the motherborard and its bios the problem?! I don't know.
                  So not a great idea, other 800€ to the bin. I will try the LG OLED monitor 27GR95QE as soon as it will be available in Italy.

                  • JTL replied to this.

                        Lauda89 So not a great idea, other 800€ to the bin. I will try the LG OLED monitor 27GR95QE as soon as it will be available in Italy.

                        IMO if a new system is "bad" with the same GPU and monitor that was good with a previous system, no amount of playing with monitors will fix it.

                            JTL I agree with you. But the 7900X + 1660 super was usable connected to the LG B8 OLED TV ( in the bedroom, so I was far away from the TV) so I wanted to try a WRGB OLED monitor and hope for the miracle.

                              JTL Also, are we sure that we can talk about good monitor and bad monitor?

                              I mean, I have been using the BENQ CCFL since 2006 so I would call it a good monitor but with the two new PCs it becomes a bad monitor (and also with the latitude if I update W11 to the latest updates).

                              Even the alienware, it was a good monitor with the setup I had but connected to a MAC it was always bad.

                              What if the monitor has nothing to do with our problem? I mean the type of panel, backlight, refresh rate etc... maybe it is just the signal coming to the monitor that makes it a good monitor or a bad monitor the problem is this signal seems to be impacted by 1000 factors.

                                Lauda89

                                No I haven't found any solution, but not that I would be really looking into it, only in the past several weeks. I was tired of it that I put it to rest and used the system for remote operations only (I have some good use of the PC this way - so the graphics card is there for nothing of course 🙂 ).

                                In the past several weeks I tried if a different monitor will make it any better I so far tried 5 of them and no help, although higher refresh rate seems to help a bit. I also updated the BIOS, no help just like in your case. Some of these new monitors are quite OK with my old system, but this new system is a no go. So again, final proof it is not primarily the monitor in these cases.

                                So you are saying that you ruined your old system by upgrading the BIOS??? At first I thought the system was not usable as it stopped booting…? This is very interesting indeed and it means the motherboard problem is intentional, it is not a physical issue of itnerference or anything of the sort. It is a deliberate action by the motherboard manufacturer. Can you please confirm? And are you absolutely sure of that, are you sure you are not imagining things after all the testing? And do you see the issue even in BIOS now on the old system, just like you see it on the new ones?

                                    machala I too had put the PC aside for a couple of months, I was too stressed and when I start having headaches and dizziness it takes me 4/5 days to recover 100%.

                                    Yes, the BIOS update did not give booting problems, I simply had started having headaches even with the old PC after the bios update.

                                    Don't forget that the first attempt with the 7900X + RX480 I did with a copy of the old SSD so the software was identical to the old PC. The differences were on the rest of the PC: motherboard, ram (ddr4 vs ddr5), CPU, PSU, case and liquid cooling.

                                    Without evidence, I would point the finger at the motherboard/bios.

                                      Lauda89 One of the things that can happen is the high frequency of switching between different monitors for testing in and of itself can cause some strain. You basically just want to choose the one that created the least amount of long session eye strain that also has the features you want, and stick with it, then immediately and move on to experimenting with rear and overhead lighting and glasses prescriptions - as I detailed in my last two comments.

                                      But still, after over a month of no eye strain with the Acer Nitro KG241Y, if I turn off the backside lighting strips that I applied, I still get a bit of eye strain. Lighting is important. I no longer need to use the over-head light but it's still nice to have. I always keep the backside strips turned on when I use the computer. Both lights are connected to a USB Y cable that allows the lights to turn on and off with the computer.

                                          Staycalmsyndrome I will try! Thanks 🙂

                                          TrantaLocked You are right, i am switching too many devices and it's useless.

                                          But now i am writing from an asus vivobook of a friend and connected to my BENQ CCFL is perfectly fine, so i played some hours to magic. Unfortunately is a bad PC i3 1115G4 so i can't keep it like main PC.
                                          So it's the second notebook with intel 11gen that i can use. I am thinking to sell the custom rig with 13700K and buy a good notebook with intel 11gen like an XPS or something similar.

                                          Or i can try the arc 750 with the 13700K before giving up.. but i think that the problem is the motherboard/bios not the GPU!

                                              8 months later

                                              degen

                                              Thanks @degen for the recommendation. I bought a 28" 4k 60hz Acer monitor, it's an Innolux panel like the rest, and I have not suffered from the same eye strain I was getting from 27" panels I tried earlier in the year.

                                              Now, the monitor like apparently every single 28" 4k monitor on the market hilariously, does have some issues with horizontal pixel stretching as the ratio is not true 16:9 but I am not using it for any design or measurement accurate work so not a big deal for me.

                                                3 months later

                                                I finally found a modern monitor that works for me by looking for ultra low-flicker monitors using a professional photodetector. I tested about 100 monitors and found only three that have virtually no flicker.

                                                I bought 11 (one for myself and 10 to resell at cost to see if it works for others). I created an eBay listing if anybody is interested in giving it a shot. I offer 60 day returns, so worst case scenario you have to pay for shipping both ways.

                                                https://www.ebay.com/itm/145603787681

                                                You can read more about my process here: https://ledstrain.org/d/2598-help-wanted-to-measure-flicker-andor-test-a-flicker-free-monitor

                                                  dev