I have just purchased a Dell XPS 8500 and while it generally works fine, I've noticed that while playing some video games the monitor suddenly loses signal. I get a "No signal detected error", the screen goes black, and occasionally the in-game sound starts to loop. There is no apparent way to stop it other than restarting the computer, after which everything is fine again. The desktop itself actually continues to operate by the looks of it, and this issue only seems to affect the monitor and desktop sound. I've also had a case where there was no sound loop, just the monitor turning off. I could still hear the in-game sounds continuing normally on my headphones, so evidently the game had not crashed. This issue normally appears some time after starting to play, not immediately. I have been trying to identify the source of the problem with no luck. To clarify, I only purchased the desktop from DELL (with all its hardware included). The monitor is an older one I've had for a while. It's connected to my GPU with an old VGA cable that I've found in my house.
What I've tried so far:
- Plugged monitor in to a different power outlet: previously it was connected through the same outlet as the desktop & router, which I suspected to be the cause of the problem. I suspected a power supply issue with the monitor itself, but I'm not sure anymore since it happened again after switching outlets.
-GPU overheating: I installed a tool called GPU-Z that monitors information about my GPU (like the temperature). The GPU temperature usually stays around 35 degrees Celsius when the computer is mostly idle or when I'm doing basic things like browsing the internet, but while in a game it can reach the mid 40's to mid 50s. I only noticed mid 50s in Minecraft though (which was one of the games where the crash occurred). I'm guessing even mid 50s isn't really a big deal, seeing as my old laptop used to be at 60 degrees or higher when just left open on the desktop, reaching over 80 degrees while playing a game and still not crashing like this. I also see no symptoms of anything overheating like in-game lag, blue screens, etc on the XPS. On top of that dust isn't an issue, seeing as the desktop is literally brand new (I ordered it in early December, and got it just before Christmas).
I'm thinking the issue may be with either the monitor, the GPU, or the VGA cable connecting them. But given the specificity of this issue, it sounds like a GPU issue. The monitor works fine when I'm not in a game and doesn't lose signal, so it doesn't sound like either the monitor itself or the cable are at fault. I have an AMD Radeon HD 7870 (1 GB) GPU.
Some specs, in case they are relevant:
-Processor: Intel Core i7-3770, 3.40 GHz
-Memory: 24 GB DDR3 1600 MHz
-Graphics: 1 GB AMD Radeon HD 7870
-Operating System: Windows 8, 64-bit
Does anyone have any ideas what the problem may be?
