4870x2 won't display at 1680x1050 at all!

[dixons_57]

Hey I'm new here as I heard very good things about this forum when it comes to technical support and such Hopefully you can help me.

My monitor's EDID chip has been broken for a while, so I manually force 1680x1050 through the Catalyst Control Center. This has not been an issue in the past.

Ever since I updated my build of Windows, it no longer let's me do this. It will allow me to display at 1600x1200, and all resolutions below, except for 1680x1050 (which is it's native resolution). Basically it just outright refuses this resolution.

I tried different versions of the ATI driver and also tried reformatting to different versions of Windows, including Vista SP1, Vista SP2, and various builds of Windows 7, so I know for a fact that it isn't a software issue.

I tested the monitor with my laptop's secondary video output, and it seems to produce 1680x1050 just fine. I've also tried changing my VGA cable and DVI adapter. Furthermore as a last ditch effort I've changed the PCI-E slot that the card resides in.

I can only deduce that the card is suddenly at fault somehow, perhaps a power spike or something. I don't really know much about GPUs if I'm perfectly honest. Is there anything I can do? Like maybe check if the card's firmware has become corrupted? I can't afford a new card. I'm going to see if a friend will allow me to test the card in his system, but through process of elimination I'm 90% sure it's the component at fault.

 

[erocker]

Posting problem fixed.

Unfortunately I don't have an answer for your problem, hopefully someone will.

 

[dixons_57]

Thanks, it's been bugging me for hours why I couldn't post here

 

[Kreij]

Hi dixons, and welcome to TPU.

If you put your system specs in using the User Control Panel (UserCP) it will be a lot easier for us to help troubleshoot any issues you have now or in the future.

I tried that resolution on my monitor and it worked fine with my x2. I am with you in thinking that maybe the VC is at fault.

 

[dixons_57]

Sorry about that, I put my system specs on for you

As I said it has worked fine before, and I've owned this card since January without any problems. I'm going to try the card in a friend's system in a few hours to try and isolate the problem. If it works fine then I can only guess that the motherboard is somehow at fault? Though I can't see how that would work. If the card is damaged I can only hope that it's under warranty.

 

[95Viper]

Try this:
Goto Device Manager, find Monitors and you should see Generic Plug n Play monitor. Right click on it and uninstall. Next, click on the menu tab "Action" and then "Scan for new hardware". It should install the driver for it. If you have only one monitor, delete all of the greyed out ones under the monitor tab in the hardware tree.

See if that did it. You might have to re-boot.
I had to do this to fix a problem with the monitor in vista one time.

Goodluck

 

[dixons_57]

Thanks for your response. I tried what you suggested with no luck

I'm at the point now where I can't possibly see it being software related, due to the fact that even a reformat to a different OS with different drivers won't fix it.

 

[95Viper]

Sorry there. I have that card w/ an Accelero cooler on it and it is a great card.

Again, Goodluck and let us know if it works at your friend's.

 

[Zubasa]

Have you tried installing your monitor's driver from the CD that comes with it?

 

[3870x2]

Just throwing this out there: would flashing the video card help?

 

[FelipeV]

What about ?
Hide modes that this monitor cannot display

I´m using my 22" LCD with edid disable, but I never have this problem before.

 

[AsRock]

You tried both DVI plugs on the card ?.

 

[damtachoa]

OK. Now I know what ur problem is. Step by step:
1. Go to Catalyst Control Center
2. Click on the word "Graphic" right on top left corner. It will display drop down menu
3. Click on Display monitor and will see the list of monitor at near bottom
4. Right Click the monitor and select "Configure". It will show up the window
5. There will be 3 option to select. Select the middle one and then click on the tab which show the bar with 15%.
6. Drag the bar to max, and the screen will stretch to the native resolution 1680x1050.
7. Also click the tab with showing RGB drop down list and select the last one (it will change to image quality for pc).
That's it. Good Luck.

 

[dixons_57]

Have you tried installing your monitor's driver from the CD that comes with it?

Nope it was originally a plug and play monitor so it doesn't come with any drivers. Since the EDID chip broke it isn't really plug and play anymore and everything has to be forced

What about ?
Hide modes that this monitor cannot display

I´m using my 22" LCD with edid disable, but I never have this problem before.

I found this option in Windows display settings, and it works.... I can't believe how I have been so stupid. I spent all this time messing about in Catalyst Control Center and all along the option was part of Windows default functionality. I even went through the hassle of taking the GPU to another computer argh. If you were here I would probably hug you dude.

I'm still confused though, why did it suddenly require me to perform this step? It never did this originally, and even after recreating the exact same software setup as before (including fresh OS installs), it wouldn't even show up as a displayable resolution (even in CCC where I manually set this as the maximum resolution).

The GPU isn't at fault, as I successfully tried it in another system and it had no problem displaying this resolution (albeit on a monitor with functioning EDID, though I doubt it makes a difference). It's almost as if my particular combination of hardware just stopped getting along for no reason........

Thanks to everyone for their other posts, even if they are obsolete lol. I really appreciate the help. I really like how active this forum is and I think I'm going to become a long term member now If it wasn't for this place I would have spent money on a new monitor for no reason.

Thanks again!

 

[Kreij]

I'm glad you got your problem resolved, and also glad that you took the time to tell everyone how you did it (some people just fix their problem and never finish the thread).

Enjoy TPU, soon you will be addicted to it like the rest of us.