My current rig, which has worked fine for four years:
Alienware Aurora (R1, I believe) - A11 BIOS version
12GB (originally 6GB) memory, Two Radeon HD 5800s running in Crossfire mode
WIndows 7 Premium, 500 GB drive
Multiple versions of Catalyst drivers (13.9, 13.12, 14.2b)
Running resolution: 1440x900 at 60HZ, 16:10 ratio
My rig has been getting a little long-in-tooth, so I thought I do some minor upgrades. The first was one was to increase my ram from 6GB. I purchased two 4GB PNY modules. To insert these modules, I had to remove one of my HD 5800 cards to reach the memory properly. After messing with it, I ended up removing the old memory (3x2GB 1066 modules) and just using the faster new 4GB modules I had purchased (PNY 2x4GB 1333).
After a few days, I had experienced about four BSoDs and replaced the new memory with the old. I now only had 4GB and graphics had serious interference/flickering problems when running fullscreen (more on that in a moment). Thinking this might be a loose connection, I pulled the memory and the card, blow out any dust, cleared the area out and then replaced them. After trial and error I discovered that at some point, one of my 2GB DIMMS and it's associated slot had both failed. Moving all the memory around (and avoiding slot 1), I now have 12GB of memory - two of the original 1066 SIMMs and the two 4GB 1333 SIMMs running at 1066.
However, the graphic problems remain. I discovered by accident that switching to windowed mode for any 3D games I launch fixes the issue, but that's really not a solution. Disabling the Crossfire option (which is the same thing as running in a window) seems to do the same thing, which again is self-defeating. Games like Warframe, CubeWorld and Rise of the Triad, which all worked previously, now no longer do. I even launched Unreal Tournament 2003 (via Steam) and had the issue. I see from googling that this appears to be a common problem, but no one seems to be agree to the source or the fix (and some folks are using the same words to represent different errors).
I do recall running Futuremark's 3D Mark right after I installed the new memory (to see if 8GB running at 1333 would give me any significant performance increase). When I ran it, the video effect problem first appeared. I assumed this was due to overheating from the test and saw it stop after the fact.
My problem is this: while running full-screen in any game that uses 3D, the screen flickers CONSTANTLY, like a strobe-light. It appears to be rendering the game correctly, otherwise. If I modify the screen refresh rate between 60HZ and 75HZ, I can change the flicker to more of a series of white bands that flicker like a poorly tuned old television set. I have tried multiple versions of the drivers, with no real change in this behavior. You can see the problem in this video:(Please visit the site to view this video).
I have tried playing with the buffering, v-sync and AA modes, all to no real effect. I have disabled the ULPS option. I have disabled the overdrive option to no effect. Disabling Crossfire fixes the issue, but that's no a solution, just a workaround. I assume this is a configuration problem, so I was hoping folks here might be able to offer suggestions on things to try to resolve the issue. My graphic performance was fine prior to this. When in Warframe, I use all the defaults (High for pretty much everything). If V-sync is set to on, I get the rolling lines. If it is set to off, then I get the constant flickering.
I can connect to either card to use the video with no problems. I have run Alienware Autopsy, which doesn't find any problems. I have never messed with any of the BIOS settings or timing configuration. I have reseated the card and verified that both bridges are connected correctly.
Does anyone have any suggestion for additional things that I could try?
Thanks.