Hey there!
 
You may remember me from a few weeks back, I had a jolly good time troubleshooting my brand new 970 SC leading to my conclusion that any more time spent on what could possibly have been hardware issues wasn't worth it in the long run and I decided to upgrade my CPU and Motherboard.

So after this my card worked flawlessly, or so I thought, while editing some HD video using my secondary screen for previewing while also have Far Cry 4 running in the background I noticed that my secondary screen which has worked perfectly fine with my old 580 GPU under any and all circumstances up until now had weird lines going horizontally, almost like it needed V-sync.
 
I can reproduce it every time by putting my computer under heavy load, for instance running far Cry 4 on Ultra + watching a 720P or higher clip in Media player classic causes them to appear, however playing Far Cry 4 on ultra and watching a clip with a small resolution doesn't seem to cause it.
 
The secondary screen is this one  and only has a VGA plug, so I'm using a DVI-to-VGA converted which I've read can be the source of the issue, so I've tried swapping that one as well as the cable itself with no luck. 
 
I'm going to try to wrangle another screen with a DVI plug, but until then does anyone know if this is a common issue?
 
Edit: forgot my specs:
 

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
Keyboard: Logitech G19 Wired Standard Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech G500s Laser Gaming Mouse Wired Laser Mouse
Headphones: Creative Labs Recon3D Omega Headset

ty_ger07
Playing FC4 at Ultra settings plus watching a 720p video at the same time... yeah, that sounds like a reasonable and recommended thing to do...

By the way: sarcasm. You are doing the opposite of what any gaming guide would recommend. Plus, it's not possible to enjoy either activity to its full potential at the same time.

You may think as you like but I enjoy both very well regardless of what gaming guides recommend.
 
Regardless my 580 never encountered similar problems regardless of how far I pushed it, and I'd expect a noticeable slowdown before tearing.

ty_ger07
You can spend as much money as you want in the process of chasing whatever makes you happy; regardless of however insane your pursuit.

Good luck!

Well your sarcastic quips and frankly unhelpful attitude is a stark contrast to the lovely people who tried to help me last time.
 
I don't think it is in any way insane to expect the 970 to do what my 580 has been doing for years before it. I've pushed my factory clocked 580 to it's limits maxing out games and watched HD shows in simultaneously for the last 3 years, where the only noticeable difference in performance has been in the game, not screwing up my screen refresh rate.
 

ty_ger07

Elsarild

ty_ger07
You can spend as much money as you want in the process of chasing whatever makes you happy; regardless of however insane your pursuit.

Good luck!

Well your sarcastic quips and frankly unhelpful attitude is a stark contrast to the lovely people who tried to help me last time.
 
I don't think it is in any way insane to expect the 970 to do what my 580 has been doing for years before it. I've pushed my factory clocked 580 to it's limits maxing out games and watched HD shows in simultaneously for the last 3 years, where the only noticeable difference in performance has been in the game, not screwing up my screen refresh rate.
 

I was trying to help you. It was an intervention attempt. Sometimes you just need to let people know that they are chasing insanity.

You said that you were going to replace your second screen for one with native DVI. Try that and then see if you still have problems. You are in uncharted territory.

But I didn't come here to get lectured by a complete stranger that what I've been doing for 3 years and am perfectly fine with doing which causes no one any harm whatsoever to anyone is somehow "insane".
 
You're not only being rude, but also demeaning actual insane people by trivializing the word by applying it to people who don't play games the exact same way you do.  And if you have nothing of value to add then I'd b quite content if you didn't add anything at all.

ty_ger07
Your video card was not designed to have two different graphically intensive things occuring on two different screens running at different framerate and syncing on two different timings at the same time. It is something of value for me to point out that you are trying to fix an issue which is occuring because you are doing something your video card wasn't designed to do. Try a monitor with native DVI support. Good luck!

But then I ask you, why would my 580 be perfectly able to do the same?

ty_ger07

Elsarild

ty_ger07
Your video card was not designed to have two different graphically intensive things occuring on two different screens running at different framerate and syncing on two different timings at the same time. It is something of value for me to point out that you are trying to fix an issue which is occuring because you are doing something your video card wasn't designed to do. Try a monitor with native DVI support. Good luck!

But then I ask you, why would my 580 be perfectly able to do the same?

It's a different video card with different architecture and design and may just have been better at doing it by dumb luck.

Maybe but since my friend who has a 680, is able to do the same, so is my friend running a Titan, which is why I'm not willing to accept it as a limitation of the hardware just yet.

Alright, I did a test and I seem to be able to confirm the problem is with using a screen Via. VGA or simply using a VGA-to-DVI converter. 
 
I could also reproduce the issue, however not to the same extent playing Payday 2 with a 120 FPS cap and watching a HD show, and since my 580 could do the exact same this further solidifies my belief that it is not a limitation of the hardware in terms processing and timing, but rather because VGA converter blow chunks.
 
However using a screen with a DVI port I get no tearing that I can see with the naked eye.