Greetings. I'm relatively tech and computer savvy though I have an encountered a strange yet simple problem and I am unsure of what could be causing it or how to fix it. I have a Samsung SyncMaster 204BW LCD monitor and have had it since Christmas 2007. As of late, say about two to three weeks, I am experiencing screen flickering after turning on the monitor to the desktop for the first time since the last shutdown. This does not seem to happen If the monitor is on before Windows starts up. If I come back to my machine and turn on the monitor, flickering does occur. However this only occurs after about 30 minutes or more prior to use, so simple switching on and off does not seem to cause the flicker. The screen does not go black, but rather its brightness pulsates rapidly for about 5-10 seconds after being turned on. Also at times, specifically during gaming, the monitor will go black for about 3-5 seconds but the power will remain on. Other than that, the screen does not black out or flicker at any other time during use. There's not a ton of information or description I can give because it is a pretty simple issue. The only other thing I might add here is that the temperature in my room and house has dropped substantially thanks to winter (and frequent heat running is too damn expensive). I've not had any problems with my video card since the day I installed it, works great. My case is less than optimal and does not have the best airflow, so my video card idles at about 54C with 100% fan speed and runs at about 64C under heavy load, say Crysis Warhead for example. Can one determine if this is a video card problem or a monitor problem? Please let me know if I can provide you with additional or more detailed information. Thanks for your time. -Andy Gigabyte M61P-S3 AMD X2 5000+ 4GB(2x2GB) Kingston PC6400 2x WD 250GB SATA HDD BFG nVidia 8600GTS 256MB Samsung Syncmaster 204BW SB Audigy 4 Antec 500W PSU Antec SLK-3000B

"Can one determine if this is a video card problem or a monitor problem? Try swapping monitors. My 'guess' is an Inverter or lamp problem. TWIMC NTVDM = NT, Win2K and WinXP Virtual DOS Manager http://kb.iu.edu/data

Absolutely, will do. And another tid bit I forgot to mention - when the monitor is turned on and the flickering begins, a high pitched sound can be heard for a few seconds afterward. Gigabyte M61P-S3 AMD X2 5000+ 4GB(2x2GB) Kingston PC6400 2x WD 250GB SATA HDD BFG nVidia 8600GTS 256MB Samsung Syncmaster 204BW SB Audigy 4 Antec 500W PSU Antec SLK-3000B