New PC: Display rescales every startup - cuts off

[gathermewool]

I bought a new Dell PC with a 23" HD (1080p) monitor. The video card has a DVI out and HDMI out.

OK, so the monitor came with an AVI cable and an AVI to DVI adapter. I ran this for a week before the HDMI cable I ordered came in and there were no issues - the display looked fine and there were no scaling issues.

When the HDMI cable came in and was installed I immediately noticed that the edged were cut off by about 1/2" on all sides. I'm no computer guru, so it took me 10 minutes to finally figure out that I could manually rescale by doing the following:


ATI Catalyst Control Center (video card software) > Advanced > Display (or something like that.)

My problem is that the scaling was already set to 0%. When I moved the slider from 0% to another value the display size changed. When I moved the slider back to 0% it filled the screen completely - scaled perfectly. Every time I shut down and start back up it does this, and I have to open up CCC and move the scaling from 0% then back to 0%. I don't get it.

Is this a software issue or HDMI cable issue? I don't use my HDMI for sound - I have sound connected directly to the sound card - so I might try using a DVI cable, though I'd really rather not spend money on another cable if it's not necessary.

FWIW, I was told it didn't matter by some one more tech-savvy than me, so I bought the cheapest HDMI cable I could find on amazon. I bought from the same vendor said tech-savvy individual bought from, since he has ordered multiple HDMI cables from them w/out issue.

Thanks for your help. I'm going to try the AVI cable again tonight to ensure the issue in fact doesn't occur then, too.

 

[The_Jeff]

I wonder if there's a bios setting where it recognizes/commands the VGA plug is empty and boots with the HDMI.

Then windows sees the HDMI on bootup, not afterward when it turns on the "2nd monitor" and other luxuries.

 

[gathermewool]

Some one mentioned something simple: are the drivers up to date? I thought that I had updated everything that hadn't done so automatically, but I guess I missed one. After the update, everything is working perfectly!

FYI, ATI apparently doesn't automatically update, make sure to check for updates or to do so now if you have a new PC and haven't already. I'm not sure why the old drive didn't scale properly, but everything is a-ok now, I don't care to investigate further.