Black screen when gaming, help

froggy1985

Hi All,

Hoping someone can help me with this because I am pulling my hair out. I'm not an expert by any means but I recently built a pc and I'm getting a black screen and frozen audio when gaming. This has happened on 3 different games, DOOM, Rise of Tomb Raider and GTA 5.

Basically I will be playing for a few mins (timing varies) and out of nowhere screen will go black and audio will just turn into a humming noise. Fans are still spinning and lights are on but screen is black and I need to hard reset the PC to do anything.

So far I have tried uninstalling all drivers and reinstalling, to no avail. I have monitored temps for GPU and CPU and they seem fine. (50ish for CPU and 70ish during intense game sections on GPU)

I'm wondering if my PSU could be underpowered, it meets the criteria in any power calculators I have used, I know it's on the lower end but if the PSU was the problem it would cause the whole system to shut down, right? I pulled this from an old PC, happy to replace this if I have to but wouldn't mind avoiding further spend.

There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason as to crash times. I can be obliterating dozens of monsters in DOOM just fine and then I'll walk down a hallway and get a black screen.

Specs are:
CPU: i5 6500
GPU: Sapphire rx480 nitro + OC 8GB (I've not touched overclocking)
Mobo: b150m bazooka
Ram: 2 X 4gb ddr4
PSU: Corsair 430w builder series bronze
Drives: 250gb crucial Ssd, 1tb WD HDD
Monitor: LG 29um55-p @2560x1080

Same thing happens whether I run games from SSD or HDD. Graphics card chews through DOOM on ultra 60fps no problem, no lag or frame drops, so I don't think I need to lower settings.

If anyone has any ideas on what could be the issue or how I can try to find out (I don't have any spare components to swap out) then I would be forever in your debt.

Happy to provide any more info if required.

Thanks

gflood

Under load the GPU may be pulling too much power from what is left in the PSU causing the shutdown. This is the most likely plausible explanation. I am assuming you have BIOS configured correctly. Check PCI bus speed. If its 16x then temporarily lower it to 8x and see if you can repro the crash.

Also check the Crimson drivers. I am on 16.12.1 at the moment and they appear stable. With some previous versions I was getting crashes under certain scenarios.

Since its a new build I am assuming you have updated BIOS and all relevant drivers to latest online versions.

froggy1985

gflood wrote: »

Under load the GPU may be pulling too much power from what is left in the PSU causing the shutdown. This is the most likely plausible explanation. I am assuming you have BIOS configured correctly. Check PCI bus speed. If its 16x then temporarily lower it to 8x and see if you can repro the crash.

Also check the Crimson drivers. I am on 16.12.1 at the moment and they appear stable. With some previous versions I was getting crashes under certain scenarios.

Since its a new build I am assuming you have updated BIOS and all relevant drivers to latest online versions.

Thanks for the reply, appreciate it. I was on 16.12.1 and I think 16.12.2 was available from the AMD site too. Same issue either way. I've deleted all other drivers and reinstalled everything and no joy.

So your saying (excuse my ignorance here I am a novice at this) that an underpowered PSU could be an issue without necessarily switching the PC off? This could be it, it's a couple of years old, I might just take the hit and buy something tomorrow with a bit of headroom like a 650w or something?

What else should I be looking at when configuring bios correctly? I didn't spend too much time on it as it seemed to detect everything correctly and defaults made sense in most cases. I will try your suggestion on PCI bus speed.

Again, appreciate your help.

satguy

The Corsair 430w PSU is tight,,,,but should be ok

The RX 480 should eat Doom and never break a sweat.

So.. take out your ram, and then re install it,,
Get the latest AMD software http://support.amd.com/en-us/download
In game turn off AMD FreeSync
Hook up your PC to a TV with VGA or HDMI,, make sure to set to native res of TV ,, ie, 720p or 1080p
Re seat your 480 and make sure the 6pin/8pin is in right.
If using HDMI,, is it HDMI v1.4 or better, maybe try DP

Best of luck..

TerrorFirmer

The wattage of the power supply is plenty but it may be just on its way out, when you've already checked cpu and GPU temps. when you say different drivers, Did you try older/newer drivers as well as a simple reinstall? also try running with single ram sticks to rule out either being faulty. BIOS shouldn't be an issue but no harm Loading default settings and rebooting in case ram timings or something else was accidentally set incorrectly.

SterlingArcher

Just make sure to check its not a faulty hdmi. Which would show if you using YouTube a day and no problems.

froggy1985

OK, so, sorry for the delay, only got to try this again today, I've a young daughter so weekend gaming time is at a premium! Thanks for all suggestions

I have tried a few other things this evening. Firstly some different software to rule out temperatures, the one I was using previoulsy didn't record temperatures to review after crashes and it's easy to take your eyes off when gaming. Anyway this one records and when it last crashed the graphics card was at 60C and the CPU was at 53C so I don't think there is any issue there. Also ran it afterwards with side window of case open and still had the same issue

I have also tried:
- reseating RAM, GPU, and all associated power / mobo connections
- tried different HDMI lead
- tried running on a 40" 1080p TV I also have hooked up (was intending on using this for a second screen mainly for emulation / armchair stuff)
- Tried with and without V-Sync
- Freesync is not switched on
- Tried two different versions of graphics card drivers, most recent and slightly older one
- Windows RAM test passed. Plus, same crash with one stick of RAM
- Reset BIOS to default settings. Then checked all settings to confirm default was correct...it is, far as I can see.
- All drivers are current

Same result on all, again doesn't seem to matter what is happening in-game, can get through intense sections no problem and then it will just fail randomly, normally just before a checkpoint :rolleyes: - it only happens when I am playing games, I can be watching video or browsing all day and it will be fine. Sometimes happens after 30 minutes gaming, sometimes 5, but always happens.

So unless anyone has any other brainwaves the only thing I can think of is to replace the PSU with a newer, stronger one and cross my fingers. And if that fails I think I will throw the PC out the window and get my Sega Megadrive out when I want to play games .

Thanks

minitrue

Do you have the extra power connectors connected normally to the graphics card?

If it's just before a checkpoint maybe that is texture loading time, perhaps the graphics card has some faulty ram :-/

froggy1985

minitrue wrote: »

Do you have the extra power connectors connected normally to the graphics card?

If it's just before a checkpoint maybe that is texture loading time, perhaps the graphics card has some faulty ram :-/

Yeah all connected correctly, have taken them out and put them back, made sure there was no pressure on them from any other wires etc. The checkpoint comment was not too serious, the crashes are random as far as I can see, just always seems to happen at the worst time

darkpagandeath

Make sure you are using the direct 12v rail from the PSU to power the Gfx card Make sure you have the correct cable Some have 2 heads split or a larger one. Make sure there is no tab in the Gfx cards fan from shipping. Could be a thermal throttle. Seen as you are not getting any artifacts in normal use I would say it's drivers. Do the clean uninstall and download the latest Crimson bundle. The card does pull 150w though.

Icyseanfitz

Have you used ddu to uninstall your drivers? Handy little piece of software for properly uninstalling GPU drivers, suppose you could try and set the gpus power limit down with afterburner and see if that helps, if it does its a power problem.

You don't have another GPU lying around that you can try?

RossieMan

You haven't your GPU overclocked by any chance?

froggy1985

I used ddu to uninstall drivers and try different ones a couple of times. I dont have the GPU overclocked, I'll wait until I find the root cause of this issue before I even think about that.

I ordered a new PSU online today as I don't have too much free time to explore other options, I should have it Wednesday. Even if it doesn't work it's probably worth the money for me to rule that out as a potential cause! I will revisit other options is the PSU fails. Thanks for all input so far, I will update once I have tried the new PSU, hopefully with good news.

Thanks

Redfox25

Try underclocking it to see if that works for you.
The reduced power draw "might" allow it to work. If it does it narrows it down to the PSU not putting out enough power.

srsly78

RMA the graphics card.

mayordenis

Just going to post this here, likely unrelated, but I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out some black screen crashes I was getting with my r9 390, tried everything I could think of, ended up needing to update the BIOS of the graphics card itself, which is a bit fiddly but sorted it.

darkpagandeath

mayordenis wrote: »

Just going to post this here, likely unrelated, but I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out some black screen crashes I was getting with my r9 390, tried everything I could think of, ended up needing to update the BIOS of the graphics card itself, which is a bit fiddly but sorted it.

True there is a dip switch on the side of most of them with a stock Bios and the one it was shipped with.

froggy1985

mayordenis wrote: »

Just going to post this here, likely unrelated, but I was pulling my hair out trying to figure out some black screen crashes I was getting with my r9 390, tried everything I could think of, ended up needing to update the BIOS of the graphics card itself, which is a bit fiddly but sorted it.

Never heard of this thanks, will try have a goo this evening and see if I can do something. The problem is that every little alteration I try it might take 40 odd minutes before it crashes, so it's a slow process with trial and error and I don't have too much time to devote to it at the moment.

extra-ordinary_

froggy1985 wrote: »

...The problem is that every little alteration I try it might take 40 odd minutes before it crashes, so it's a slow process with trial and error and I don't have too much time to devote to it at the moment.

Just use furmark or whatever to stress the f*ck out of your gfx card and see how you get on - it shouldn't take too long.

froggy1985

Update for those interested, or who might find this thread on google at some point.

Issue still not resolved. I bought a new PSU and same result, I will probably keep it anyway as it wasn't to expensive and it's no harm having a bit more power, old psu was a few years old.

Have also tried:
- Stress test, Furmark and another piece of software (name escapes me) - in both cases I did not experience a crash having left both on for a good while.
- Tried flipping the BIOS switch. This moved the card to a "quiet mode" with a lower speed - Although it seemed to last a little longer than usual, I still got the same crash on GTA5
- Flashed gpu BIOS, using instructions from another thread I found on someone having a vaguely similar issue - no improvement
- Sacrificed several small animals to the PC gods - no improvement

So I have relented and contacted Amazon to exchange the gfx card. I don't know what else to do at this point. In fairness to them they are posting another one out to me express post and I can hold on to the (potentially) faulty one while I wait. I should have it on Monday. If there is a problem with that card then I honestly don't know what else to do!

Thanks for all suggestions so far, if nothing else at least I am learning a little bit about troubleshooting issues.

Icyseanfitz

You've probably tried this but have you tried using different cable's? Just had an issue myself of random black screens and display staying in sleep mode, turned out to be a dodgy display port cable.

froggy1985

Icyseanfitz wrote: »

You've probably tried this but have you tried using different cable's? Just had an issue myself of random black screens and display staying in sleep mode, turned out to be a dodgy display port cable.

I have tried this, different cables, different displays, same result

I am resigned to it just being a hardware issue at this stage, if it happens with the replacement card I haven't a clue where else to look

Icyseanfitz

Yeah its sounding like it has to be the GPU itself, had problems myself with 2 gtx 1080's over the last 3 months, and my 390x last summer haha beginning to think I'm cursed tbh

froggy1985

Got a replacement graphics card from Amazon. Problem solved. Still none the wiser as to what was causing the problem (stress tests fine, but can't run games?) but I have tested for a few hours over the last couple of evenings and I have had no crashes at all. Praise the lord

Thanks for all suggestions.

Gadgetman496

froggy1985 wrote: »

Got a replacement graphics card from Amazon. Problem solved. Still none the wiser as to what was causing the problem (stress tests fine, but can't run games?) but I have tested for a few hours over the last couple of evenings and I have had no crashes at all. Praise the lord

Thanks for all suggestions.

Go enjoy now

Icyseanfitz

froggy1985 wrote: »

Got a replacement graphics card from Amazon. Problem solved. Still none the wiser as to what was causing the problem (stress tests fine, but can't run games?) but I have tested for a few hours over the last couple of evenings and I have had no crashes at all. Praise the lord

Thanks for all suggestions.

dodgy gpu enjoy