About every 30 seconds my screen goes blank

Ok, so I have been having this problem that when my pc will display a black screen and sometimes some lines and artifacts very quickly before going to a black screen for a second or to, and then return to what I am doing. Some artifacts and black lines exist without the black screen. It is very random, sometimes I can run perfectly for 1/2 an hour without bugs, but sometimes it will black screen 5 times in 30 seconds. It has black screened at least 15-20 times (no joke) typing this thread alone, but the chance is when I use it tomorrow it will work a lot better. (edit: it is, but still inconsistent.) This happens when idle, web browsing, watching youtube, and gaming. My pc is responsive when the screen is black, I can click on things and type in fields and it seems only my display is killed. Sound also continues to play when the screen is blank, making me think my GPU is to blame. My GPU is running stock speeds as overclocking makes this work. My cpu is stock right now, but when overclocked to 3.7 or 3.8ghz the problem is the same. My ram is at the rated 3200mhz
My system specs are as follows:
MSI B350 Gaming Plus motherboard (newer bios)
AMD Ryzen 3 1200 (was oc to 3.7ghz but now is stock 3.1)
G.skill Ripjaws V 2x4gb 3200mhz ddr4 ram.
PNY Nvidia Geforce GTX 1050 2gb edition.
HP s700 SATA SSD with windows on it
Kingston SA400 240gb SATA SSD game drive
NZXT S340 full atx case
corsair cx550m 550watt PSU
Windows 10 PRO 64bit
BenQ 1080p 60hz VA monitor | i thought it was ips until yesterday :(
Any help is GREATLY appreciated. My GPU and cpu idle temps when this happens are around 25-35c. Neither CPU nor GPU usage spikes during these black screens. I cannot afford to change my gpu right now and i don't know if my warranty is valid due to my overclocking.
 
Jan 2, 2019
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I am almost sure this is an issue with the connector between the monitor and the GPU (busted cable or something). Try a different port and replace the cable. If this doesn't help, and it should, it's still unlikely to be anything other than a monitor malfunction from my experience.
 

That is likely. I am using the cheapest dvi cable i could find on ebay since my 10 month old moniter (bought in 2018) doesnt support hdmi or display port somehow.
 
Sadly i dont think this is that simple... I figured i ought to update my nvidia drivers, however after they download (yess i have disk space free), they give me an error or just never get past "preparing to install" my current drivers are from november, so not too old, however i have heard of the same artifacta and driver issues with dying video cards. I dont have integrated gpu to test on to see ifthe problem stays, making it a cable problem. I may have to buy another dvi cable or a dvi to hdmi adapter since i have some red and black hdmi cables i want to use with my dvi moniter.
 

knickle

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Jan 25, 2008
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The best way to determine if your GPU or monitor is defective is to test the monitor on a different PC and the GPU on a different monitor. If you don't have another PC at your disposal, you can always get creative. Test the monitor by connecting it to a game console or DVD player, or even a KODI box. Test the PC/GPU on an LCD TV.

Even if you can test only one of those options, it should give you a clearer picture of where the problem lies.
 

knickle

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Jan 25, 2008
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It sounds like it's not the monitor, although VGA is analog and DVI is digital (although capable of analog too). There's still a small possibility a digital signal problem internally in the monitor, but unlikely in my opinion.

I'd turn my attention to the fact that you are unable to install a new driver. It sounds like something has gone wonky in windows. Have you tried other versions of the driver or just the one you downloaded recently? Are you able to at least uninstall and re-install the old driver?

You might have to download DDU and wipe out all traces of the video card drivers from your system to start fresh. I've never needed to use DDU, so I can't offer any experience with that regard. I believe you have to run it in Windows Safe Mode though.
 
Since I have a Pascal GPU the DVI connector isn't capable of VGA
I have tried again and the latest driver installed fine. Since this post started i have reinstalled windows (os corrupted) freeing up some disk space and potentially fixing any windows error.
I have my CPU stable at 3.7ghz, memory at 3200mhz and gpu at +100 core and +575 mem.
I hope my GPU isn't the issue. I tore the GPU down to the board and cleaned all of the dust off. Nothing looks abnormal and the thermal paste is still goey after about 1.5 years of gaming use.
CPU and GPU temps are under 50 while gaming, but do rise up a bit after a while.
The screen has blanked 6 or 7 times while typing this alone...
I have overclocked the GPU but even at stock, I have had the same results. I think i will reset the clocks anyhow.
 
Well my cx550m should handle my system with the 1050 just fine. It even handles my new rx480 aswell.

I think this is a power issue tho. My screen blanks every time my ac turns on. The outdoor unit is on the other side of the wall my desk is pressed up against. Hear the unit kick on, screen blank. Plug something into the receptical my pcs plugged into, screen blanks sometimes.

I wilm try moving my pc and monitor to a different outlett
 
I only have 2 GPUs right now. The HDMI cable did change. I went from a cheap one to an expensive one.
It hasn't done it yet today, so maybe the HDMI helped?

I didn't get much testing done with the cloudbook (basically a windows 10 netbook) because it is soooo slow and won't even play 720p youtube without issues. Even though its from late 2017. Sigh.
I tested it running some games in dosbox fine for about 30min.
 
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