Question Black Screen Problem - No BSOD, No Logs, No Dump Files - Driver Timeout?

[ImpossibleTop-458]

Hey all

Hoping you can help with this issue i'm facing. I've recently swapped out some of the hardware on my PC (and sold the old parts so can't use these for testing) but have been facing some issues. Randomly, either when using the computer of if it's idle, the PC will black screen and the monitor will show a 'No Signal' error when I try to manually power it back on. The monitor is fine as a work laptop is also hooked up to it and works with no issue.

I have also faced it where when it black screens it will force a reboot (Gigabyte logo appears before forcing me to log-in again, complete fresh reboot). I've also had it in some games i.e. Watch Dogs:Legion where the screen goes black during gameplay and reports a 'Driver Timeout' problem.

The weirdest part to me is the fact that despite all of this, no BSOD appears or DUMP file is logged. When I check the event viewer, the oldest 'System' log is always: "The System log file was cleared." which I'm not doing so I don't know why this is. I've done a malware scan and there's no viruses on the machine. The date of this event log that clears it is always when I boot up the PC. It does not have a filter on the log to only show certain results, it is genuinely just clearing the log upon boot-up.

Things i've tried:

• Turned off fast startup
• Used DDU to wipe AMD drivers and restore to a previous version - Tried 21.10.2 and 21.10.3 - Not sure what other drivers could be used with how new the GPU is
• Changed power settings to 'High Performance'
• Checked event viewer/Dump files - nothing available. It is enabled as I have checked my advanced system settings.
• Tried a Windows Update
• Disconnecting peripherals - A bluetooth USB was causing the system to freeze-up and not POST previously but this has been disconnected and binned.
• Used sfc /scannow
• Checked that I have connected the correct amount of power cables to GPU - 6+2pin cable needed which is connected to it.
• Checking the temperatures - All temperatures are well within the guidance from the manufacturer. The only thing I've picked up is that the SSD is operating at 44 degrees non-idle (but does not go past 62 when going through intense r/w tasks)
• Tried a small stress-test with Prime95 and FurMark (didn't try for too long - heard this can burn out your components on your PC). Tried a benchmark with 3DMark - didn't crash and ran at optimal performance.

One notable thing of relevance is when I accessed BIOS this morning it reported that it had reset due to the CMOS battery being removed. I have done no such thing at all. The CPU/GPU/Mobo are about less than a month old, NVME is about 3 months old and the rest is less than 1 year old.

What I haven't tried:

• Updating BIOS
• Running Windows in Safe Mode to replicate problems
• Trying a different OS
• Reinstalling Windows

Is there something else I should look at first before trying these fixes? Or is there any point even as it's not logging the events at all so should I look to diagnose this first?

I should add that the computer is still running (unless it does the reboot) as the Wi-Fi Card on the back is flashing and the ARGB fans on the front continue to operate.

Specs:

• AMD Ryzen 5 5600x
• AMD Radeon RX 6600 xt
• 2x 8gb A-DATA 2666mhz RAM
• NVME Western Digital 1TB SSD - Gaming drive
• ADATA SU630 SSD - Boot drive (Only reason this is not on the NVME is that I couldn't be bothered to reinstall)
• Coolermaster 500w PSU - Upon checking PSU calculators it advised that this amount of wattage would remain sufficient to keep the components powered
• Coolermaster Hyper 212 Black Edition CPU cooler
• Windows 10 64 bit

Hope you can help.

Thank you!

EDIT: I would also like to add that when it black screens, I have obviously tried the combination of ctrl+windows key+shift+b to reboot the driver manually. I have also tried ctrl+alt+delete and tried to press the power button. Nothing happens. There is a LED Indicator on the back of my monitor that shows when signal is being received. This is not indicated when it black screens.

 

[rgd1101]

what is the model of this coolermaster 500w psu?

 

[ImpossibleTop-458]

Believe it's the MWE 500W White PSU

 

[ImpossibleTop-458]

Sorry for double-posting but I'd like to add something that may be of relevance.

Previously the PC had a 1050ti and a 3400g CPU with a different motherboard (as I said these parts have been sold now). The PC itself never had black screens. HOWEVER, the PC would randomly refuse to exit stand-by and as a result I would have to reboot it by holding the power button down.

More often than not it seems that it's crashing upon idle rather than crashing under heavy load which I can't seem to work out - would a bad PSU do this (I was under the assumption that a bad PSU would more-so struggle when the PC's under heavy use)?

 

[rgd1101]

low quality psu could have issue handling idle too

 

[ImpossibleTop-458]

Ah fair enough wasn't aware that was the case - would you say most likely culprit is looking like the PSU? Or would you run a couple of 'stress tests' overnight first or try a different OS to see if it does it on there?

Also I didn't pick the PSU otherwise I wouldn't have went for this option - PC was a prebuilt PC that I have modified.