[SOLVED] Can PSU cause screen flickering

[Avanis]

Hi, newbie question.

While playing video games, my screen just acts weird and I see some black lines flashing all over the screen, white boxes, some random lighting like it's Christmas.

I haven't touched my PSU for like 2-3 years, never cleaned my PSU before, I just clean the dust filter at the bottom of the case where my PSU is facing once in a while, and my PC usually gets a lot of dust, but I take care of it whenever I can.

Some times games are not playable due to the flickering, very annoying, I have to use MSI Afterburner and turn the Memory & Core Clock all the way down so I can decrease the flickering.

Could that be the problem?

Thanks

 

[mangaman]

How old is your monitor? Are you overclocking by any chance? Have you tried another HDMI/displayport cable?

 

[Avanis]

How old is your monitor? Are you overclocking by any chance? Have you tried another HDMI/displayport cable?

I have been using it for about 3 years, a friend gave it to me, it was used, my monitor is Dell e1911c "19, I have tried an old monitor I have but got the same results.

I'm not overclocking, also tried a different cable(DisplayPort)

 

[mangaman]

I have been using it for about 3 years, a friend gave it to me, it was used, my monitor is Dell e1911c "19, I have tried an old monitor I have but got the same results.

I'm not overclocking, also tried a different cable(DisplayPort)

Is your GPU dusty by any chance too? A dirty GPU can actually cause artifacts on your screen. What are your temps for the GPU? If it's high, you might need new themal paste. Also, try updating drivers too, as that might be the issue.

 

[Avanis]

Is your GPU dusty by any chance too? A dirty GPU can actually cause artifacts on your screen. What are your temps for the GPU? If it's high, you might need new themal paste. Also, try updating drivers too, as that might be the issue.

I clean my GPU every 5-6 months, it usually gets some dust but I blow it away, temps while gaming is not too high, around 70 last time I checked. Drivers are also up to date. About the thermal paste, do you mean my CPU?

My GPU is a 960 2BG, I tried using my CPU's integrated graphics instead and my game had no artifacts, CPU is i3 6100.

 

[mangaman]

I meant GPU, as old thermal paste and dust can cause artifacts. I've seen it many times before with dirty GPU's.

Also, try a clean driver install using DDU. DDU wipes all of the old GPU drivers off your system, as sometimes driver updates can conflict with current drivers on the system. I'll link the offical download here.

I should of asked this sooner, but what is your PSU make and model?

Edit: I think I might know the issue after some research. Your PC might be switching between the integrated intel graphics and the actual GPU, causing the screen to go haywire. This guide goes over the issue: [Solved] Screen flickering, screen turning black

 

[Juular]

Looks like general GPU instability to me but it can be caused by PSU too. What's your PSU ?

 

[Avanis]

I meant GPU, as old thermal paste and dust can cause artifacts. I've seen it many times before with dirty GPU's.

Also, try a clean driver install using DDU. DDU wipes all of the old GPU drivers off your system, as sometimes driver updates can conflict with current drivers on the system. I'll link the offical download here.

I should of asked this sooner, but what is your PSU make and model?

Edit: I think I might know the issue after some research. Your PC might be switching between the integrated intel graphics and the actual GPU, causing the screen to go haywire. This guide goes over the issue: [Solved] Screen flickering, screen turning black

EVGA 500 B1, 80+ Bronze 500W

I will try today the things you posted and let you know if it works.

Looks like general GPU instability to me but it can be caused by PSU too. What's your PSU ?

I also think the same, my PSU is EVGA 500 B1, 80+ Bronze 500W

 

[mangaman]

EVGA 500 B1, 80+ Bronze 500W

I will try today the things you posted and let you know if it works.



I also think the same, my PSU is EVGA 500 B1, 80+ Bronze 500W

It was a decent PSU for low end systems when it released back in 2013, but now it's probably past it's life span for a low end PSU.

Try the drivers and the link that I posted first and see if that works. If not, it's mostly either a faulty GPU or the PSU is not working as intended. Either way, it's probably best to replace the PSU with something newer and higher quality.

 

[Karadjgne]

Most video cards only have 1 temp sensor, in the gpu itself. This leaves vram and VRM's at the mercy of the fans/heatsink. Most artifacts are caused by overheating vram. This could require manual physical inspection of fan speeds for multi-fan cards, removal of the shroud to clean out heatsink channels that are clogged (very important for blowers) to repaste of gpu/new thermal pads for vrms/vram etc.

Can't rely on reported gpu temps as it's quite easy to see a gpu at 60°C, yet have the vrms/vram well over 90°C.

Its doubtful its the psu, even with that unit, it's highly probable a gpu issue. Either failing or out of spec.

 

[Avanis]

It was a decent PSU for low end systems when it released back in 2013, but now it's probably past it's life span for a low end PSU.

Try the drivers and the link that I posted first and see if that works. If not, it's mostly either a faulty GPU or the PSU is not working as intended. Either way, it's probably best to replace the PSU with something newer and higher quality.

I tried but it didn't seem to work, I will most likely just upgrade my PSU & GPU whenever I can. Thanks a lot for your answers.

Most video cards only have 1 temp sensor, in the gpu itself. This leaves vram and VRM's at the mercy of the fans/heatsink. Most artifacts are caused by overheating vram. This could require manual physical inspection of fan speeds for multi-fan cards, removal of the shroud to clean out heatsink channels that are clogged (very important for blowers) to repaste of gpu/new thermal pads for vrms/vram etc.

Can't rely on reported gpu temps as it's quite easy to see a gpu at 60°C, yet have the vrms/vram well over 90°C.

Its doubtful its the psu, even with that unit, it's highly probable a gpu issue. Either failing or out of spec.

I will try to repaste and see if that changes anything, appreciate the answer.