Display shutting off but computer staying on

VGM8Richard

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Aug 12, 2015
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Hello,

I have a two monitor setup and have since about a week or so, been experiencing a big problem where both of my monitors just shut themselves down for no apparent reason.

At first I figured it had to my cooler / pc temperature as a sort of failsafe shutdown.
So I looked at the temperature and it was very, very high.
So I did some tuning, even bought cooling paste and applied it.
I took the parts out, took all the dust off and put them back in.
Uninstalled and reinstalled all of my drivers.
(even resetted cmos because why not)
Checked Bios firmware.
My temperature is more than fine now, but the problem is still here.

Sometimes, it will even happen on idle, but it will happen guarenteed when stressing the pc, like when I play Overwatch. Both screens will turn black within the first minute of starting the game.
"No video input" it will say.

I have exhausted all ideas that I had and that the internet seemed to have in regards to what I thought was my problem. Do any of you have an idea perhaps?
 
Solution
I can totally understand the concern. If you can find a store locally that you could return the new PSU unit to in case it doesn't fix it, that may give you added comfort.

Unfortunately it's hard to test power supplies. There are PSU testers, but they only test for voltage. Your PSU would pass because the tester doesn't apply a load.

Getting the GPU under load, and then testing it while under load, is extremely difficult and requires additional electronics equipment.
This is caused by your Power Supply.

What happens is your GPU is being starved of power. Your PSU can't supply enough amps on the 12v rail. Because the CPU and motherboard also depend on the 12v Rail, but demand much less amps, it is the Graphics Card that fails, while the rest of the PC remains fine.

The GPU doesn't always recover, but many times it does - such as in your case.

This is almost garaunteed to be the power supply. I would imagine you have a generic, low tiere, or inadequate power supply. It is also possible you simply got a bad one.

But again, this problem is certainly caused by inadequate power to the GPU.
 

VGM8Richard

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Aug 12, 2015
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How would I solve this? I've had this PC and all of its parts for over 2 years and it has worked.
The power supply has always been good enough and only since last week has this problem started happening.
You're saying, if I replace my 700w PS then my GPU will get enough power and the problem will stop, did I get that right?
 
You are correct. The PSU probably had low quality liquid capacitors and no longer functions as well enough to function. Ever heard of people advertising "Solid Japanese Capacitors"? This is why! Solid caps are much better.

A 700W is probably more than you need to be honest, I don't know your build but 700W is pretty big unless you're using an AMD system. The key is getting a quality PSU that can actually output the power its rated for comfortably.



 

VGM8Richard

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Aug 12, 2015
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I will try replacing the PSU then.
Is there a way to basically know for sure whether or not it's the PSU? I trust your expertise however I already spent money trying to get the cooler to function better, which didn't turn out to fix anything. Before I throw money at something I'd rather pinpoint the exact problem. (which so far, I've tried endlessly but to no avail). If I knew 100% what the problem was, I'd just pay for a replacement and be done with it, but as it stands I can't afford a complete new rig so I need to be a bit careful with overspending.
 
I can totally understand the concern. If you can find a store locally that you could return the new PSU unit to in case it doesn't fix it, that may give you added comfort.

Unfortunately it's hard to test power supplies. There are PSU testers, but they only test for voltage. Your PSU would pass because the tester doesn't apply a load.

Getting the GPU under load, and then testing it while under load, is extremely difficult and requires additional electronics equipment.
 
Solution

VGM8Richard

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Aug 12, 2015
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I'll run to my local shop coming weekend, I currently have a 700w coolermaster atx btw, I checked. So it's not a terrible one I don't think. It may just be at the end of its electronic lifespan though, I have no way of knowing.

Thanks for the replies Greens, I hope this fixes it, if not, I may return as I have exhausted all other options I could think off.