GPU black screens, Tried everything i know, RMA'd twice.

PossumJones

Honorable
Jul 24, 2013
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10,640
Asus Crosshair V Formula Z
8350 at stock speed
Asus gtx 770 direct cu II
8 gb mushkin redline memory
XFX 750 watt gold rated
Im using nvidia driver 9.18.13.3489
Using BIOS version 1801

I built this computer in July 2013, it had a Thermaltake Black Widow psu 850 watts, The Black Widow moniker should have made me think, but it didnt. I played for about a month, went to turn it on one day and it couldnt see the hdd or ssd. Called Asus, RMA, south bridge failure. I didnt want to wait for my mb, so i purchased an Asus M5A99FX. This is when my problem started. Playing any demanding games last only a min or two, Itll run the kombuster program for only a min or two, the same with firestrike. I hoped it would change when i got my mobo back, yes i know that was stupid. Got my mb back, still black screen. Called Asus RMA GTX 770, they said they replaced some mosfets. I still get black screens. I decided to buy a better power supply. When changing out the PSU i noticed in the TR2, a cylinder with a puncture and a dried trail of yellow leading down to a dreid puddle of yellow. So im thinking this is probably it, Feeling excited I install the new PSU, still black screens. RMA the card again, this time it tested fine for them, they do nothing. I still get black screens. MSI afterburner program is on my pc, Nvidia control panel, and the Nvidia game experience thing, Maybe some programs are causing complications? I have a gt630 in it right now and the system is stable, never black screens, but Asus says the card is fine. Anyone got any ideas to try, I thought about underclocking the card. I feel my only option now is Asus's rapid replacement, that way i can at least get another card, Id much rather just have mine work. Any help is appreciated.
 
Solution
I'd try a fresh Windows install, making sure to use newest version of all chipset drivers and BIOS for your mobo, then test the GPU again with latest drivers.

Also, leave any non-essential components unplugged when you test as they may be causing conflicts.

Still getting black screens, almost completed a firestrike run. Could it be other driver issues, maybe with the cpu? This chip was in a different motherboard for a bit and it had some different stuff. They are both 990fx boards and both from asus. I uninstalled all the nvidia stuff, and ran a sweep, it deleted some folders, shutdown, put the 770 back in, booted windows, went to nvidias site, got the 770 drivers, but no luck...
 
Still getting black screens, almost completed a firestrike run. Could it be other driver issues, maybe with the cpu? This chip was in a different motherboard for a bit and it had some different stuff. They are both 990fx boards and both from asus. I uninstalled all the nvidia stuff, and ran a sweep, it deleted some folders, shutdown, put the 770 back in, booted windows, went to nvidias site, got the 770 drivers, but no luck...


 
Hmm I had the same issue as you and when I reinstalled drivers that fixed it. Faulty psu maybe? It may be dieing. What are your gpu temps idle and under load? Use gputweak or gpuz and coretemp to monitor also if you can see what the temps are right before a crash.
 
I'd try a fresh Windows install, making sure to use newest version of all chipset drivers and BIOS for your mobo, then test the GPU again with latest drivers.

Also, leave any non-essential components unplugged when you test as they may be causing conflicts.

 
Solution
My temp are around 60c, The PSU is brand new and supposed to be good, i replaced the shitty TR2 from Thermaltake. a fresh install? i could try that. As far as the chipset drivers go, can i unistall them and do a sweep like with the GPU drivers? Will i be able to use the computer when those drivers are gone?
 
Dunno if this helps at all. I had a Radeon 5870 from XFX and from day 1 if I use the HDMI port after about 10 minutes it black screens on me. I never RMA'd it because both DVI ports work and thats what I use.. But from research online most of those cards had that HDMI issue..

...So maybe its poor engineering? I dunno.
 


I still think it's GPU drivers. I use the same card, had the same issue and GPU drivers fixed it, I use the DVI and HDMI and have no problems. When you blackscreen does your PC powerdown like fans etc?
 


Wasn't trying to hijack the thread, just sharing my experience. And no the PC doesn't power down, I figured that it was over heating when using the hdmi.. but like I said, I only use DVI anyways, so it was never a issue.

But its probably not any help to the OP.
 
no my pc does not power down, it continues running, i can even hear the sounds of a game continue on without a hitch, a few times it has completely crashed, but most of the time 99%, it just black screens, Im using a korean x star monitor, so the black screen is actually a lot of colored screens and some striped ones just running in sequence. I have tried some other monitors also and they get a traditional black screen. Just a note Im running OCCT 4.4.0 right now it takes a hr, its has only been running for 15 mins, says it has found 159 errors. I just updated the chipset drivers, i dont think there was anything new or different. There is a new BIOS for my board, I extracted it to a flash drive, i have to go to the job now, but when i get home ill try flashing the friggin bios. fingers crossed.
 
I flashed BIOS, im now running 1901. All chipset drivers are current, I did a sweep on the GPU drivers and the latest driver from nvidia, 9.18.13.3523 and a standard driver are all that is on here now. Im gonna try and run firestrike, and play some games, we'll see.
 
no luck. still getting colorful black screens and listening to gameplay in the background. Im not sure what to try. i have previosly had gpu tweak, and uninstalled it, ive had afterburner from msi, and unistalled it, maybe i have wierd registry values? I dont understand what a reinstall of windows would do but i might try. maybe i should get a ps4? Could the pcie slots be defective, ive tried two. Maybe i have a bad cpu, but it works fine with a different card. psu should be fine, its pretty nice and brand new. What if i get new drives, ssd and hdd, and just start over, even if i reinstall windows whatever is there would still be on the drives , right? i could swap out mobos. i do have another. i feel like i was on the right track with it being a driver issue, i think the sweeping helped. id never heard of that makes sense though. One of my chipset drivers had a duplicate folder and i had a lot of nvidia drivers and other nvidia bs. maybe its a software thing, some leftover from a program that controls gpu function.
 

Yes ive tried two other monitors, an asus 1080 with an hdmi, and a lower resolution monitor with a dvi, my current monitor only has dvi. This doesnt happen with a gt630 installed, although ive never tried running firestrike with the gt630, but it will run kombustor for an hr+, i just now played for around 2.5 hrs, on high settings. everything was fine and then colorful screen and stripes. the only abnormal numbers gpu z recorded at the time of crash was a drop in memory clock, I know it fluctuates and this was a common number i see in this column, it was during gameplay, why would the clock drop during the peak of gameplay? would that cause a loss of signal. my monitor has no post processing, it takes it signal directly from the card.
 


Thank you, i will go through those post thoroughly and try some more stuff this weekend. Ive been using the same ram and it is very stable with the gt630, this is why i thought psu, and my first one was faulty, bought another better XFX gold, still same problem. The system works. low a med settings, cloud gate ( not firestrike) will run forever. Anything challenging and its out quick, no playing witcher 3. Its not hot, never over 55c. I have cold ambient temps here.
 


I have not, yet. Im a chef and therefore really busy on the weekend, Im off on sun and ill try reseating my ram, i have to reove the cooler to get to the ram, so..... ill do that this sun, if that doesnt work im going to disassemble, and try putting it back together, clean everything, clear cmos, re wire, also my mb has an 8 pin as well as a 4 pin power plug, i currently only have the 8 pin plugged in, sunday ill run them both, as well as reinstalling my dvd drive in case i reinstall windows.
 
Thk Pc Jesus, It finally works, I chose citizenlee because the reinstall seems to have fixed everything. Whatever issues i was having for the past six months, is gone. I wish I could choose a few best answers, because i really appreciate all the help from IRyannHD and Terry4536, Those threads were very helpfull. In the end I realize I shouldnt have cheaped out on the PSU, I know that been said a million times, but i was unaware of the different ratings used (peak v continuous), Second When i put all my stuff on another mobo, i should have done a clean reinstall of windows, I feel like it would have saved all the frustration of months with a broken pc and the second RMA. So thks everyone including PC Jesus, he's probably a mod here.