Main Monitor Froze, PC displays black screen after BIOS, same issue with new GPU

[joseph6397]

Hi there,

I currently use the MSI B350 motherboard in my computer and had an issue with my PC. I was playing a game when it froze so I assumed that it had crashed. I tried to alt tab and got the icon menu to switch windows but then that froze too. I was able to use the windows on my second monitor but everything on the main one was frozen. I restarted my PC but after it booted past the BIOS loading screen it would only display a black screen. The GPU LED on the motherboard was lit up so I assumed that my graphics card had died. At the time I was using a R9 290X. I took it out of my PC and made sure it was properly connected but the same error occurred. I assumed that the card had died.

I then purchased a brand new MSI GTX 1080, but when I put that in my PC the exact same issue occurred. So I tried a few things after that:

I put my old card back in and tried clearing the CMOS but the same issue occurred.

I then put in the card with the same result.

I updated the BIOS to the newest version but came across the same black screen. (Although now the GPU LED is off)

I have no idea how to fix this or how to proceed from here. Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

 

[rocktalkrock]

You say when your PC first froze while playing a game "I was able to use the windows on my second monitor but everything on the main one was frozen". So the video card was still partially working?

 

[joseph6397]

I guess so yes. The only problem is my main monitor was the one that was frozen so I couldnt access my taskbar or really use my PC at all.

 

[rocktalkrock]

I guess so yes. The only problem is my main monitor was the one that was frozen so I couldnt access my taskbar or really use my PC at all.

Can you list the parts in your computer? Which MSI B350 motherboard, power supply, RAM, operating system, any extra add-on PCIe cards plugged into the system?
How long had the computer been working properly before this problem started?

 

[joseph6397]

AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3GHz 8-Core Processor
Corsair - H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard
Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Samsung - 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Western Digital - Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Asus - Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card
EVGA - 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

This was the build when it froze. It had been working perfectly for over a year.

 

[rocktalkrock]

AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3GHz 8-Core Processor
Corsair - H60 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
MSI - B350 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard
Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Samsung - 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Western Digital - Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Asus - Radeon R9 290X 4GB DirectCU II Video Card
EVGA - 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply

This was the build when it froze. It had been working perfectly for over a year.

1. Do you have good ventilation in your case? Could the machine have been overheating?
2. Try booting with the 1TB Western Digital hard drive disconnected.
3. Try booting with the video card in the 2nd x16 slot, just to see if you can get into Windows.
4. Try booting with just 1 stick or RAM, then try the other stick.

 

[joseph6397]

1. Yup the case is very well ventilated and I keep it pretty clean of dust.
2. Tried that and I had a menu that said Windows didnt load properly and asked me to restart. After restarting I had the same issue with the black screen.
3. I tried both GPU's in the second slots and had the same issue.
4. Tried both sticks separately in diffrent slots and had the same issue.

 

[rocktalkrock]

1. Yup the case is very well ventilated and I keep it pretty clean of dust.
2. Tried that and I had a menu that said Windows didnt load properly and asked me to restart. After restarting I had the same issue with the black screen.
3. I tried both GPU's in the second slots and had the same issue.
4. Tried both sticks separately in diffrent slots and had the same issue.

When booting with 1 stick of RAM it should be located in slot DIMMA2.

 

[joseph6397]

1. Yup the case is very well ventilated and I keep it pretty clean of dust.
2. Tried that and I had a menu that said Windows didnt load properly and asked me to restart. After restarting I had the same issue with the black screen.
3. I tried both GPU's in the second slots and had the same issue.
4. Tried both sticks separately in diffrent slots and had the same issue.

When booting with 1 stick of RAM it should be located in slot DIMMA2.

Yup I tried it in all 4 slots. No luck

 

[rocktalkrock]

1. Yup the case is very well ventilated and I keep it pretty clean of dust.
2. Tried that and I had a menu that said Windows didnt load properly and asked me to restart. After restarting I had the same issue with the black screen.
3. I tried both GPU's in the second slots and had the same issue.
4. Tried both sticks separately in diffrent slots and had the same issue.

When booting with 1 stick of RAM it should be located in slot DIMMA2.

Yup I tried it in all 4 slots. No luck

What do the small EZ Debug LED's next to the 24-pin power connector show when booting?

 

[joseph6397]

1. Yup the case is very well ventilated and I keep it pretty clean of dust.
2. Tried that and I had a menu that said Windows didnt load properly and asked me to restart. After restarting I had the same issue with the black screen.
3. I tried both GPU's in the second slots and had the same issue.
4. Tried both sticks separately in diffrent slots and had the same issue.

When booting with 1 stick of RAM it should be located in slot DIMMA2.

Yup I tried it in all 4 slots. No luck

What do the small EZ Debug LED's next to the 24-pin power connector show when booting?

The only LED that lit up was the GPU LED. But it went away after troubleshooting but I still have the issue. None of the other EZ Debug LED's are lit up.

 

[rocktalkrock]

1. Yup the case is very well ventilated and I keep it pretty clean of dust.
2. Tried that and I had a menu that said Windows didnt load properly and asked me to restart. After restarting I had the same issue with the black screen.
3. I tried both GPU's in the second slots and had the same issue.
4. Tried both sticks separately in diffrent slots and had the same issue.

When booting with 1 stick of RAM it should be located in slot DIMMA2.

Yup I tried it in all 4 slots. No luck

What do the small EZ Debug LED's next to the 24-pin power connector show when booting?

The only LED that lit up was the GPU LED. But it went away after troubleshooting but I still have the issue. None of the other EZ Debug LED's are lit up.

Have you tried switching monitors?

 

[joseph6397]

Yup, I've tried with 3 separate monitors

 

[rocktalkrock]

Yup, I've tried with 3 separate monitors

1. So when you are in the BIOS everything seems to be working properly?
2. When the problem first happened the image on the screen just froze, no blue screen of death? And the icon menu still worked for a brief time after that?

 

[joseph6397]

Yup, I've tried with 3 separate monitors

1. So when you are in the BIOS everything seems to be working properly?
2. When the problem first happened the image on the screen just froze, no blue screen of death? And the icon menu still worked for a brief time after that?

1. Yes it seems like everything is normal in the BIOS.
2. I was playing a game when it froze, so I clicked ALT+Tab and got the little icon menu to select a window. After selecting another window that menu stayed on the screen and was frozen there. Alt tabbing did nothing after this. But the windows on my second monitor seemed to be working fine. There was no blue screen and I havent had one yet while troubleshooting.

 

[labrosfr]

Hey Joseph,
I have the same issue for the past 2 months now.My GPU is a Msi Radeon 270X Hawk.It occurred near the Windows 1083 Spring update and I don't think that is a coincidence.Have you been able to find any solution to your problem?
Any advice is highly appreciated!
Thanks in advance.