Monitor will go into standby at random intervals in game; restart required

[hamgoblin45]

Hey guys, I've been having a problem lately where I'll be playing video games and suddenly my display will go into standby mode as if the computer had been shut off. All the lights and fans still whirr in the computer itself. If I have headphones plugged in at the time, I will hear a rapid buzzing noise which I suspect is a looped fragment of whatever I was listening to when the "crash" happened.

About my computer:
-CPU: Amd Athlon II X3 460 Processor (3 CPUs), `3.4GHz
-GPU: GeForce Nvidia GTX 770
-12GB RAM
-600W PSU (Which makes a terrible rattling noise for the first 4 minutes or so once booting after a hour+ of being off or asleep. I know its the PSU's fan)

My GPU temperature never exceeds 80 degrees C, and is often around 40 when the "crash" occurs.

Here are things I've tried:
-Dusting out the WHOLE computer (even disassembling the PSU and getting in between fan and box)
-Completely wiping graphics drivers using Display Driver Uninstaller and then reinstalling the latest Nvidia drivers
-Reseating GPU and replugging every outlet to the PSU

*Some factors that may help pinpoint the problem
-It happens in both fullscreen and windowed games (though it seems more frequent in fullscreen), both on low and highest settings
-It never happens outside of a video game
-Never had the problem before upgrading to the 770 from an AMD Radeon 7800 series
-Games that the crash happens during include: Rust, DayZ, League of Legends, Planetside 2, Payday 2, The Forest, Wolf Among Us, Guild Wars 2

I've been having this problem for weeks and could never find any conclusion posts on other people's threads regarding similiar issues. Any help would be appreciated, and I will follow this up with my results so others can actually try to fix this if they have the same problem in the future.

Thanks!

 

[i7Baby]

What make and model monitor? How old?

What power plan are you using in Windows? Which Windows?

 

[Calnin]

I'm curious on the exact name of the PSU.

 

[hamgoblin45]

What make and model monitor? How old?

What power plan are you using in Windows? Which Windows?

It happens on 2 monitors. A Samsung HDTV monitor (Model No. LS26TDNSUV/ZA) of 1900x1200 resolution and an HP S1931a monitor of 1366x768 (made in June 2010)

I am using a custom power plan where the display turns off after 10 min and Computer goes to sleep after 30. I use Windows 7 Professional

 

[i7Baby]

If it happens to both monitors then its most likely the pc doing it. Try changing your power plan.

 

[hamgoblin45]

Do you recommend a particular default power setting?
Why might the power setting be doing this?

 

[i7Baby]

Just change it to display off 1 hour and computer sleeps in 2 hours. The see if you get the same problems.

 

[hamgoblin45]

Just change it to display off 1 hour and computer sleeps in 2 hours. The see if you get the same problems.

Yes, I do have the same problems. Only tried one game, but it was the exact same issue as I've described.

 

[Calnin]

What is your power supply?

 

[hamgoblin45]

What is your power supply?

I honestly couldn't say other than that it's 600W (the sticker is placed in such a way that I would have to dismantle my computer to see it) I believe its either eagle or seahawk brand

Sorry I can't provide more info on it :\

 

[Calnin]

I want to say it is your power supply giving you problems. I'm assuming its eagle tech, which is a tier 5 brand.

 

[i7Baby]

Try another but good power supply. 600W minimum .Preferably from Tier One - http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-1804779/power-supply-unit-tier-list.html#13224310

 

[hamgoblin45]

I have no spare power supply yet, so I can't test this for some time. I assume you are correct about it being my PSU since it also makes that terrible rattling noise. I can confirm that changing the power setting didn't work, but can't confirm the PSU

 

[hamgoblin45]

I've definitely confirmed that the issue is with the PSU. I have been monitoring the GPU usage and power using MSI Afterburner and have found that my screen will flicker black like it's about to do the "crash" once the power usage reached around 50%. If I can drop that number by a lot in just a few seconds (pausing a video, shutting down the game) it will recover and not crash.

My theory is that I got a shitty, cheap PSU and the bearings on the fan wore out much faster than its better counterparts would have. I think this is making the fan for the power supply run slower, or more erratic, and the PSU is not getting properly cooled. When the GPU demands more power from it (during intensive gaming) it overheats and makes my computer think its turned off, even though it's still trying to run.

If anyone else is having this issue, I suggest trying a different PSU or a lower powered graphics card to see if the issue persists. If it doesn't, then the problem is your power supply. Thanks for your help everyone!