Question Monitors losing signal

Dec 6, 2020
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Over the past couple of days my 2 monitors keep losing signal and then won't turn back on until I restart the PC. Today just over the past couple of hours this has happened over 5 times.

I can still hear sound, my keyboard & mouse also both work even when my monitors are what seem to be dead.

I've recently upgraded my PSU & GPU within the last month, could this be the cause?

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition 8GB GDDR6
PSU: 750W Seasonic Focus GX 750 80PLUS Gold, Single Rail, Fully Modular, 62A, 120mm Fan
RAM: 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX Black, PC4-24000 (3000), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 15-17-17-35, XMP 2.0, 1.35V
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700 CPU @ 3.20GHz, 3192 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
Motherboard: MSI Z370 GAMING PLUS Intel Socket 1151

EDIT:

On one of my startups earlier it looked like it was on old drivers (1 monitor loaded + strectched screen) so I updated the drivers and my screens went back to normal the problem still happens.
 
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Dec 6, 2020
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Moved to the GPU section. This is very likely a GPU and/or power issue.

Is your motherboard BIOS the most current version? BIOS updates are often needed to optimally work with new GPUs.

What GPU and PSU did you have before this config?

Thank you.

'Is your motherboard BIOS the most current version?' - I wouldn't know how to tell you to be honest (bit of a tech noob)

GIGABYTE GV-N1070AORUS-8GD Nvidia AORUS GeForce GTX 1070 8G 8 GB 256 Bit Memory DP/DVI/HDMI PCI Express Graphics Card
Corsair CP-9020048-UK Builder Series CX600 ATX/EPS 80 PLUS Bronze Power Supply Unit, 600 W
 

xenthia

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Sep 20, 2012
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Over the past couple of days my 2 monitors keep losing signal and then won't turn back on until I restart the PC. Today just over the past couple of hours this has happened over 5 times.

I can still hear sound, my keyboard & mouse also both work even when my monitors are what seem to be dead.

I've recently upgraded my PSU & GPU within the last month, could this be the cause?

GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Founders Edition 8GB GDDR6
PSU: 750W Seasonic Focus GX 750 80PLUS Gold, Single Rail, Fully Modular, 62A, 120mm Fan
RAM: 32GB (4x8GB) Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX Black, PC4-24000 (3000), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 15-17-17-35, XMP 2.0, 1.35V
CPU: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-8700 CPU @ 3.20GHz, 3192 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
Motherboard: MSI Z370 GAMING PLUS Intel Socket 1151

EDIT:

On one of my startups earlier it looked like it was on old drivers (1 monitor loaded + strectched screen) so I updated the drivers and my screens went back to normal the problem still happens.
https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z370-GAMING-PLUS#support-vga
It seems that specific graphics card is not on the supported list of that motherboard. But it shouldn't be much of an issue.
In any case is it possible for you to take out the graphics card, and try running the system for a few hours with the onboard VGA outlet? Your motherboard has a VGA onboard port. And by taking out your current graphics card, and running Windows using your onboard graphics card, and if there is no problem using that setting we can rule out software OS or malware problems and be certain that it is only because that this graphics card is not fully supported.
 
Dec 6, 2020
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https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/Z370-GAMING-PLUS#support-vga
It seems that specific graphics card is not on the supported list of that motherboard. But it shouldn't be much of an issue.
In any case is it possible for you to take out the graphics card, and try running the system for a few hours with the onboard VGA outlet? Your motherboard has a VGA onboard port. And by taking out your current graphics card, and running Windows using your onboard graphics card, and if there is no problem using that setting we can rule out software OS or malware problems and be certain that it is only because that this graphics card is not fully supported.

I didn't really think compatibility was a big issue these days, and would this not of led to problems straight away? I've ran into these issues 3+ weeks after I've upgraded.

Another thing is aslong as im just browsing the web I can stay on without crashing, but it seems when I try running a game that's when im running into problems all of a sudden.
 
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xenthia

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Sep 20, 2012
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I didn't really think compatibility was a big issue these days, and would this not of led to problems straight away? I've ran into these issues 3+ weeks after I've upgraded.

Another thing is aslong as im just browsing the web I can stay on without crashing, but it seems when I try running a game that's when im running into problems all of a sudden.
Well as you might have noticed before, not all motherboards have a section for compatible graphics cards but yours does and probably for a reason, and yes that is why I said it shouldn't be of much issue really.

Also you probably weren't gaming straight away. Or maybe you did an operating system update or upgrade that changed a driver or a microcode somewhere. and that's probably when the problem started. Take a look back and see what you did in the last three weeks that might have sparked the issue.

Any any case try what scout_03 and COLGeek have said. Or you could also try taking out the graphics card connecting your monitor to the VGA onboard otput so that you can be sure that the area of your problem is only related to the graphics card. Because if the problem also occurs when you take the new graphics card out or use the onboard graphics card then the problem could easily be somewhere else.
 
Dec 6, 2020
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See how it runs now before trying anything else.
Ran perfect up until a couple of minutes ago, which i'm assuming was just a coincidence.

I'm clutching at straws just hoping it's a really simple fix but could it be anything to do with the 'Hybrid Mode' on my PSU?
 
Dec 6, 2020
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Well as you might have noticed before, not all motherboards have a section for compatible graphics cards but yours does and probably for a reason, and yes that is why I said it shouldn't be of much issue really.

Also you probably weren't gaming straight away. Or maybe you did an operating system update or upgrade that changed a driver or a microcode somewhere. and that's probably when the problem started. Take a look back and see what you did in the last three weeks that might have sparked the issue.

Any any case try what scout_03 and COLGeek have said. Or you could also try taking out the graphics card connecting your monitor to the VGA onboard otput so that you can be sure that the area of your problem is only related to the graphics card. Because if the problem also occurs when you take the new graphics card out or use the onboard graphics card then the problem could easily be somewhere else.
It happened again a couple of days later, but after using it for 18~ hours, so by trying the solution you said could I be waiting days maybe weeks to see if it's a GPU problem?
 

xenthia

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It happened again a couple of days later, but after using it for 18~ hours, so by trying the solution you said could I be waiting days maybe weeks to see if it's a GPU problem?
Well depends, usually, if you take out the graphics card and nothing happens for maybe three to four days of use and heavy use, then you can be certain that the problem is with either the PCI slot or the graphics card that is either damaged or is just incompatible with this motherboard. Also did you try what scout_03 and COLGeek suggested? regarding the psu and updating BIOS? did they yield no positive result?
 
Dec 6, 2020
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Well depends, usually, if you take out the graphics card and nothing happens for maybe three to four days of use and heavy use, then you can be certain that the problem is with either the PCI slot or the graphics card that is either damaged or is just incompatible with this motherboard. Also did you try what scout_03 and COLGeek suggested? regarding the psu and updating BIOS? did they yield no positive result?

I switched it to another slot next to the one it was(I believe that's what you guys meant)

Also updated the BIOS the other day, that didn't fix.
 

xenthia

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I switched it to another slot next to the one it was(I believe that's what you guys meant)

Also updated the BIOS the other day, that didn't fix.
no not the other hdmi port, I meant use the on board graphics card, your motherboard has a vga port. Take out the graphics card and use the motherboard vga output.
 
Dec 6, 2020
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Tried pretty much all of the suggestions above and it's still bugging every day or so which just isn't ideal at all, seems when I go on a game it happens much more often than when im just doing work.

I've just put my old GPU in and ordered a new PSU which will come in the new year, I'm hoping it'll either lose signal which will mean it's likely a PSU issue or not at all then I guess it's a GPU issue??? in the meantime anyone have any other suggestions/seen anyone else with this issue?
 
Dec 6, 2020
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Also just a side note, I bought my PSU and GPU both under 2 months ago, how common is it for them to either break in that time period or just come broke from factory, before making any changes to my pc it was pretty much fine for 2+ years.
 
Dec 29, 2020
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Have you figured this out yet?
I had this same issue with a 3070. Mine is a EVGA xc3 ultra. The PCIe cable that came with my PSU consisted of two 6 pin connectors and 2 2 pin connectors. I was getting really frustrated with this, as I had already uninstalled/reinstalled graphics drivers, updated motherboard bios, and reseated my GPU. I'm ashamed to tell you how I fixed. Somehow, I hadn't plugged the two options 2 pins all the way into the GPU, some little ridges on the cable had prevented me from doing so. I'm assuming you're having a similar issue. Are you using a connector with the same amount of pins as the card?
 
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Dec 6, 2020
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Have you figured this out yet?
I had this same issue with a 3070. Mine is a EVGA xc3 ultra. The PCIe cable that came with my PSU consisted of two 6 pin connectors and 2 2 pin connectors. I was getting really frustrated with this, as I had already uninstalled/reinstalled graphics drivers, updated motherboard bios, and reseated my GPU. I'm ashamed to tell you how I fixed. Somehow, I hadn't plugged the two options 2 pins all the way into the GPU, some little ridges on the cable had prevented me from doing so. I'm assuming you're having a similar issue. Are you using a connector with the same amount of pins as the card?

Still haven't figured it out, mine is the same I believe, however the 8 pins goes into an adapter provided because the 3070 needs a 10 pin, I don't think it's that they're not plugged in.
 
Dec 6, 2020
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Update:

The last 2 weeks or so while I used my old PSU and switched back to the 1070 I had everything ran fine.

Today my new PSU arrived - Corsair RMx Series RMx850 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply

Plugged the new PSU in and also put my 3070 back in, within 2 hours all my monitors have lost signal again (PC is still running because I could hear sound coming from youtube)

Any new advice from anyone now it seems a PSU problem is out of the way.