[SOLVED] Monitors randomly turning black with backlight still being on while PC is in use

eternalabys

Reputable
Nov 8, 2018
154
5
4,615
Hey all,

I've got an issue with my monitors going completely blank, backlights still visible, doesn't unplug itself or anything, PC still remains operational. I have a 2 monitor setup and sometimes 1 of them turns off, sometimes my main one, sometimes the side one, sometimes both. They won't start displaying anything until you unplug the display cable and plug it back in, this has never happened before and nothing from the sleep settings should be doing this as putting the PC to sleep manually and waking it up doesn't cause the issue. Pressing the power button off the PC when the monitors get turned off makes the entire PC turn off instead of going to sleep, so that's another issue. I've tried using DDU to no avail.

Setup specs:

CPU: Ryzen 3 3200G
CPU Cooler: Arctic LFII 240
Mobo: AsRock B450M Pro4
RAM: 2x8GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB
2x8GB Patriot Viper Steel
(Both running 2800MHz @1.4V)
SSD: Adata XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 2TB
WD Blue 1TB
iGPU: Vega 8
(OC'd to 1700MHz @1.25V)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify 2
PSU: Corsair TXM 550W
Case Fans: 3x be quiet! Silent Wings 3 120mm
Monitors: AOC 24G2U
Acer AL1916W
Mouse: Logitech G502 SE
Headphones: HyperX Cloud Alpha
Keyboard: Hyperx Alloy FPS

The iGPU OC hasn't caused me issues as of yet, fingers crossed it's not going to die any time soon as I'm trying to hold out for AM5.
 
Solution
have a 2 monitor setup and sometimes 1 of them turns off, sometimes my main one, sometimes the side one, sometimes both.
if one display was showing the issue i would suggest it is a faulty power saving setting in the display itself.
since it happens with both randomly it would guess it to be either the onboard iGPU itself or the motherboard's communication between the CPU & display.
but an OS can also have issue with display communication on a software level.

first i would try just a single monitor connected and see if it continues.
many times Windows seems to have some issue with dual+ display setups.

also try the displays on a separate system.
just narrow it down to exclude them as any possible culprit in the issue.

if you...

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
What BIOS version are you on for your motherboard?

2x8GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB
2x8GB Patriot Viper Steel
(Both running 2800MHz @1.4V)

You're advised to not mix and match sticks/kits of ram for stability reasons.

Have you tried swapping cables for a new set? Often times cables can go...bad.

Age of the PSU in your build? What OS are you working with? If you're on Windows 10, what version(not edition) of the OS are you on?
 
have a 2 monitor setup and sometimes 1 of them turns off, sometimes my main one, sometimes the side one, sometimes both.
if one display was showing the issue i would suggest it is a faulty power saving setting in the display itself.
since it happens with both randomly it would guess it to be either the onboard iGPU itself or the motherboard's communication between the CPU & display.
but an OS can also have issue with display communication on a software level.

first i would try just a single monitor connected and see if it continues.
many times Windows seems to have some issue with dual+ display setups.

also try the displays on a separate system.
just narrow it down to exclude them as any possible culprit in the issue.

if you have spare compatible CPU & motherboard around try switching them out one at a time.
RAM: 2x8GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB
2x8GB Patriot Viper Steel
also try running the system with each separate memory kit.
it's always possible that this mismatched setup is causing communication faults within the system that are affecting this for some reason.
 
Solution

eternalabys

Reputable
Nov 8, 2018
154
5
4,615
What BIOS version are you on for your motherboard?

2x8GB G.Skill Trident Z RGB
2x8GB Patriot Viper Steel
(Both running 2800MHz @1.4V)

You're advised to not mix and match sticks/kits of ram for stability reasons.

Have you tried swapping cables for a new set? Often times cables can go...bad.

Age of the PSU in your build? What OS are you working with? If you're on Windows 10, what version(not edition) of the OS are you on?

BIOS Version: 5.2 (Latest version: 5.3)

I know its not advised, but I've been running it like this for almost a year and it's been perfectly stable (Haven't done a memtest as I need the PC for work and I can't really turn it off for that long. I also tuned the timings so it works well enough.)

I've tried using different cables and using the same ones on a laptop. Though, I doubt the cables would be bad for both monitors as ones using HDMI and the other uses VGA, I doubt the ports on the motherboard would be bad either.

PSU is as old as the build, just over 2 years. Windows 10 19043.1645