PC is going into black screen

[Christopher_82]

So a few daays ago, my fan on my GPU stopped working. I bought an aftermarket fan and attached it to the GPU, but now when my computer boots up the monitor goes into power saver mode. Basically when I turn it on it shows the boot up screen, and I can try to go into BIO's and System Settings, but after a minute or two it goes black, and then into power saver mode.

If I let it load as normal it shows the windows 10 logo for a second and then goes black.

I have tried booting from a different HDD and that didn't help, and I've also tried several different monitors that are working on other PCs.

A friend of mine suggested removing the CMOS battery from my MOBO to see if that was the problem and I tried that. It got a little bit further into the Windows 10 boot process, and opened up the Repair Tool, and then went black again.

My video card is a Radeon HD 7850, the new fan is an Accelero III

I'm not exactly sure what my MOBO is but I'm relatively sure it has no onboard graphics because there's nowhere to plug a monitor in without a GPU connected. Also the new fan is definitely working, so I don't think it's the card overheating.

My thought is that the card suffered some kind of damage when the original fan burned out, but my friend thinks it might be the motherboard, since it blacks out even on the BIOs screen.

Anyone have any ideas what it might be? I don't mind replacing the card or the mobo but I really don't want to replace both if I don't have to.

 

[pete_101]

Usually I would think it's a driver issue, booting in safe mode may work. However, you had to replace the fan as it stopped working. Did the gpu get so hot that it shut down? I'm thinking that maybe it's still trying to protect itself and that's the cause of your problems. Also, there is a possibility the card doesn't recognize the new fan and thinks there isn't one connected.

 

[Christopher_82]

Yes, I only noticed it wasn't running because the computer shut down. I have tried booting into safe mode but the screen goes black before it happens

 

[pete_101]

Ok, so it's not drivers if it's shutting down before it's had a chance to boot. This is a difficult one to advise on as I don't know if it's suffered damage or if it's in some sort of protection mode. Too much heat not only can damage the GPU but also the VRAM and the VRMs, the shutting down could easily be the result of poor power delivery from VRM damage, I just don't know.

 

[Christopher_82]

Unfortunately I don't have another card to stick in it and see if it works. I think I'm going to replace the card since it will be easier (though a little more expensive) to replace. Hopefully that will fix the problem.

 

[Christopher_82]

I thought it might be the new fan, since the Accelero twin turbo 3 is quite heavy, I tried taking off the heat sink that attaches to the back (if you are unfamiliar, the fan has two separate heat sinks, one on the back and one on the front of the card) on the off chance that the weight was causing it to come loose from the PCI slot. Unfortunately that didn't work either.

Interestingly enough, it got to the Windows Repair screen when i plugged the old fan in (which still spins but has a broken blade) before I turned it off in fear of the card overheating. I'm reading online that other users of the Accelero Twin Turbo 3 haven't had a problem connecting it to the same card, so I don't think it's an issue of the card not reading the fan.

The really confusing part is that it still goes to black screen even when I'm in the BIOs screen. My friend says that would have to be a motherboard issue since the pc doesn't draw from the video card until the OS boots, but since I have no on-board graphics, I just don't see how that could be the case.

What I think is happening, is that the card was damaged from overheating, and it's shutting down before anything can load. The weird part about that, is usually when cards overheat the whole computer shuts down, but mine is still running, just without visuals.

 

[pete_101]

I thought it might be the new fan, since the Accelero twin turbo 3 is quite heavy, I tried taking off the heat sink that attaches to the back (if you are unfamiliar, the fan has two separate heat sinks, one on the back and one on the front of the card) on the off chance that the weight was causing it to come loose from the PCI slot. Unfortunately that didn't work either.

Interestingly enough, it got to the Windows Repair screen when i plugged the old fan in (which still spins but has a broken blade) before I turned it off in fear of the card overheating. I'm reading online that other users of the Accelero Twin Turbo 3 haven't had a problem connecting it to the same card, so I don't think it's an issue of the card not reading the fan.

The really confusing part is that it still goes to black screen even when I'm in the BIOs screen. My friend says that would have to be a motherboard issue since the pc doesn't draw from the video card until the OS boots, but since I have no on-board graphics, I just don't see how that could be the case.

What I think is happening, is that the card was damaged from overheating, and it's shutting down before anything can load. The weird part about that, is usually when cards overheat the whole computer shuts down, but mine is still running, just without visuals.

It probably is damage to card and I'm sure a new card would run just fine as I can't see how motherboard damage would occur from an overheated card. As for the nature of the damage to your card and if there is a cheap fix, you may never know....although the new fan might just be the issue.
Also, not always does the computer shut down when the graphics overheats. I once had an issue where I accidently closed down "GPU Tweak" (which comes with Asus cards), it caused the fan speed to be stuck at 20%, I was gaming away and all of a sudden the signal to the monitor shut off but the computer was still running.

 

[Christopher_82]

Hmmm. I was doing some reading online and I think the processing chip on the card is not connecting to the heat sink on the fan, because there isn't a lot of thermal paste. A big complaint with other buyers of this fan is that they don't come with a lot of thermal paste. I'm still going to replace the card as the HD7850 is a little dated now anyway, but I may also pick up some paste and try reattaching the heat sink to the card.