Question PC won't run with only single monitor, only works on dual monitor setup ?

mircato

Honorable
Aug 28, 2017
5
0
10,510
TL;DR PC freezes with green dots all over the screen when I use single monitor setup but it works absolutely fine when 2 monitors are connected and turned on
Hello, so I got a very weird problem with my GPU
Here's a link with my PC specs and build:
https://pcpartpicker.com/user/mircato/saved/#view=XZHKqs
I bought the GPU like 3 months ago, it's a 3080 gigabyte vision 10G rev 2.0
It all started when I unplugged my second monitor power cable while the PC was on and now the PC won't run on a single monitor.
Initially it would show green dots, and flicker but continue to be usable but now it will just freeze the entire PC forcing me to reboot it but now it immediately shows green dots and freeze after 5-15 seconds after I boot the PC with only one monitor
I could install and uninstall GPU drivers normally before, but now it goes blank when it flickers during installation or uninstallation, I found a workaround to install the drivers but that's not the issue
Here's what I tried so far:
1- removed one new memory kit I added recently
2- removed all extra SSDs and HDDs
3- Reinstalled OS
4- Tried Linux because I thought it might be a windows only issue
5- Tried another GPU on the PC and it worked flawlessly without any issues on one monitor
6- Tried safe mode and it works normally on one monitor
7- Did reset all MB bios settings
8- tried undervolting and underclocking using MSI afterburner
9- tried another monitor
10- tried another DP cable then tried an HDMI cable
11- Tried booting into an OS installed on another SSD
12- Tried different 8 pin cables that came with my PSU
13- Tried a different PCIE-4 slot
14- Tried other electricity sources with and without power strips
15- Unplugged all electric devices in my house except for the case and the monitor to make sure it's not an electricity problem
15- Tried new and old GPU drivers
and nothing worked so far
When the 2 monitors are connected PC works just fine without any issues, Furmark benchmarks are great! and i never faced issues playing my games at highest possible settings at 1440P like Apex Legends, Valorant, ESO, and CS:GO
Some friends recommended RMA'ing it but it would be somewhat difficult because I bought it internationally from Amazon Spain but I live in Africa and that would cost me much to send it for maintenance
so i was hoping to find a fix or a way to know for sure that the GPU is faulty before taking any further actions
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
Look in Reliability History and Event Viewer for any error codes, warnings, or even informational events that you can match to the failed attempts to use a single monitor. Start with Reliability History. Much more user friendly and easier to use.

Event Viewer:

http://www.tomshardware.com/faq/id-3128616/windows-event-viewer.html

Try running the built in Windows Troubleshooters. The troubleshooters may find and fix something.

Also try "sfc /scannow" and "dism".

References:

https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-scannow-to-repair-windows-system-files-2626161

How to use DISM command tool to repair Windows 10 image | Windows Central
 

mircato

Honorable
Aug 28, 2017
5
0
10,510
Look in Reliability History and Event Viewer for any error codes, warnings, or even informational events that you can match to the failed attempts to use a single monitor. Start with Reliability History. Much more user friendly and easier to use.
Thanks for your answer
i got 2 different errors regarding the gpu under "error" in the event viewer and found nothing in reliability viewer
here are the errors
process name is "nvlddmkm" and it has hundreds of errors during the few boots i did to replicate the error but it mainly consists of the 2 following errors

The description for Event ID 0 from source nvlddmkm cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.

\Device\Video4
Error occurred on GPUID: 600

and

\Device\Video4
UCodeReset TDR occurred on GPUID:600

there's another process with the same name under "error" but this one has lots of different errors which i will mention some of them now

The description for Event ID 14 from source nvlddmkm cannot be found. Either the component that raises this event is not installed on your local computer or the installation is corrupted. You can install or repair the component on the local computer.
\Device\Video4
0000(0000) 00000000 00000000
and
\Device\Video3
0000(0000) 00000000 00000000
and
\Device\Video4
0000(0000) 00000000 00000000
and
\Device\00000080
0000(0000) 00000000 00000000
and
\Device\Video3
CMDre 00000002 00000218 ff1fe1b0 00000007 00000000
and
\Device\00000071
CMDre 00000000 00000200 00000000 00000005 00000002
and
\Device\00000071
CMDre 00000002 00000240 ff1fe202 00000007 00000000

it would be a big list if i added all the different errors so it would be nice if i can attach them both in the evtx and xml format but i don't know if that's possible/permissible here on the forums
Thanks in advance
 

Ralston18

Titan
Moderator
It all started when I unplugged my second monitor power cable while the PC was on and now the PC won't run on a single monitor.
How can you be sure? Did you ever run single monitor before on this GPU?
Can you do a simple test for me? Run GPU-Z and see how the clocks on GPU behave, both on idle and under load. I'm particularly interested how low GPU and memory clock will go. (I suppose you can only do that with both monitors connected?)
 

mircato

Honorable
Aug 28, 2017
5
0
10,510
How can you be sure? Did you ever run single monitor before on this GPU?
Can you do a simple test for me? Run GPU-Z and see how the clocks on GPU behave, both on idle and under load. I'm particularly interested how low GPU and memory clock will go. (I suppose you can only do that with both monitors connected?)
I did yeah when i first assembled the PC and it worked normally on a single monitor

It seems as if it may be a issue with drivers. Try this https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html
then try installing the latest fresh drivers.
Agree with reinstalling the drivers.
I used DDU and uninstalled the driver in safemode then booted into windows normally and reinstalled the latest driver but still the same issue