Possible GPU failure?

[StephenSchneider95]

This problem just started. The computer will work fine when doing any internet browsing to include streaming video and music. When I load a game the screens enter power saving mode, I can still hear all in game sounds as if it loaded properly, but I am unable to get the monitors to "wake up" without restarting the system. I have tried a few different games to see if maybe it was just high intensity graphics that were causing it. It appears to be all games at this time.

Any ideas are welcome! Thank you!

Edit: Games tested with same result: Minecraft, Fortnite, League of Legends, and Black Desert Online.

After replacing the GPU fan games ran for a fair amount of time, after about 3 hours of gaming got black screened again, since then its within minutes of opening any game. So I'm back to square one.

I ran a FurMark test to see if I could identify a reason for the screens blacking out. The temperature of the card stays below 66ºC, so I don't think temperature is an issue. The only thing that seems common before the screens black out is the load hits 98%-100% then a few seconds later it happens. The screens did go to power saving mode while running the FurMark test and were unable to be "woke up". (https://imgur.com/a/LB3f6).

I also ran a Heaven Benchmark 4.0, PC made it 175 seconds into the benchmark test running 99-100% load staying 66ºC before monitors entered power saving mode.

 

[pete_101]

It won't be a GPU failure, as this would effect everything non-gaming as well.

My suggestion would be to update your drivers, if you haven't already. I'd start by fully removing your current display drivers (you don't want to carry over an issues), the easiest way is by using DDU (Google it), run it in safe mode. Once the drivers are gone, go to the GPU manufacture's website (NVidia or AMD) and download the latest drivers for your GPU.

 

[jr9]

The sleep mode on the displays indicates that video output is completely being lost without the PC crashing completely. There are two things that cause this. One is failing GPU and the other is failing GPU drivers. Driver malfunction more common. I would boot into safe mode with Display Driver Uninstaller, clear out all GPU drivers, boot into normal Windows, and then installing the newest display driver from NVIDIA or AMD.

Ensure that your display cables are firmly connected to your graphics card ports as well.

If new drivers do not help then the best way to determine if a GPU is failing is to try the card in another machine.

 

[redgarl]

WHat is your GPU?

 

[StephenSchneider95]

It won't be a GPU failure, as this would effect everything non-gaming as well.

My suggestion would be to update your drivers, if you haven't already. I'd start by fully removing your current display drivers (you don't want to carry over an issues), the easiest way is by using DDU (Google it), run it in safe mode. Once the drivers are gone, go to the GPU manufacture's website (NVidia or AMD) and download the latest drivers for your GPU.

So Download DDU, then restart PC and boot in safe mode. Then run DDU in the safe mode of windows? Sorry if this sounds dumb i'm still learning computer stuff.

 

[StephenSchneider95]

WHat is your GPU?

I have a PNY GTX 970

 

[redgarl]

WHat is your GPU?

I have a PNY GTX 970

It could be your GPU, PNY is not the greatest of them all. Just talking about the brand reliability here, nothing else.

But yeah, just troubleshoot with another card and see where it goes.

I don't think it is related to drivers. I was having similar display drop at game startup with a 1080 FTW EVGA. 2 of these cards died in less than 10 months. Problem is gone since I got rid of the card.

 

[StephenSchneider95]

WHat is your GPU?

I have a PNY GTX 970

It could be your GPU, PNY is not the greatest of them all. Just talking about the brand reliability here, nothing else.

But yeah, just troubleshoot with another card and see where it goes.

I don't think it is related to drivers. I was having similar display drop at game startup with a 1080 FTW EVGA. 2 of these cards died in less than 10 months. Problem is gone since I got rid of the card.

If it turns out to be a dying GPU after troubleshooting, with the current price inflation on GPUs. What card would you recommend that isn't a downgrade from my current?

 

[redgarl]

WHat is your GPU?

I have a PNY GTX 970

It could be your GPU, PNY is not the greatest of them all. Just talking about the brand reliability here, nothing else.

But yeah, just troubleshoot with another card and see where it goes.

I don't think it is related to drivers. I was having similar display drop at game startup with a 1080 FTW EVGA. 2 of these cards died in less than 10 months. Problem is gone since I got rid of the card.

If it turns out to be a dying GPU after troubleshooting, with the current price inflation on GPUs. What card would you recommend that isn't a downgrade from my current?

Ahhh man, on this I would say none... buy yourself a PS4 Pro. I am not recommending any cards anymore. An RX 580 is not worth 500$ and a 1070 GTX is not worth 750$.

If the price come back to more reasonable price, then get rid of the PS4 and buy back a card. As of now, there is no GPU that worth that much.

I have been waiting for months to get a Rx 580 4gb at MSRP for my 1080p system. I think I will just get a laptop at that point.

 

[jr9]

GTX 1060 6GB and up would be upgrades from a GTX 970. Higher end AMD cards are not worth it right now IMO because miners target them more.

Lets try less drastic solutions and not jump to conclusions. You could simply just have a driver issue. If the card was failing the entire system would likely be crashing.

 

[StephenSchneider95]

The sleep mode on the displays indicates that video output is completely being lost without the PC crashing completely. There are two things that cause this. One is failing GPU and the other is failing GPU drivers. Driver malfunction more common. I would boot into safe mode with Display Driver Uninstaller, clear out all GPU drivers, boot into normal Windows, and then installing the newest display driver from NVIDIA or AMD.

Ensure that your display cables are firmly connected to your graphics card ports as well.

If new drivers do not help then the best way to determine if a GPU is failing is to try the card in another machine.

GTX 1060 6GB and up would be upgrades from a GTX 970. Higher end AMD cards are not worth it right now IMO because miners target them more.

Lets try less drastic solutions and not jump to conclusions. You could simply just have a driver issue. If the card was failing the entire system would likely be crashing.

I did the DDU in safe mode and reinstalled drivers. Retested on 3 games and same result. What would be the next step in troubleshooting?

 

[jr9]

Repeating the procedure with an older driver from a few months ago sometimes helps. If that doesn't work I would try the card in another machine or have a shop test the card. That would quickly help you determine if it's your PC/OS or the card that is the issue.

 

[StephenSchneider95]

Repeating the procedure with an older driver from a few months ago sometimes helps. If that doesn't work I would try the card in another machine or have a shop test the card. That would quickly help you determine if it's your PC/OS or the card that is the issue.

I have a buddy who is going to swing by with his set up so we can test run. He has a GTX 1060, is that going to work with my mobo (ASRock H97 Killer), I noticed the mobo is DDR3 and the GPU is DDR5. Is that going to cause an issue?

 

[pete_101]

Repeating the procedure with an older driver from a few months ago sometimes helps. If that doesn't work I would try the card in another machine or have a shop test the card. That would quickly help you determine if it's your PC/OS or the card that is the issue.

I have a buddy who is going to swing by with his set up so we can test run. He has a GTX 1060, is that going to work with my mobo (ASRock H97 Killer), I noticed the mobo is DDR3 and the GPU is DDR5. Is that going to cause an issue?

No, motherboard RAM and GPU RAM are completely separate and one has no bearing on the other.

 

[StephenSchneider95]

Repeating the procedure with an older driver from a few months ago sometimes helps. If that doesn't work I would try the card in another machine or have a shop test the card. That would quickly help you determine if it's your PC/OS or the card that is the issue.

I have a buddy who is going to swing by with his set up so we can test run. He has a GTX 1060, is that going to work with my mobo (ASRock H97 Killer), I noticed the mobo is DDR3 and the GPU is DDR5. Is that going to cause an issue?

No, motherboard RAM and GPU RAM are completely separate and one has no bearing on the other.

Ok that actually makes a lot of sense, I used PC Part Picker and it says its compatible. So I'll test that early tomorrow morning and see what we can find out.

 

[jr9]

No, the video card uses it's own type of memory. The CPU uses the DDR3 RAM and the GPU uses its GDDR5 RAM built into the card.

I would try your card in the other system. That will give you more information. If the GTX 970 fails in the other machine then you know it's time to upgrade.

 

[StephenSchneider95]

No, the video card uses it's own type of memory. The CPU uses the DDR3 RAM and the GPU uses its GDDR5 RAM built into the card.

I would try your card in the other system. That will give you more information. If the GTX 970 fails in the other machine then you know it's time to upgrade.

If my card works in his PC, what would be the next step of troubleshooting?

 

[jr9]

No, the video card uses it's own type of memory. The CPU uses the DDR3 RAM and the GPU uses its GDDR5 RAM built into the card.

I would try your card in the other system. That will give you more information. If the GTX 970 fails in the other machine then you know it's time to upgrade.

If my card works in his PC, what would be the next step of troubleshooting?

An easier solution would just be to backup and reinstall your OS and download all the latest chipset/GPU drivers and see if it works. Other than that, you would then know that something in your PC (OS, application, or hardware) is causing the GPU to malfunction. Reinstalling the OS would eliminate all OS/software issues and leave only hardware if you reinstalled and it still didn't work.

 

[StephenSchneider95]

No, the video card uses it's own type of memory. The CPU uses the DDR3 RAM and the GPU uses its GDDR5 RAM built into the card.

I would try your card in the other system. That will give you more information. If the GTX 970 fails in the other machine then you know it's time to upgrade.

If my card works in his PC, what would be the next step of troubleshooting?

An easier solution would just be to backup and reinstall your OS and download all the latest chipset/GPU drivers and see if it works. Other than that, you would then know that something in your PC (OS, application, or hardware) is causing the GPU to malfunction. Reinstalling the OS would eliminate all OS/software issues and leave only hardware if you reinstalled and it still didn't work.

This may be a bit needy of me, but I have never done an OS reinstall. Is there any guides you recommend? Also will I lose data on my hard drives by doing this?

 

[jr9]

You wouldn't lose any data that wasn't backed up to a different drive. Reformatting the drive does wipe anything on the drive though.

Decent guide for Windows 10

 

[StephenSchneider95]

You wouldn't lose any data that wasn't backed up to a different drive. Reformatting the drive does wipe anything on the drive though.

Decent guide for Windows 10

Do you recommend using the "Fresh Start" option in Windows Defender, or is the process of downloading the Windows 10 files onto a USB and running from that a better option?

 

[jr9]

The USB method clean install is best. The Windows 10 tool makes it easy to make the USB. Let's leave that as a last resort though.

 

[StephenSchneider95]

The USB method clean install is best. The Windows 10 tool makes it easy to make the USB. Let's leave that as a last resort though.

I agree that is a good last resort, in the morning (approximately 12 hours from now) he is heading over with his pc and gpu so we can troubleshoot, I'll be updating this as I find out more.

 

[StephenSchneider95]

GPU had a faulty fan and was shutting off to avoid damage, replaced the fan and all is in working order. To those that find this thread in search, check the GPU components and temperature.

 

[pete_101]

GPU had a faulty fan and was shutting off to avoid damage, replaced the fan and all is in working order. To those that find this thread in search, check the GPU components and temperature.

This is interesting, because you were saying the screen didn't "wake up" once you launched the game.....so it wouldn't have had time to get hot. The card must sense the fan isn't working?