Question Randomly losing display.

[Minsoa]

Hello!

I wanted to ask your opinion to know if this is a PSU or GPU issue (or maybe something else).

As the thread title says my problem is pretty straightforward, sometimes my computer loses the input signal from my GPU, this is the information I've gathered so far:

• This happens randomly but:
  • It has never happened to me while gaming, it almost always was while idle or during light usage.
    • I have disabled any sleep timer from my monitor and PC, I always make sure to disable these settings when I set up my windows installation.
  • I connect my GPU through an HDMI cable.
    • I've tried different cables when this happens but there's no signal, I even tried connecting my PS4 to my monitor to make sure it wasn't the cable or the monitor itself and everything functioned correctly.
      • Everything goes back to normal after I reboot my PC.
        • Once I had it happen a few seconds after rebooting, I got signal until the first windows login screen and it lost the display signal soon after.
  • My GPU is 7 years old, it's a GTX 970.
    • The last time I did maintenance was a couple of months ago.
      • This issue started happening after this maintenance, not directly after it but a couple of weeks after.
        • I've made sure that everything is connected correctly (GPU and GPU fans) and the thermal paste was correctly applied.
• About the PC when this happens:
  • Everything continues to work except the display, I still have sound and the PC continues to respond normally, I've started playing music while this happened by pressing the media keys on my keyboard.
• Major points to consider:
  • This started happening maybe 1.5-2 months ago, for now, it has an interval of 2-3 weeks.
  • The first couple of times it happened it was with my old PC parts.
    • Since then I've changed CPU, Cooler, RAMS and Motherboard.
      • The issue still happened after these hardware changes.
      • The only parts I haven't changed yet are the GPU and the PSU.
        • According to a friend it shouldn't be the PSU since everything continues to work as usual except for the display.
          • He also told me that due to its age the GPU weldings may be cracking after years of continuous usage.
  • The issue persisted through Hardware and Software changes, It happened on both my old and new windows installation, I've also updated GPU Drivers and thought it solved it but it happened again today.
• I have a new GPU coming in on Monday but one of my concerns is that it somehow ends up being a PSU issue (Which I don't really think it's after all of this).
• What seems weird to me is that It's not like I get artifacts or weird errors signaling that my GPU is dying, the only issue I have is this.
  • With that said, is this a sign of a dying GPU? Or is it something else?

Thanks for reading.

 

[Poloris]

yes it sounds like its dying . in my own opinion i don't think a PSU would do that but i might be wrong

 

[Minsoa]

yes it sounds like its dying . in my own opinion i don't think a PSU would do that but i might be wrong

It seems like the most logic answer, what makes me worry is the fact that by googling a bit I found this thread on this forum: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/monitor-losing-signal-dead-gpu-psu.3231249/

The difference between my issues and the ones on that thread is that my display works fine for weeks until it randomly decides to lose signal and the OP on that thread says that his display turns off after 5 minutes.

I could upload screenshots or my HWMonitor information.txt if needed.

 

[Minsoa]

It seems like the most logic answer, what makes me worry is the fact that by googling a bit I found this thread on this forum: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/monitor-losing-signal-dead-gpu-psu.3231249/

The difference between my issues and the ones on that thread is that my display works fine for weeks until it randomly decides to lose signal and the OP on that thread says that his display turns off after 5 minutes.

I could upload screenshots or my HWMonitor information.txt if needed.

To add to my comment:

I've talked to a couple more friends and pretty much everyone says it probably is the PSU:

• My PSU is also 7 years old, it's an XFX XTR 750w.
• I'm getting a 3070 TI delivered on Monday and since this might be a PSU issue I'm scared to connect my new GPU to it and have a chance to damage it.

 

[th3reaperskullpt]

To add to my comment:

I've talked to a couple more friends and pretty much everyone says it probably is the PSU:

• My PSU is also 7 years old, it's an XFX XTR 750w.
• I'm getting a 3070 TI delivered on Monday and since this might be a PSU issue I'm scared to connect my new GPU to it and have a chance to damage it.

7 years on a PSU is a long time,
It can start to present problems is true.

 

[th3reaperskullpt]

To add to my comment:

I've talked to a couple more friends and pretty much everyone says it probably is the PSU:

• My PSU is also 7 years old, it's an XFX XTR 750w.
• I'm getting a 3070 TI delivered on Monday and since this might be a PSU issue I'm scared to connect my new GPU to it and have a chance to damage it.

What's your new PSU?

 

[Minsoa]

What's your new PSU?

I don't have a new PSU yet, I've only bought a new GPU and since this may be a PSU problem I guess I should be getting a new one in a couple of weeks.

 

[th3reaperskullpt]

I don't have a new PSU yet, I've only bought a new GPU and since this may be a PSU problem I guess I should be getting a new one in a couple of weeks.

Seasonic or EVGA. Depending on the values you're looking for, EVGA is usually cheaper, the EVGA G6 models are the best tens fountains on the market they use the same construction material as top seasonic.