[SOLVED] Screen goes black at very random times, PC still running.

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TuxNTopHat

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Feb 23, 2013
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Twice now my screen has gone completely black, and the PC is still running. Fans stay at the speeds they were, and Windows is also still running from what I can tell.

The first time, it happened after the PC was on for a couple of hours and then left to sit for some 20 minutes, and the second happened while I was web browsing.

The monitor does not turn off, rather the screen renders black over the entire screen. This system was just built days ago. The GPU has been fine during gaming sessions and video-watching for hours, and this issue is 'solved' by forcefully powering off the machine and restarting it.

The GPU is an AMD R7 260x with most recent catalyst drivers, and I have Windows 7 Ultimate.

Any help is appreciated. I'll give you a cookie. ( a physical food-type cookie, that is. :D )
 
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TuxNTopHat

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Sleep has nothing to do with it for sure, I checked that. Hmm I may have to RMA the GPU.
 
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TuxNTopHat

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Yeah, maybe I should replace it and see how it goes.
It's a VGA cable with an adapter for DVI on the GPU end.
 
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TuxNTopHat

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Alrighty then. Should have one in a box somewhere.
I'll also try fiddling with the power cable setup, is there anything weird with connecting the GPU's power among the string of fan cables? I hope there isn't.
 
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TuxNTopHat

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Entire day of it running. Gaming, web, research, documents, photoshop.
No black screen, so far so good. HDMI to DVI is the new cable beig used, and I replaced the power plug to the GPU with the one included with the power supply. One of them may have worked.

I'll just complain here if it happens again over the next few days. Either way, thanks a bunch. :D
 
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TuxNTopHat

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Nope, worries are back. Happened again, but this time the monitor wasn't picking up a signal at all. I suppose that's the difference it made.. From a black screen, to the monitor suddenly thinking the PC isn't there.
Happens at the same interval of <randomtimegoeshere>.

I don't think it's the monitor really, but the GPU works fine at all other times, no throttling, just perfection.

Isn't 500 watts enough for an AMD Radeon R7 260x? I suppose it isn't power either...
 
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iamknt

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I have same issue with the OP, random black screen during Gaming/Videos. just bought my Rig last Mar 2. Specs are listed below:
FX-6300
Asrock 970 pro3 r2.0
Ripjaw 2x2Gb
Powercolor R7 260x 2Gb OC ed
Corsair VS550

I have alreadychecked the GPU temperature; it is around 55C~70C under load. Hope you could help me. Thanks
 
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TuxNTopHat

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Happened again.
BIOS updated, changed the type of cable used for the GPU's power and video.

Nothing works. I'm lost.

For the next 3-7 days I'm going to use the integrated graphics to ensure it's GPU related, any thoughts much appreciated. This problem is pretty odd.

(I hope it's the monitor's fault so so much, but at this point it couldn't be, could it?)
 
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TuxNTopHat

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If the black screens have stopped now that I'm not using the GPU, I'll try that.

Also after doing a bit more research, it could be from motherboard static or from cleaning out the RAM/PCI slots. I'll try that as well.

Most likely it's because of the evil fairy god of death's magical powers, but that's my opinion.
 
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TuxNTopHat

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Alright, I'm really sure it was the GPU.
If it is some crazy funky power-related issue, it could happen again in a while. But I highly doubt it.

So the GPU is out and for 3-4 days, no black screen.
after a few days, I'll put the GPU back in and try the latest beta drivers, but I think the card is pooped.
I'll probably have to RMA the card.
 
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jurge92

jurge92

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I have this exact issue. I have also noticed that the PC is unresponsive while the screen is black(monitor is on, using DVI). Also the Num Lock key(probably the others as well) doesn't respond. The keyboard doesn't light it up or anything. The PC seems to be running just as I left it.

As far as I can tell, it happens after the screen turns off. My settings are 30 minutes in power management to turn off monitor, never sleep/hibernate, never turn of HDD, etc. Everything is double checked thoroughly.

My system is as follows:

i5 4670k with Hyper 212
Maximus Vi Hero
Sapphire Tri-X R9 290(latest beta driver 14.2 after using DDU)
Samsung 840 EVO 250 GB
Seagate Barracuda ST2000DM001 64MB 2TB
8GB Vengeance Pro
Cooler Master V550S 550W
Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit

One strange thing I've also noticed, is when the PC goes past BIOS start-up, there is always this small white blinking "rectangle-shaped" dot up in the left corner of the screen. This is OK, because it's always been there for about 1 second before the Windows 8 logo shows up. However, around the time this issue started happening, the blinking dot keeps on blinking for a few seconds, and also changes location on the screen. I have recorded with my phone the boot-up and posted it on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=In8W1kc8OxY
(sorry for poor quality)

I was lucky this time as it went by rather quickly, but sometimes the duration is doubled. Mainly I just wanted you the get the idea of what I'm talking about.

Does anyone have a reasonable answer to these issues?
 
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nunya01

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August 16, 2014 - Newest:
I, tentatively, appear to be stable atm. The solution was to upgrade to Catalyst 14.7 beta drivers.


OLD:
[strike]The problem returned the next day (meaning my c state settings changed nothing). I am at a total loss atm what the problem could be. Jurge92 your set up is very similar to mine, were you able to identify the problem?[/strike]


OLDer:
[strike]I had the same problem as OP. The fix was disabling C-states in UEFI bios (specifically state 3 (sleep)). Even if you set your comp to never sleep in windows settings it doesn't effect the c-state. I found I could leave all c-states enabled and just changed UEFI to allow usb keyboard/mouse to wake comp.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/611/[/strike]

windows 8.1 x64
intel i5 4670k + hyper 212 cooler
sapphire vapor-x tri-x OC r9 290
samsung 840 evo (250g) + western digital 7500 1tb
asrock z97 ext4

corsair hx750
8g 2x4 gskill ripjaws

cyberpower 1350 AVR PSU
3 monitors (2 dvi, one tv via hdmi) [strike](i still experience the problem with any given combination of monitors)[/strike].
 
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TechPro959

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Please can you post the link to the drivers, I can't find them

 
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