Question Screen goes black intermittently, can't figure out why

[Pico25]

My problem is that my computer will start have episodes where the screen goes black for ~0.5 seconds and then returns, then it does this every minute or so, in fact, it's happening as I type this. Sometimes it goes away on it's own, sometimes it goes away with restarts, sometimes it doesn't.

This started when I had a GTX 3080, and I realized it only happened when the display was coming from the GPU, not the motherboard. So obviously I assumed it was an issue with the GPU. I tried updating and changing drivers, tweaking settings, and nothing seemed to work.

I replaced the card with an RTX 4080 and to my surprise the symptoms persisted. I'm at a loss of what do do now to fix/diagnose this problem. Any ideas short of replacing each component one at a time?

This is my system:

Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 X 16GB) DDR4 3600
Corsair RMx Series (2021), RM850x, 850 Watt, GOLD
MSI MAG B660 Tomahawk Motherboard
Intel Core i7-12700K
GeForce RTX 4080 16GB VENTUS 3X OC
Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 1TB NVMe M.2
Windows 11
Dell S2721Q Display (via Displayport)

 

[SR AA]

I would isolate parts involved in the issue:
- GPU (check);
- DP cable (change it and observe);
- Monitor (change it and observe);
- Monitor Power Supply cable;
- Monitor electric outlet;
- If I miss something, continue going deeper and deeper.

 

[RaidHobbit]

My problem is that my computer will start have episodes where the screen goes black for ~0.5 seconds and then returns, then it does this every minute or so, in fact, it's happening as I type this. Sometimes it goes away on it's own, sometimes it goes away with restarts, sometimes it doesn't.

This started when I had a GTX 3080, and I realized it only happened when the display was coming from the GPU, not the motherboard. So obviously I assumed it was an issue with the GPU. I tried updating and changing drivers, tweaking settings, and nothing seemed to work.

I replaced the card with an RTX 4080 and to my surprise the symptoms persisted. I'm at a loss of what do do now to fix/diagnose this problem. Any ideas short of replacing each component one at a time?

This is my system:

Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 X 16GB) DDR4 3600
Corsair RMx Series (2021), RM850x, 850 Watt, GOLD
MSI MAG B660 Tomahawk Motherboard
Intel Core i7-12700K
GeForce RTX 4080 16GB VENTUS 3X OC
Samsung 970 EVO Plus SSD 1TB NVMe M.2
Windows 11
Dell S2721Q Display (via Displayport)

During those moments your CPU hits 100% usage on a core(s) is this when the screen goes black? Mine does it on the 13600k with a 4060 and its annoying.

I cannot figure out if its a driver issue or some voltage limiting factor turned on with my motherboard.

 

[Pico25]

I would isolate parts involved in the issue:
- GPU (check);
- DP cable (change it and observe);
- Monitor (change it and observe);
- Monitor Power Supply cable;
- Monitor electric outlet;
- If I miss something, continue going deeper and deeper.

That's fair, but as I said this issue doesn't happen when the DisplayPort cable is plugged into the onboard display out.

That would seem to me to indicate that it's not the display, display power cord, DisplayPort cable, or the electrical outlet since they are all present in the arrangement when I plug in the cable to the motherboard and do not have this issue.

My question is, if it's an issue with the power supply or motherboard how could I figure it out? Is the best way just to swap them? I'd really rather not buy new ones.

During those moments your CPU hits 100% usage on a core(s) is this when the screen goes black? Mine does it on the 13600k with a 4060 and its annoying.

I cannot figure out if its a driver issue or some voltage limiting factor turned on with my motherboard.

No. I can open the task manager and watch the utilization before it goes black, then it goes black and I look at the utilization graph for that whole time and see no change. I just did it my CPU was idling at 8%, my GPU at 0% and during and after the black flash there was absolutely no change recorded in the utilization.

 

[SR AA]

That's fair, but as I said this issue doesn't happen when the DisplayPort cable is plugged into the onboard display out.

That would seem to me to indicate that it's not the display, display power cord, DisplayPort cable, or the electrical outlet since they are all present in the arrangement when I plug in the cable to the motherboard and do not have this issue.

My question is, if it's an issue with the power supply or motherboard how could I figure it out? Is the best way just to swap them? I'd really rather not buy new ones.



No. I can open the task manager and watch the utilization before it goes black, then it goes black and I look at the utilization graph for that whole time and see no change. I just did it my CPU was idling at 8%, my GPU at 0% and during and after the black flash there was absolutely no change recorded in the utilization.

I would try to use a very low resolution (as your onboard). Maybe your GPU is surpassing the resolution, frequency or any spec to which your monitor cannot function properly?