[SOLVED] Unusual issue - black screening: Any help much appreciated

[Matt1155]

Good evening folks,

I have recently (past three weeks) been experiencing an unusual error that I haven't seen before. When I play a graphics intensive game (say, Assassin's Creed Odyssey), the system will work fine for 15-30 minutes before black screening (i.e. signal to monitor lost).

I initially assumed that it was a graphics card problem (Aorus 2080ti 11G Turbo) but I have switched it out with my old Palit 1070 Gamerock Premium (which, incidentally, worked perfectly on another rig) and the same issue occurred, 20 minutes into the game.

In 'Event Viewer' I see that I have errors 41, 10110 and 10111 - to me, that indicated driver issues. What's weird is that I installed the 1070 about an hour ago and got the freshest drivers off the Nvidia site. Further, the card was running far cooler than the 2080ti (50C or so) so I don't believe that its a cooling issue.

The PC was fine for around a month but the issues suddenly began occurring, apparently out of nowhere (I did install and play the new Star Wars game, near the end of which is when the problems began).

All and any help appreciated, can't help but worry as it's obviously a lot of money! As a side-note, I'm capable of changing a graphics card but am not much more capable than that.... to give you an idea!

Thanks in advance. System specs below:

OS Name: Windows 10 Home
Version 10.0.17363 Build 18363
System Model Ms-7B79
System Type x64
Processor: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 60Core Processor (3600Mhz, 6 cores, 12 logical processors)
BIOS Version/Date America Megatrends Inc. 1.A0, 16/07/19
SMBIOS Version 2.8
Installed RAM 15.9GB (Corsair RAM, 2,000MHz)
PSU: Corsair CS750
GPU: Aorus 2080Ti 11G Turbo and Palit GameRock Premium 1070.

Thanks again.

 

[Phaaze88]

PSU: Corsair CS750

This right here would be the prime suspect. Taken from Corsair's product website:
CS Series™ Modular power supplies are ideal for basic desktop systems where low energy use, low noise, and simple installation are essential.
Your PC doesn't fit that critera anymore, especially not with a 300w gpu in there...
My guess is the black screens are caused by the psu exceeding it's operating range(temperature).


Installed RAM 15.9GB (Corsair RAM, 2,000MHz)
Are you actually running 4000mhz memory in there?

 

[Matt1155]

Hi,

First off, thanks very much for the reply! I thought it could maybe be something to do with the PSU. One query though - when I replaced the 2080Ti with the 1070 (which I think is more like 200W), I still encountered the same issue. Could just be that the power supply is on the way out... it's a second hand computer so don't know age etc. of all parts so who knows.

Some additional points to mention:

I have a fair amount of USB devices installed, (or did), including 3 external hard drives, 1 internal hard drive and 1 internal SSD. I also have a mouse and keyboard with flashy lights so maybe that all adds up to an additional power draw.

Yesterday evening I unplugged all the HDDs (especially the newer 4TB one with my Steam Library on which I got maybe a week or two before the crashes started) and operated a game only off my SSD. I also moved some of the USB's around (not all plugged in a bunch in the motherboard). I then, for over 2 hours, avoided any crashes with a game loaded (using the 1070 still). I'll continue to test stuff out this evening. So, (maybe silly) additional questions:

1. Is it possible that the new hard drive I bought is causing the issues?
2. Is there the possibility of USB overload if I'm sticking 3 HDDS, mouse, keyboard and headphones into the mobo?
3. Could RAM/Mobo issues be the root cause? (V. General question I know)

As I said before though, I do agree that it could well be the PSU... Thanks.

P.S. Wrt your question about 4,000MHz memory, I'm running it at just under 2,000MHz. The 2,000MHz is its base speed but a while ago when I kept having issues I tinkered with the speed to see if it would help stabilize the system at all. It had no effect so I left it at just under 2,000. [If I'm misunderstanding the question please let me know!]

Cheers

 

[Phaaze88]

1)No.
2)No, but if there was a loose part somewhere causing a short... you'd get more than just a black screen...
3)Well, I can't say they wouldn't be a possible cause, but the psu is what sticks out the most in your build.

4)Memory is DDR, or Dual Data Rate, so when I saw the 2000mhz post, I read it as 2000 x 2.
The default speed of DDR4 is 2133.
So, I'm like, "did the OP mean 2133, and they just rounded to 2000, or do they actually have it running at 4000..."
If it actually is running that high, stability depends on the capabilities of BOTH the motherboard and the cpu's Internal Memory Controller.

 

[Matt1155]

Hiya,

Thanks again for your help. Computer died completely this afternoon and won't turn on (when under next to no load). I'm nearly certain that your diagnosis is correct. I'll be taking it to a PC store tomorrow and will see what diagnosis I get! Unfortunately my old system's PSU is 650W so I can't test it in the new system.

 

[Phaaze88]

Understood.

Good luck!