Windows no video output but sound still plays when gaming. Hardware failure?

[darth2499]

I just built a gaming PC and seemed to have been running fine when all of a sudden my PC will randomly stop outputting video when gaming while the sound plays. When I try to use my keyboard and mouse those do not seem to be doing anything. Could this be a hardware issue?

Specs:
PSU - Crosair CX600M
GPU - EVGA GTX 780 3GB
Motherboard - Gigabyte Z87X-HD3
CPU - Intel i7 4770k 3.5ghz

 

[SirSub42]

My guess would be hardware. Can you try using a different monitor and see if the problem persists. A faulty GPU card could also be to blame, can you try connecting your monitor directly to your motherboard video output? You may need to disconnect the graphics card for this to work, but it will help us narrow down the source of the problem. I highly doubt your mouse and keyboard are to blame, unless this is happening at a time when you are not using your computer. Perhaps the screen saver/power saving mode kicks in due to no response from the mouse/keyboard. Does the power light on your monitor change colors while this is happening?

Best of luck to ya and look forward to a response. This certainly is not one of those problems you come across too often here. - Sub

 

[darth2499]

Just unhooked it and have lasted for a while, the Intel intergrated graphics seem to be working and no issues so I am going to assume that it is the Nvidia GPU, any way to make sure? Perhaps downgrading the drivers might help?

Could it also be a motherboard issue? PSU issue?

 

[SirSub42]

There are no diagnostic tools for GPUs as far as I am aware. The test is simply to see if the problem goes away with the new card. Although you can keep running the system off the built in video output for a little while longer and make sure the problem does not come back. Downgrading the drivers will do nothing, just allows you to use the previous version, so you may be running a little less efficient as before, but the same functionality.

If it was a motherboard issue, we would likely see a problem with the on-board video output as well. A bad slot on the motherboard would mean the card would never work. Seeing as the problem is intermittent, we can assume the problem is the card malfunctioning. As far as PSU issues are concerned, if you were to shut down the GPU from a loss of power, the system would freeze as the graphics card is the brains behind the video rendering on your computer. Since you can hear audio after this happens, we can assume the computer is still running as usual.

Best of luck to ya - Sub

 

[darth2499]

Thanks for such a detailed repsonse, always appreciate it. I have purchased it off Amazon and has already allowed me to get a full refund after I send it in so I will be ordering another GTX 780 and will report back once I recieve it.

ADDITION:
I will try and run the game on intergrated graphics overnight to see if it has any problems, really weird that it was working fine yesterday and now the GTX 780 can't play any games, and only occurs during games only.

 

[darth2499]

It happened again with the GTX Gigabyte 780 Windforce. I am going to restore windows to see if that helps but seems like a motherboard issue to me? Perhaps PSU. I was trying out tomb raider and at first the fan went to 100% so I unhooked and made sure the cables were in. Once they were I booted it up and played tomb raider but black screen kicked in after a minute and sound was still playing until it froze.

 

[darth2499]

Thanks for your help, I restored windows and seem to be working. I think my PSU cable to the motherboard loosened up so I fixed that. Thanks again