CPU running, monitor off

jhalbesma · Mar 21, 2014

Hello,

Lately I've got a problem with my computer. First some specs of my computer: intel i5 650 (3.2 GHz), 4GB RAM, 64 bit OS, Nvidia GeForce 240 GTS (Yeah, I know how bad it is).
Now my problem. If I am playing a game that requires alot of work from the CPU and the graphic card, my monitor often shuts down. I can still hear the game music, but it sounds like it's put on pause. Nothing happens if I click with my mouse or touch my keyboard, I just can't do a thing except turning off the power and reboot the computer.
What I thought was the reason for this, is the bad graphic card that I have; my pc only does this thing when I am playing a really graphically demanding game. I just wanted to be sure of this before I buy a new card. I hope some of you guys can help me out. Thanks in advance.

xeonight · Mar 21, 2014

sounds like the graphics card is malfunctioning, almost as though it got hot once, microscopically malformed a chip somewhere, and now that chip only malfunctions when it heats up again... just a thought mind you...

but yeah, it sounds like the video card, specially since you can still hear sounds from the game, that says the computer is still running the game, BUT an easy little test IF you have another monitor, is try the same game where you KNOW it causes this problem, but with a different monitor (costs you no money to do this test) if it does the same thing, then see about that video card.

RobCrezz · Mar 21, 2014

Yeah doesnt sound like the monitor, sounds liek your graphics card is overheating maybe. instal MSI afterburner so you can monitor the temperatures of the GPU.

cst1992 · Mar 21, 2014

The sound is smoothly playing, or it repeats a split-second(kind of when an audio cassette will do when it's stuck)?
The first means that the graphics card is malfunctioning, the second a system crash(caused from an error in the game/graphics driver problem/graphics card overheat/etc).

jhalbesma · Mar 21, 2014

Thank you for the fast responses! I'll try out both of your suggestions.

The sound is playing smoothly. So you're saying it is not because Ihave such a bad graphics card, but it is just malfunctioning?

RobCrezz · Mar 21, 2014

jhalbesma :

Exactly, most likely overheating, often when they get old the thermal paste between the heatsink and the GPU goes hard and stops conducting the heat, its pretty easy to replace the paste.

menetlaus · Mar 21, 2014

jhalbesma :

If the sound had been stuttering and repeating the same 1/2s of sound over and over - it would have been due to a system crash and could be caused by almost anything (hardware or software).

If the output to the monitor quits and sound is still playing normally - the issue is most likely something in the graphics subsystem.

As the system is a few years old you might want to try opening up the case and seeing how blocked/much buildup is on the main CPU and GPU heatsinks. If they aren't getting enough air (espically the GPU one based on your issue) it could cause crashes.

You might also want to see if you can borrow a similar power draw GPU from a friend (or somewhere with a lax return policy)to see if that solves the issue. It is often easier to narrow down a problem by using spare parts than to only look at the existing sysem.

xeonight · Mar 21, 2014

i also once had a young friend who bought one of my older builds, and after about a year or so, his graphics card was causing BSOD's, and it turned out to be the power supply malfunctioning (not giving the GPU enough power ONLY when a game started pulling hard) so see if another PSU solves the problem, just one last thing to try if replacing the graphics card doesn't work.

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