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Display issues (blackscreen & flickering) need diagnosis

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  • Power Supplies
  • Graphics
  • Games
  • Graphics Cards
  • Display
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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July 31, 2014 10:49:28 AM

Hello

Over the past 2 months I have been experiencing graphical issues. My earlier problems can be seen from this post here:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2216532/sapphi...

To sum up the post, I was frequently blackscreening when running most games. Since this post I have replaced my HD6850 graphics card with an ASUS GTX 750 ti. My graphical problems have changed but are still persistent.

Specs

OS: Windows 7 64 bit
Graphics card: ASUS GTX 750 ti (2Gb DDR5)
Motherboard: Asus M5A97 PRO Motherboard
CPU: AMD HDZ965FBGMBOX Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHz
PSU: EZCool Silent 650W Power Supply (PSU)
RAM: Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9 Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4gb sticks)
Monitor: BenQ GL2450HM 1920x1080 monitor

Here are the voltages of my PSU (while idle):

Issues

When running a game, my computer will sometimes black screen, forcing me to ctrl, alt & delete to close the unresponsive application. When this happens, the game will black screen within a couple of minutes of gameplay. This issue is inconsistent, happening irregularly with games/taxing applications.

My display flickers regularly, this happens at any time, both in games and when on the desktop/browsing the internet. It is extremely annoying. Here is a video of the error that I have put together of the issue on google chrome, skyrim, transistor and team fortress 2:
http://youtu.be/vHlBOO9ANkI
I used Nvidia shadowplay to record this but had to render on my brother's computer. The issues in the video happen both with and without shadowplay turned on.

Attempts to resolve

I took my pc into a repair shop and they ran Heaven benchmark on ultra graphics & 2x anti aliasing for 48 hours and had no issues. They suggested that the problem could be that I am setting the graphical options too high for my setup. I do not see how this can be the case because my games often run smoothly without frame rate loss until crashing. Also the fact that other people are using the 750 ti running games such as skyrim on ultra settings indicates that my PC should not be black screening when attempting to run Skyrim on ultra/high settings among other games. When attempting to run the Heaven benchmark on 4x anti aliasing my PC black screened almost straight away.

They also suggested that airflow could be the issue but it is definitely not. I regularly dust my PC with compressed air and keep it so that all sides are free to expel/intake air with ease.

It has also been suggested that overheating could be the issue but my GPU does not exceed 59 degrees celsius when under load. My processor does not exceed 62 degrees celsius.

Looking around online, my PSU has received widely negative reviews so I also think this could be the issue, but would not like to commit the money unless I'm almost certain that it will resolve my issues.

I will attempt to provide any more information that could be helpful with solving the issues. I really hope to get this sorted out as soon as possible.

Many thanks in advance for any help/advice,
Sam

More about : display issues blackscreen flickering diagnosis

July 31, 2014 10:55:51 AM

Are you confident it's not software? Drivers for example?
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July 31, 2014 11:54:41 AM

nVr said:
Are you confident it's not software? Drivers for example?


I have tried wiping my drivers and re installing them but the issues are still the same unfortunately
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Related resources
a b U Graphics card
July 31, 2014 11:57:53 AM

It sounds like either driver or temps. Mind posting a screenshot of component temps after plying a game?
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July 31, 2014 12:53:17 PM

SlayZombi said:
It sounds like either driver or temps. Mind posting a screenshot of component temps after plying a game?


These are the temps after playing Team fortress 2 for 5 minutes and my computer black screening.

you will have to zoom in quite a lot

http://i.imgur.com/lIQ9fd5.png

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a b U Graphics card
July 31, 2014 12:56:06 PM

Temps seem fine..... What OS are you using?
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July 31, 2014 1:00:10 PM

SlayZombi said:
Temps seem fine..... What OS are you using?


Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium with Service Pack 1, 64-bit, English, 1 Pack, DSP OEI (PC) (This OEM software is intended for system builders only)

I've had it for at least 2 years now
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a b U Graphics card
July 31, 2014 1:08:45 PM

I've also noticed you bought an ASUS graphics card after re-reading. They are notorius for artifact, overheating, poor VMR's, and overall bad quality. Is there any way you can maybe send it back and get a Sapphire version? Those are great and highly praised!
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July 31, 2014 1:18:26 PM

SlayZombi said:
I've also noticed you bought an ASUS graphics card after re-reading. They are notorius for artifact, overheating, poor VMR's, and overall bad quality. Is there any way you can maybe send it back and get a Sapphire version? Those are great and highly praised!


It's really frustrating because I bought this new one to replace a previously faulty one. It doesn't seem to that overheating is the issue and I am not getting artefacts (unless these screen flickers are normally called artefacts). Is there a way to test if the VMR is poor?
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a b U Graphics card
July 31, 2014 1:45:18 PM

jeroth123 said:
SlayZombi said:
I've also noticed you bought an ASUS graphics card after re-reading. They are notorius for artifact, overheating, poor VMR's, and overall bad quality. Is there any way you can maybe send it back and get a Sapphire version? Those are great and highly praised!


It's really frustrating because I bought this new one to replace a previously faulty one. It doesn't seem to that overheating is the issue and I am not getting artefacts (unless these screen flickers are normally called artefacts). Is there a way to test if the VMR is poor?


Poor VMR's usually cause some form of overheating. And yes, artifacts are anything that shouldn't be on the screen. Have you ever overclocked?
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July 31, 2014 1:47:32 PM

SlayZombi said:
jeroth123 said:
SlayZombi said:
I've also noticed you bought an ASUS graphics card after re-reading. They are notorius for artifact, overheating, poor VMR's, and overall bad quality. Is there any way you can maybe send it back and get a Sapphire version? Those are great and highly praised!


It's really frustrating because I bought this new one to replace a previously faulty one. It doesn't seem to that overheating is the issue and I am not getting artefacts (unless these screen flickers are normally called artefacts). Is there a way to test if the VMR is poor?


Poor VMR's usually cause some form of overheating. And yes, artifacts are anything that shouldn't be on the screen. Have you ever overclocked?


No, I have not overclocked any of my parts, this graphics card is only about two weeks old.
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a b U Graphics card
July 31, 2014 1:52:28 PM

jeroth123 said:
SlayZombi said:
jeroth123 said:
SlayZombi said:
I've also noticed you bought an ASUS graphics card after re-reading. They are notorius for artifact, overheating, poor VMR's, and overall bad quality. Is there any way you can maybe send it back and get a Sapphire version? Those are great and highly praised!


It's really frustrating because I bought this new one to replace a previously faulty one. It doesn't seem to that overheating is the issue and I am not getting artefacts (unless these screen flickers are normally called artefacts). Is there a way to test if the VMR is poor?


Poor VMR's usually cause some form of overheating. And yes, artifacts are anything that shouldn't be on the screen. Have you ever overclocked?


No, I have not overclocked any of my parts, this graphics card is only about two weeks old.


And everything worked PERFECTLY before you bought this card? No artifacts? No blackscreen?
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July 31, 2014 2:02:59 PM

SlayZombi said:
jeroth123 said:
SlayZombi said:
jeroth123 said:
SlayZombi said:
I've also noticed you bought an ASUS graphics card after re-reading. They are notorius for artifact, overheating, poor VMR's, and overall bad quality. Is there any way you can maybe send it back and get a Sapphire version? Those are great and highly praised!


It's really frustrating because I bought this new one to replace a previously faulty one. It doesn't seem to that overheating is the issue and I am not getting artefacts (unless these screen flickers are normally called artefacts). Is there a way to test if the VMR is poor?


Poor VMR's usually cause some form of overheating. And yes, artifacts are anything that shouldn't be on the screen. Have you ever overclocked?


No, I have not overclocked any of my parts, this graphics card is only about two weeks old.


And everything worked PERFECTLY before you bought this card? No artifacts? No blackscreen?


No, that was far from the case, I was experiencing blackscreening and a few other graphical issues. I think I linked a post a made about my last setup at the start of this post but here is the link again:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2216532/sapphi...
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a b U Graphics card
July 31, 2014 2:21:58 PM

jeroth123 said:
SlayZombi said:
jeroth123 said:
SlayZombi said:
jeroth123 said:
SlayZombi said:
I've also noticed you bought an ASUS graphics card after re-reading. They are notorius for artifact, overheating, poor VMR's, and overall bad quality. Is there any way you can maybe send it back and get a Sapphire version? Those are great and highly praised!


It's really frustrating because I bought this new one to replace a previously faulty one. It doesn't seem to that overheating is the issue and I am not getting artefacts (unless these screen flickers are normally called artefacts). Is there a way to test if the VMR is poor?


Poor VMR's usually cause some form of overheating. And yes, artifacts are anything that shouldn't be on the screen. Have you ever overclocked?


No, I have not overclocked any of my parts, this graphics card is only about two weeks old.


And everything worked PERFECTLY before you bought this card? No artifacts? No blackscreen?


No, that was far from the case, I was experiencing blackscreening and a few other graphical issues. I think I linked a post a made about my last setup at the start of this post but here is the link again:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2216532/sapphi...


Ok, by what you just told me and by what the link said, I suspect the power supply is failing. It's not a very good one in the first place, and it's been running for a good amount of time now. Maybe it's dying. I suggest a replacement.
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July 31, 2014 2:36:45 PM

SlayZombi said:
jeroth123 said:
SlayZombi said:
jeroth123 said:
SlayZombi said:
jeroth123 said:
SlayZombi said:
I've also noticed you bought an ASUS graphics card after re-reading. They are notorius for artifact, overheating, poor VMR's, and overall bad quality. Is there any way you can maybe send it back and get a Sapphire version? Those are great and highly praised!


It's really frustrating because I bought this new one to replace a previously faulty one. It doesn't seem to that overheating is the issue and I am not getting artefacts (unless these screen flickers are normally called artefacts). Is there a way to test if the VMR is poor?


Poor VMR's usually cause some form of overheating. And yes, artifacts are anything that shouldn't be on the screen. Have you ever overclocked?


No, I have not overclocked any of my parts, this graphics card is only about two weeks old.


And everything worked PERFECTLY before you bought this card? No artifacts? No blackscreen?


No, that was far from the case, I was experiencing blackscreening and a few other graphical issues. I think I linked a post a made about my last setup at the start of this post but here is the link again:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-2216532/sapphi...


Ok, by what you just told me and by what the link said, I suspect the power supply is failing. It's not a very good one in the first place, and it's been running for a good amount of time now. Maybe it's dying. I suggest a replacement.


Ok, thanks very much for your time and patience!
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August 22, 2014 2:14:15 PM

If anyone has the same problems as me, try replacing your RAM. All the tests I ran on it said it was fine but as soon as I swapped it out for my brother's RAM my pc was fine.
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