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Black Screen Crash when Playing Games.

Tags:
  • Crash
  • Computers
  • AMD
  • ATI
  • Games
  • Graphics
  • Hardware Issue
Last response: in Systems
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August 4, 2014 3:44:11 PM

Solution: Seems like the issue was due to overheating. My PC automatically shuts down at 85c. After tinkering with Speedfan more, I've figured out how to boost my fans to max to get the most efficiency out of them. Now I usually play at around 60c without any crashes. Thank you for the help.


Hello, I am having a frustrating issue when it comes to my pc. Whenever playing demanding games, my computer will inexplicably lock on me. The screen goes black, then my monitor goes into "HDMI Power Saving Mode" and then the computer is entirely unresponsive. My keyboard becomes locked up, and my computer and screen are still powered and running, yet entirely unresponsive to any input. This will happen exceptionally fast with very high end games even on low settings, specifically, Witcher 2. However, it can take much longer for games Like Team Fortress 2, and Warframe to crash, but they will eventually with enough playtime. I have yet to test if the computer will crash with very low end games like Guilty Gear, Divine Divinity, and Worms Armageddon. All other functions, such as browsing the web, streaming video, reading PDF files, and chatting on Skype and Steam, work just fine.

An odd thing is that the conditions are the same, playing graphically demanding games for similar amounts of time (Witcher 2 will always crash within minutes), but the outcomes vary slightly. Sometimes the audio will loop infinitely as if it bluescreened, sometimes the lights on my keyboard will go off and sometimes stay on, sometimes game audio continues running as if nothing is wrong, and sometimes it just entirely shuts off audio.

Right before it crashes, sometimes the fans will ramp up before the crash, then during and after, run at a low speed. Once or twice, fans cut off entirely. I've concluded that it has to be some sort of GPU or power issue going on. But I've had no luck figuring it out. One identifying factor that I -sometimes- get, is my computer emitting four beeps from the tower. The first one is longer than the remaining three. "Beeeep beep-beep-beep."

I've cleaned the inside of my computer with compressed air, used Speedfan to check my temperatures, which are just fine and hover well below critical. I've downloaded the latest drivers and DirectX for gaming, scanned my pc for malware and viruses. The only thing I have not done is a full re-install of my OS. And I would really, really like trying to avoid that. I have a 300GB data limit and having to re-install all the games I frequently play would take months to prevent capping out.

Any and all help is very appreciated.

-Computer Specifications-

Windows 7 64 Bit Ultimate
AMD FX-8350 4.0GHZ Eight Core
Two (2) 8GB DDR3 1600MHZ Memory
Corsair XC750 80-Watt Plus Bronze Power Supply
AMD Radeon 7950 3GB DDR5 PCI-E 3.0

If you need more information let me know specifically what you would like to hear.

My computer is well within warrenty, so I can always ship it back for a replacement. So this isn't do or die for me. Thank you! :) 

More about : black screen crash playing games

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August 4, 2014 4:10:35 PM

Sounds like an overheating issue, Have you tried any fan speed/temp monitoring software to check the temp of the components? Could be a faulty fan/heatsink on the GPU or a messy cabling job pressing against a fan?

Can you not back up your games and fresh install? Or create a small disk partition and install just the OS + drivers & check?
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August 4, 2014 4:36:42 PM

KarlWarner said:
Sounds like an overheating issue, Have you tried any fan speed/temp monitoring software to check the temp of the components? Could be a faulty fan/heatsink on the GPU or a messy cabling job pressing against a fan?

Can you not back up your games and fresh install? Or create a small disk partition and install just the OS + drivers & check?


As I said, I have monitored my temperatures and fan speeds using Speedfan, they run just fine, and my pc stays (relatively) cool even during hard gaming sessions. However, I didn't think about moving my games over to my external, I really should have thought of that beforehand.

Edit: Hmm, I ran Witcher 2 in Windowed mode this time and my GPU hovered around 75 c, not great, but during the summer on a carpet, I'll take what I can get. However, no crash, it lasted much longer playing than would normally require a crash. I don't know of any way to monitor temperatures fullscreened. Any idea?
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