Screen becoming blank and PC not functioning after a few minutes of not using

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unknown101

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Jan 11, 2013
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Hi,
If I leave my PC (Windows 8.1) for a few minutes, the screen goes blank (like a greyish colour, so I can tell the PC is still on- It is black when turned off). Anyway I move the mouse, tap keys on keyboard, even try turning the monitor off and on again, but the monitor won't display what it should. I have to turn the pc off and on again for it to work. It's really frustrating because I am sometimes in the middle of something, where I need to leave for a few minutes, then I have to turn the computer off for it to work again. It works fine except for when I leave it for a few minutes
My specifications:
Monitor: Acer K222HQL 21.5" LED VGA Monitor
Motherboard: ASRock 760GM-GS3
Processor: AMD FX-6300 (Stock speeds, and cooler)
Graphics Card: AMD Radeon 7850 2GB DDR5 (Powercolour)
Power supply: XFX 450w
RAM: 8GB (2 x 4GB) Corsair Venegence 1600MHz
SSD: Samsung EVO 120gb

Does anyone know what the problem could be?
It started happening from May shortly after I got my new monitor and upgraded to SSD. Could one of these be a reason or is it just a coincidence. I did install a fresh copy of Windows with the SSD

Thank you :)
 
Solution
Vexillarius
Set it to High Performance!

Then:
Click the link next to High Performance, something about changing the options used in this power plan (I'm on a Dutch version of Windows and I don't know exactly what the buttons say in English).
Set it so that the screen is never turned off and the system never enters sleep mode.

If that doesn't work check the 'Advanced Options' and look for Sleep Mode, and Monitor and make sure both are set to Never.

If that still doesn't work, open an elevated command promp (search for cmd, right click cmd.exe and Run as Administrator) and type: powercfg -h off
Press Enter and exit the command prompt.
This turns off hibernation mode completely.

If you want to re-enable hibernation mode open an elevated command...
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unknown101

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Jan 11, 2013
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Graphics card driver is up-to-date.
Chipset driver was old, so I'll give it a go!
Thanks :) Hope it works

 
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Vexillarius

Vexillarius

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Aug 23, 2014
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There might also be settings in your BIOS that control which actions wake your system up. Something along the lines of 'Wake-Up by Mouse/Keyboard'. Try playing with that. Also, you can turn monitor turn off/sleep mode/etc off entirely through the configuration screen (or its Windows 8 equivalent).
 
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unknown101

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Jan 11, 2013
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Thanks, I gave it a go but still does it :(
 
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Vexillarius

Vexillarius

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Aug 23, 2014
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Could still be a driver, even a seemingly unrelated one (ie not graphics card or chipset driver but a different one). Drivers are finicky sometimes.
Is a Windows reinstall out of the question? That would narrow things down if it doesn't solve the problem outright.

Can't shake the itch that it's sleep mode/similar and wake up options related though... It really really fits.
 
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unknown101

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Jan 11, 2013
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I will ensure all drivers are updated. I recently installed Windows, so I will leave that as a last resort.
But no, I have not noticed any other minor error
Thanks :D
 
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unknown101

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Jan 11, 2013
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I have changed the power options from 'Samsung High Performance' (came with SSD), to Balanced. Maybe there was a setting in there which caused it.
Do you think Hybrid Sleep would do this?
Thanks :)
 
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Vexillarius

Vexillarius

Reputable
Aug 23, 2014
1,434
0
5,960
Set it to High Performance!

Then:
Click the link next to High Performance, something about changing the options used in this power plan (I'm on a Dutch version of Windows and I don't know exactly what the buttons say in English).
Set it so that the screen is never turned off and the system never enters sleep mode.

If that doesn't work check the 'Advanced Options' and look for Sleep Mode, and Monitor and make sure both are set to Never.

If that still doesn't work, open an elevated command promp (search for cmd, right click cmd.exe and Run as Administrator) and type: powercfg -h off
Press Enter and exit the command prompt.
This turns off hibernation mode completely.

If you want to re-enable hibernation mode open an elevated command prompt again and type: powercfg -h on
Press Enter and exit the command prompt.
 
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Solution
U

unknown101

Honorable
Jan 11, 2013
105
0
10,680


Hope this works. I'll let you know.
Thanks :)
 
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U

unknown101

Honorable
Jan 11, 2013
105
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10,680


Thankyou! This worked :)

Thanks to everyone else too who answered! :D
 
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