Computer keeps "black screening"

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gizzard1987

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Aug 7, 2013
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I've had this computer since last Christmas.

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/gizzard1987/saved/vLnp99

Specs:
Cooler Master HAF 932 Blue Edition Case
Core i7 4770k @ 4.3 GHz via Asus AI Suite 3
8 GB (2x4 GB) G.Skill 1600 RAM
XFX Pro Series 850w Gold PSU
Asus Z-87-A Motherboard
Asus N15 Wireless PCI Card
Toshiba 3 TB Sata III HDD 7200 RPM 64 MB Cache
XFX Radeon 260x Core Edition 2 GB Graphics Card (Stock Settings)
Windows 8.1 (OEM) 64-Bit
Razer Black Widows 2013 Keyboard
Razer Death Adder 6400 DPI Mouse
Asus VN247HP 23.6" 1ms 1920x1080p Monitor

So last night I got my new monitor, the Asus listed above. I hooked it up and found that my desktop didn't cover the entire screen. It had a 1-1/4" border around the entire screen. I did some Google searches and found that I needed to adjust the Overscan/Underscan settings. I've now got it set to 0% Overscan, the screen still has a 1/4" border around it, but I just figure it's how the monitor is made.

I ran the computer a little last night, but not very long. I had to get some sleep for work in the morning. Got home from work, and now about every 20-30 minutes, the screen just flickers and goes black. The light under the power button (on the monitor) stays white and everything in my case seems to continue running. All the case fans stay on, the CPU fan continues to spin, the keyboard and mouse stay lit up. This happened when I was playing Bejeweled 3 (Free from Origin) that I downloaded last night. It also happened when I was loading BF4, and afterwards also happened the first 2 times I tried posting this problem on the Forum, with nothing else running.

I've done several Google searches on this issue, a lot of them point to the 260(x) graphics cards, as well as a lot of the graphics cards in the R series lineup. I've updated my graphics drivers as everyone says to. I've checked for Windows Updates. I've even searched for BIOs updates for my motherboard.

I'm kind of at a loss. I understand my graphics card is quite under my build, but I got it for 100 bucks on a Best Buy sale (at release) for my old computer before I got this build finished. Is it possible that the new monitor is just too much for this card to handle? My old monitor was a Dell 20" Plasma 1680x1050 monitor that came with my E521 back in 2005-ish. Did I overlook something else?

Please Help,
Robbie
 
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bluejayek

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Apr 3, 2013
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Since nobody more knowledgeable then me is replying, I'll try to pitch in my thimble of knowledge.

1) Does this problem only happen with the new monitor?
2) Does it only happen with the 260x card?

Switching from 1050 to 1080p shouldn't cause a card to fail like this; at worst the card should rise to high temperature, throttle, and run slow.

Try using your new monitor hooked up to the motherboard graphics slots to use your CPUs inbuilt graphics. Obviously this will be slow, but try the same actions you did before that failed. This may help rule out the GPU.

When the monitor is blackscreening, try getting a log of the GPU temperature. GPU-Z can save a log of your GPU temperautre every few seconds.
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

Try running this with your monitor hooked up to the radeon. Save the log, and when your PC blackscreens, reboot and load up the log file. If your temperatures spiked massively just before the shut off this is the issue, and your card is probably faulty.

If these tests don't show anything obvious pointing to either the monitor or GPU, you might want to carry on and test your CPU and RAM.

Your CPU is currently overclocked, that is a very common failure point if something is wrong with overclock settings, or you simply lost the silicon lottery and got a poor performance chip. Try reverting to stock CPU settings and repeating the above.

If reverting to stock settings doesn't seem to do anything, keep it at stock and download Prime95 and run it for an hour or so, all 8 threads, stress test. This will stress test your CPU (and to a limited extent, RAM), without touching the GPU. If something fails here (bluescreen or blackscreen), it is likely / possible your issue is with RAM or CPU rather then GPU. Prime95 is something you should in general run to test overclocking stability anyways.
http://www.mersenne.org/download/
While you are running prime95 you should keep an eye on your CPU temperatures with realtemp. If they go much above 75 maximum, that is not a good situation and you should think about a better CPU cooler or a lower overclock setting.
http://www.techpowerup.com/realtemp/

If prime95 throws an error (or if it doesn't), download memtest86 and run it for at least one full pass of RAM. If it shows ANY errors, you probably have an issue with RAM, and we can focus on that.
http://www.memtest86.com/
Memtest has to be run from a bootable CD or USB. Let me know if you need assistance on how to get that set up.


I know that this is a lot of things to try, but see if you can at least look at the first few relating to the GPU and then get back to us.
 
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gizzard1987

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Aug 7, 2013
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Okay, so this is what I changed before the problem started.

Everything in this computer has been as its listed since last February or so when I finally got everything put together and tested. Even the OC has been on here since I've pretty much got it up and running.

Last night, I got the new monitor, not because issues were arising, but because I wanted a nice new shiny toy. The only thing, other than the monitor, that changed is the direction of my display cord. My old monitor didn't have HDMI, so I used a cable that my GF's dad had lying around, HDMI to DVI. The HDMI end was plugged into the graphics card, and the DVI was hooked into the back of the monitor. With this new monitor, I have the DVI plugged into the graphics card and the HDMI plugged into the monitor. I've had the cord since I set the computer up. This problem did not start until the monitor was hooked up. I was kind of hoping I was just overlooking some silly power setting that may have came on the monitor, but I've been unable to find anything in the books that came with it. I'm going to try flipping the HDMI to DVI cable back around and see if maybe that helps. I'm also going to try some of the cables that came with the monitor.

If none of this easy stuff works, then I'm going to pull the graphics card and try the on board, as you said. As far as the card temps, I already log temps. My card has no exceeded 80 degrees Celsius since I ran my stress tests when I was trying to OC the card back in July or so. I never got it successfully OCed so I reset it back to stock settings and stress tested it for a while to make sure I didn't mess anything up. Since I have got the new monitor I have not exceeded 50 degrees. Right now as I'm typing it's at 33 degrees.

I'm going to see if it does it again. I left the computer on all night to see if it would do it, and it has done nothing. I guess I'll use it a bit to see if it's going to happen again. Haven't changed anything, yet.
 
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gizzard1987

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Aug 7, 2013
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I just got finished running a Furmark Burn-In Benchmark 1920x1080 15 minute test, no problems. Never got above 69 degrees Celsius and scored 2183. I let my card get back down to 33 degrees again, then I ran Kombuster for another 15 minute session, never got above 68 degrees Celsius. I'm really boggled now. The screen has not gone black on me yet.

I'm wondering, is there some sort of power saver mode in this monitor that I'm not aware of, and it's just going idle or something?
 
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