Random Black Screen

[chriskam]

Hey, I've been having a reoccurring problem over the past year. I bought my computer last August, but for some strange reason it randomly black screens. It was very frequent for a while when I played games like Minecraft and Skyrim, and now it happens sometimes while I browse the Internet or watch videos. I'm not exactly sure what the problem is, but perhaps you guys could give me a couple methods to test various parts of my computer so that I can pinpoint this black screening problem. You should also note that my computer is still on when this occurs (with all the fans still running), but my image turns blacks.

My computer specs are these:

Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s
Sapphire AMD Radeon HD 6770 1GB GDDR5
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series DDR3 1333MHz (PC3-10666) 8GB (2x4GB)
Intel Core i5-2400S Quad-Core Socket LGA1155 2.50Ghz 6MB L3 Cache
Corsair CX600 600W
Gigabyte H77-DS3H

I warn you, I'm not very tech savvy, but all help is appreciated. I hope we can conclude this problem together.

Thanks

 

[Proximon]

Operating system?

Monitor?

Does the image come back on it's own?

 

[chriskam]

I use a Dell monitor that's about 5 years old. Don't know the exact type, but I saw that the driver wasn't updated. I'm gonna go ahead and try out another monitor I bought during the holidays and see if the problem persists. Dunno when it'll pop-up, though. It happens randomly.

I did notice that my monitor was really hot when I touched it, as well.

My operating system is Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit.

Thanks for the help so far!

 

[Proximon]

Well, if it's hot turn it off for 10 minutes, then turn it back on and see if the display comes back. if so, you have your culprit.

Then get a can of air and go outside and blow the dust out of it

 

[chriskam]

I used a different monitor and it black screened again. I also replugged the monitor after 10 mins and the black screen was still there. I'm not sure if my sound stops, so hopefully I get a chance that it'll do it again when I have something playing. I just started downloading a game on Steam when the recent black screen happened, so there definitely wasn't anything strenuous going on.

I'm going to switch to an HDMI cable, but I doubt that'll help. Anymore suggestions?

 

[Proximon]

So how do you normally resolve the issue? Do you reboot the computer?

 

[chriskam]

Yes, I have to reboot the computer.

 

[Proximon]

This happens only when you are working on the computer apparently, so I doubt it's a sleep mode issue (one common cause of black screens).

Make sure the graphics card drivers are up to date, and make sure the card is fully seated in the slot.

Probably the best next check would be to uninstall the graphics drivers, remove the card, and connect the monitor to your onboard graphics.

Also use HWMonitor to track your temps:
http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/hwmonitor.html

 

[chriskam]

Ah, it did it again this time with the HDMI cable. I just started up Fallout New Vegas and then the black screen popped up.

First the screen turns black, and then the sound just repeats itself with a "bzzz-ing" noise.

What sort of temperatures should I be looking for with HWMonitor?

 

[Proximon]

Core temps and GPU temps.

 

[chriskam]

My CPU is around 35 C, and my GPU is around 50-60 when I play Fallout

 

[Proximon]

So it's not that. Have you tried running with the onboard video yet? If it works fine then it's fairly certain your video card is the problem.

 

[chriskam]

I refitted my graphics card and it seems to be okay for now. After attempting to play New Vegas twice, both times it immediately crashed. I've been playing for 15 mins now and it seems to be working fine so far.

I'll try out the onboard video the next time it happens. The worst thing is that it happens randomly so I have to keep on playing until it occurs.