My system blackscreens at random

[Jovke]

• #1

Ok so,
When i'm playing games, Rules of Survival, Mount and Blade, Warthunder, Fortnitr are the ones i have problems with, what would happen is that sistem will just black screen, display will show no signal message, and it will return to game few seconds later with few frame drops but it stabilizes after a second or two, other times it will just blackscreen, sound will go in some kind of broken loop, and i would have to restart the mashine, or the third outcome is blackscreen then goes to desktop but the game stops responding, sistem becomes less responsive etc.
My assumptions are it's either the gpu or the ram.
Gpu,when i bought it used, couldn't oc at all, becauze it would crash,that was stated by the seller, and confirmed by me. Didn't flash the Bios,tried but failed, so it's in default still, but the problem with blackscreen was there even before this. My main reason for suspecting it is that after one of these incidents i Warthunder i saw in the corner message saying gpu driver failed, but i wasn't able to spot it again after that. Oh and to mention, system is clean with new paste, so it is not the issue.
Secondly,the Ram.
I got 2x2 gb ddr2 ram in my pc. One stick i got from a pc technician who kept old ram in some drawer at his workplace( Guy was not the tidy type) and if i can recall i didn't have this problem before that. But the problem occured some time after the installation, not straight away. I'll maybe try to run the system with only original stick of ram, but that will be very time consuming,as this problem happens at random, and some days not happen at all, and some persists even after a few reboots. I should also note that i didn't see this problem in some other games like Dishonored, but Mount and Blade was running fine for some time,and still does, but sometimes this happens. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
My specs:
Amd Athlon II X4 630
Msi Radeon Hd 7750 oc edition 1gb gddr5
2x2gb ddr2 ram

 

[NdMk2o1o]

power supply model and gpu-z screenshot

 

[Jovke]

As for the psu it is Rexpower atx12v and here is screenshot.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

PSU seems suspect can't find the brand, can you be more specific, how many watts is it rated for? model number, how many amps on the +12v rail, you can find this info on the sticker on the side of the PSU

 

[Jovke]

It's supposed to be rated for 500w, on the sticker in a column where its 12V there is split box and there it says 12V indexed 1=21A, and 12v indexed 2=17A, on the negative 12V it says 0.3 A. I'll leave the pic just in case. Full model name is RexPower PX500, or KME PX500.

 

[eidairaman1]

Replace it, get a Seasonic, SuperFlower, Enermax, EVGA, Antec, Rosewill.

Look at this website for those brands, Antec use Seasonic on some models for OEM etc. Look at the OEMs, the ones to avoid are Sirtec, Sirfa, Hightec/HEC, Greatwall.

http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/PSUReviewDatabase.html

OEMs to go with Seasonic, SuperFlower, CWT/Channel Well Technology, Andyson, Enhance Electronics

 

[micropage7]

It's supposed to be rated for 500w, on the sticker in a column where its 12V there is split box and there it says 12V indexed 1=21A, and 12v indexed 2=17A, on the negative 12V it says 0.3 A. I'll leave the pic just in case. Full model name is RexPower PX500, or KME PX500.View attachment 121861

its from the sticker but the output could be lower than that especially when it hits heavy load, so better using better PSU

 

[Jovke]

I doubt its the PSU because i've been using it for couple of months now, and i didn't have problems before. I'll try to find some other psu to test things, but if its a psu then it would affect other games? Because the problem,right now,affects only some games on my pc,stated above, but games like DIshonored, SpecOps The Line, Superflight, Grid 2, PES 17 are all working fine.

 

[Ruyki]

You can mostly rule out the RAM by running memtest86 for a few hours and then running a CPU stress test (like prime95) for a couple of hours after that.

 

[eidairaman1]

You can mostly rule out the RAM by running memtest86 for a few hours and then running a CPU stress test (like prime95) for a couple of hours after that.

Doesnt cover it

I doubt its the PSU because i've been using it for couple of months now, and i didn't have problems before. I'll try to find some other psu to test things, but if its a psu then it would affect other games? Because the problem,right now,affects only some games on my pc,stated above, but games like DIshonored, SpecOps The Line, Superflight, Grid 2, PES 17 are all working fine.

Don't let pride blind you, you came here for help, we are giving it to you. Don't make us rethink on helping you.

It's a junk psu you have. I have been doing this 20+ years. Low quality psus fail pretty badly at any moment in time.

Try the gpu in another machine

 

[Deleted member 163934]

As you've been already told check the 7750 in another pc if possible (if you don't have a second pc ask a friend to let you test the 7750 in his pc).

If it does the same in another pc then underclock the 7750 core to 800 mhz (this is usualy the not overclock normal value for 7750) and see if it happens again. I have a sapphire 7750 and I can't even get the core to 825 mhz, it basicaly black screen me after 820 mhz (not that I care about overclocking the x4 640 is paired with bottlenecks the 7750 so no real point to even bother to overclock it...).

What motherboard you have? I ask because I wonder if you have an igpu or not (the x4 630 clearly has no igpu). If you can't test the gpu in another pc and your motherboard has igpu you can remove the 7750 and use the igpu.

Pc doing the same without the 7750 then well the problem is somewhere else.
If it was me in your situation I'd:
0) undo any overclock you've done (I don't overclock this is why it's at number 0)
1) try to boot a live linux from usb stick and check what dmesg is saying (I prefer lubuntu and it actually saved me a lot of time several times by happy pointing to where the problem is (pci-e/pci not staying properly in the slot and dmesg was spammed with errors regarding that device, ram not properly inserted in the slot (usualy it was failing to load lubuntu and showing a nice kernel panic), sata cable going bad (errors regarding sata link in dmesg), i don't say it always helped me just that in some cases it helped )
2) use another psu (to my luck I have a couple I could use) (if you don't have another one ask a friend to let you use his psu) (I do have an 11 year old seasonic 380w psu still happy working but I don't trust it to use it in my main pc, it's in a spare pc and i trust this old seasonic more than other junk psu i can find in shops)
3) ran a scandisk on the hdd
4) test the ram with memtest86+ 8+ passes (run from my lubuntu usb stick that is basicaly used to test stuff) (gonna take many hours; won't be a suprise if 8 passes on a x4 630 take 1 day, 10 passes took 12h on my g3260 + 4x2gb ddr3 1333 and 18h on my i5-3320m + 2x4gb ddr3 1600)
5) ran prime95 blend test for like 12h
6) ran badblock -nvs (from a live lubuntu sesion)
7) if everything above happy passes i'd put the hd 7750 (keeping the "new" psu) and let unigine valley on extreme hd preset run for 12h (yes I know valley is not that new but for a hd 7750 on extreme hd pressed is enough to keep the fps under 30))

You do any of the above at your own risk, if the pc ends up in fire for example, don't blame me, you've been warned!

I tried to come up with alternative solutions because you might not have spare parts around like I do...

L.E.: If you wonder about psu that worked fine and no longer works fine now with your pc. I put in my ex girlfriend pc my 2x 2gb ddr3 and my nvidia 710gt, her pc worked fine for 2 weeks after those 2 weeks it refused to even start, i removed the dvd-rw power cable, tried to start it and it happy worked again. Told her to buy a new psu because the current one is clearly on the way out (I would had bought her a new psu but things were kinda going bad between me and her so decided to not use my money for her - a good call). As far I know she didn't bought a new psu (we broke up so I have no clue what she did after, I can't talk with her she just argue with me and to be honest I kinda want my ddr3 and 710gt back, she doesn't deserve them).

I know it's a bit personal but the main ideea is that a psu can work for some time and stop working after. In her case it was giving no sign of life after pressing the power button so it was the psu, mb or power button. She had some weird oem mb that had no voltage sensors and well I don't really see much on a multimeter when the pc boots, need an oscilloscope anyway and I don't have that.
It gave no signs, no reboots, no errors, nothing, just one day it refused to even start.

 

[eidairaman1]

As you've been already told check the 7750 in another pc if possible (if you don't have a second pc ask a friend to let you test the 7750 in his pc).

If it does the same in another pc then underclock the 7750 core to 800 mhz (this is usualy the not overclock normal value for 7750) and see if it happens again. I have a sapphire 7750 and I can't even get the core to 825 mhz, it basicaly black screen me after 820 mhz (not that I care about overclocking the x4 640 is paired with bottlenecks the 7750 so no real point to even bother to overclock it...).

What motherboard you have? I ask because I wonder if you have an igpu or not (the x4 630 clearly has no igpu). If you can't test the gpu in another pc and your motherboard has igpu you can remove the 7750 and use the igpu.

Pc doing the same without the 7750 then well the problem is somewhere else.
If it was me in your situation I'd:
0) undo any overclock you've done (I don't overclock this is why it's at number 0)
1) try to boot a live linux from usb stick and check what dmesg is saying (I prefer lubuntu and it actually saved me a lot of time several times by happy pointing to where the problem is (pci-e/pci not staying properly in the slot and dmesg was spammed with errors regarding that device, ram not properly inserted in the slot (usualy it was failing to load ubuntu and showing a nice kernel panic), sata cable going bad (errors regarding sata link in dmesg), i don't say it always helped me just that in some cases it helped )
2) use another psu (to my luck I have a couple I could use) (if you don't have another one ask a friend to let you use his psu) (I do have an 11 year old seasonic 380w psu still happy working but I don't trust it to use it in my main pc, it's in a spare pc and i trust this old seasonic more than other junk psu i can find in shops)
3) ran a scandisk on the hdd
4) test the ram with memtest86+ 8+ passes (run from my lubuntu usb stick that is basicaly used to test stuff) (gonna take many hours; won't be a suprise if 8 passes on a x4 630 take 1 day, took 12h on my g3260 + 4x2gb ddr3 1333 and 18h on my i5-3320m + 2x4gb ddr3 1600)
5) ran prime95 blend test for like 12h
6) ran badblock -nvs (from a live lubuntu sesion)
7) if everything above happy passes i'd put the hd 7750 (keeping the "new" psu) and let unigine valley on extreme hd preset run for 12h (yes I know valley is not that new but for a hd 7750 on extreme hd pressed is enough to keep the fps under 30))

I tried to come up with alternative solutions because you might not have spare parts around like I do...

Typically its best he go to a shop since he decided to doubt Experience

 

[Deleted member 163934]

Typically its best he go to a shop since he decided to doubt Experience

Eh, I can always hope that they listen (at least with the people I deal with they don't really listen...). And well maybe it helps someone.

 

[NdMk2o1o]

it is junk basically and whilst you might not have had a problem previously that's not to say it hasn't got one now. honestly even a cheap corsair vs 400w which can be had for like $20 would be sufficient and a lot better than the paperweight you have for a PSU now, I kid you not. that would be my first suspect at this juncture

 

[eidairaman1]

Eh, I can always hope that they listen (at least with the people I deal with they don't really listen...). And well maybe it helps someone.

I agree

 

[Mac2580]

Yeah I have personally experienced the same thing with my old Thermaltake Litepower 450W PSU. The screen would slowly dim down and then abrubtly light up again. Once i replaced it i realised it was also causing fps drops/stutter. I understand that your PSU has been working for a few months. Mine is still working fine years later, but on less power hungry components.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

that powersupply looks like the kind I used to pull out of HP, IBM, Fujitsu, CompaQ & Dell machines back in the 90s when beige computer cases were all the rage.

I would throw it away and get a a PSU from a reputable brand. not some $25 for 500w one.

 

[John Naylor]

1. "Didn't flash the Bios,tried but failed, "

never a good idea unless directed to do so be manufacturer.

2. Always install RAM in pairs for dual channel systems and pairs that are identical and arrive in the same package.... 4 GB is not enough.

3. What does Event Viewer Say happened ? ... If you look at the logs at the time it black screened, look for yellow and red icons sawing warning or error, and things like "... driver stopped working and i now working again message".

4. The PSU may be to blame, might not.... the fact that it was working before is not conclusive as cap could have started dying. Switch it out, see if it stops.

 

[EarthDog]

I doubt its the PSU because i've been using it for couple of months now, and i didn't have problems before. I'll try to find some other psu to test things, but if its a psu then it would affect other games? Because the problem,right now,affects only some games on my pc,stated above, but games like DIshonored, SpecOps The Line, Superflight, Grid 2, PES 17 are all working fine.

some games may be more stressful than others.

I'd look at replacing that no name and likely trash psu first too.

That picture is of its sticker is terrible. Out of focus... upside down... cant read anything. Not helpful really.

Edit: if this is the psu (link below). It has a combined 25A on the 12v rail. That is 300W of 12v. That tells me 2 things...

1. It's an old style psu as any remotely modern unit has 90%+ of its power on 12v rail.
2. I wonder if it can even output 300W in the first place...

DESK - Napajanje 500W RexPower

www.desk.rs