Randomly losing GPU output while gaming. GTX 970.

[BambOOs]

Hello!
Could you help me with this?
PC Specs:
2500K @4.5GHz
16GB DDR3 RAM @ 1600 MHz
AsRock P67 Pro 3
Gigabyte GTX 970 G1
XFX TS 550
WIN 10 x64

First of all I have to say that I didn't have similar problem anytime before.
Yesterday I installed Witcher 3 and started to play it - my screen just goes complete black for ~1 sec and restore at random moments. No reboots, no BSODs etc. Audio is still playing.
GPU temps are OK, max 75C because actually we have some pretty high temperatures here in Poland. I checked 12 V voltage with digital multimeter and it's OK under load ~ 12.20V. Other parts are not overheating.
Is my GPU dying? It's 4 years old already.
Could it be Windows Update fault? After updating from 1809 to 1903 I had 5 "driver stopped responding" issues but didn't noticed it. Yesterday I installed KB4505903 and since this moment I have problem with black screens.
Thanks id advance for any tips.
Greetings.

 

[droopyRO]

Did you try to uninstall your drivers with DDU from safe mode and then install the latest WHQL ?

 

[BambOOs]

Yes, and installed the same version of driver (431.36) as before. Didn't help.

 

[Deleted member 6693]

Are you connected via DisplayPort? I have had a similar problem (with my ASUS Strix GTX 970)
It was a combination of faulty DisplayPort connector and this: https://www.nvidia.com/object/nv-uefi-update-x64.html

 

[BambOOs]

Via HDMI. I removed GPU, cleaned it from dust (very small amount) and mounted again. For now, it's OK but I have some doubts that simple re-mount helped.

 

[droopyRO]

You might be surprised

 

[Deleted member 6693]

Have you tried to remove the cooler and replace the thermal compound? It is an old gpu card..

 

[BambOOs]

Have you tried to remove the cooler and replace the thermal compound? It is an old gpu card..

I done this in august 2018 - new thermal compound and new thermalpads

 

[er557]

Hi @BambOOs , please try updating your sound card driver and importantly, chipset drivers, via station-drivers, install via overwrite all, usually command line "--overall" switch for the shortcut.
I would also suggest true wddm 2.6 nvidia drivers, from an advanced branch, since your OS is fully up to date. these ones:

Release GeForce Version 435.27 (GRD) WHQL Windows Insider Driver + Re-Release 03.06.2019 · CHEF-KOCH/nVidia-modded-Inf

Changelog Unknown Why no 100% working modded inf after 430.86+? nVidia made the "modder life" a lot of harder, they added several checks within the .dll files to prevent a "modding". E.g. the con...

github.com

report back please

 

[HolyCowImAnoOb]

Try what @er557 mentioned above

I done this in august 2018 - new thermal compound and new thermalpads

Sometimes when there's dust on a card it can cause strange behavior.
A bit of moisture can settle in the dust causing a short. Keep up keeping it clean and it should help with the issue.

Additionally, investigate the logs
You can go to
Device manager
-> Expand Display Adapters
-> Right Click on your GPU
-> Select Properties
-> Select Events Tab
-> See if windows logs the events of the GPU possibly freezing and reinstalling the driver..

 

[r9]

+1 DDU, thermal paste and cleaning it.
I would consider the PSU too especially if you had for a while.
Or just maybe a bad GPU.
If all the above fails I would try downclocking the GPU a bit.

 

[BambOOs]

Ok guys. Here is update:

I discovered today, that my system has some integrity errors - all now is fixed by DISM and SFC tools. This, I'm 99.9% sure didn't have any connection with black screen issues (some permission and ownership errors).

System is up to date - all WU patches and drivers - chipset driver, integrated sound driver it's not the newest, but it's downloaded from AsRock site because the newest one had some bugs with Audio Control Panel. Intel Rapid Storage Technology driver is also up to date. DirectX, Visual C etc too (some of them are getting updated along with other software installations).

I also disabled Fast Startup technology.

My brother played F1 2018 on max settings and some other less demanding games today for about 4 hours and didn't reported any black screens.

Unfortunately, a moment ago, I played Witcher 3 and black screen issue is still there...

I will reinstall GPU drivers (with DDU cleaning) one more time and it will be 431.68 Hotfix driver.

Will report back.

 

[dirtyferret]

Do you have the xfz ts bronze or gold unit?

 

[BambOOs]

Do you have the xfz ts bronze or gold unit?

Bronze and it's 5 years old already, so also suspected ;(

 

[advanced3]

Is it only Witcher 3 that does this?

 

[dirtyferret]

Bronze and it's 5 years old already, so also suspected ;(

So about a two or three years ago there was an issue with Seasonic Focus 550w units casuing black screens on certain Nvidia GTX 970 cards. The XFX TS is based on the Seasonic S12II unit so it's not the same PSU but there are some similarities to your hardware and issue. Seasonic ended up shipping new cable extenders to customers to fix the issue. If possible try another PSU and see what happens.

 

[advanced3]

Here's what I would do.

#1 Test with new HDMI cable

#2 Test with another monitor/Television

#3 Test with another GPU.

 

[BambOOs]

Is it only Witcher 3 that does this?

My brother told me that 2 days ago (the day I installed KB4505903) he had one black screen playing F1 2018.

So about a two or three years ago there was an issue with Seasonic Focus 550w units casuing black screens on certain Nvidia GTX 970 cards. The XFX TS is based on the Seasonic S12II unit so it's not the same PSU but there are some similarities to your hardware and issue. Seasonic ended up shipping new cable extenders to customers to fix the issue. If possible try another PSU and see what happens.

Oh, I didn't know about this. But, this combo (PSU+GPU) works together for 4 years and problem appeared now. I will try to borrow another PSU and check.

 

[advanced3]

My brother told me that 2 days ago (the day I installed KB4505903) he had one black screen playing F1 2018.

Can you uninstall the update?

 

[BambOOs]

Here's what I would do.

#1 Test with new HDMI cable

#2 Test with another monitor/Television

#3 Test with another GPU.

I will try another HDMI cable and monitor. Testing with another GPU could be a litlle problem now, but I will try to borrow it.

Can you uninstall the update?

Yes, will uninstall it, but first I will do Clonezilla backup just in case.

The weird thing is that since updating from 1809 to 1903 my system had 5 "driver stopped responding but recovered" issues, but I didn't noticed 4 of them. When I noticed 5th (while playing WoT my screen also turned black for a second), then I discovered rest 4...
But now, when black screen occurs, there is no any errors in errors journal (Event ID 4101).

 

[eidairaman1]

Try the card in another machine

 

[BambOOs]

Guys, my GPU seems to dying. While flashing black screens I can see some very, very small parts of horizontal lines.

Also, I changed fan curve to more agressive (>70C -> 90-100 % fan speed) and it seems that it helped a bit (or maybe it's my placebo). Once I reverted it to default, black screen flashes again but maybe it's just coincidence. Maybe some element on my GPU is overheating?

 

[eidairaman1]

Upgrade and press on

 

[BambOOs]

Ok guys, I will backup my disc with Clonezilla, uninstall KB4505903 (and maybe 1903 too) to be sure, that it's not software related.

Will report back.

 

[HolyCowImAnoOb]

Guys, my GPU seems to dying. While flashing black screens I can see some very, very small parts of horizontal lines.

Also, I changed fan curve to more agressive (>70C -> 90-100 % fan speed) and it seems that it helped a bit (or maybe it's my placebo). Once I reverted it to default, black screen flashes again but maybe it's just coincidence. Maybe some element on my GPU is overheating?

This indicates that there might be a dry solder connection on the memory chips..
You could try bake the card, to reflow the solder used in the memory chips. - DO this as your LAST resort

Hardware Myths: Oven Baked Graphics Card Repair

I see the PSU is single rail which is great..
I'm not sure if its on a separate cable, but try swapping your PCI 6pin/8pin cables around? Also give the PSU a clean if you get a chance?