Screen goes black randomly

[mancesco]

Hi everyone,

 

I have recently come across a problem with my pc: at some point for no reason at all my screen goes black (same as when you Alt+Tab out of a game) for a second or two and then the picture comes back like nothing happened. This happens randomly about once a day and regardless of what I'm doing at the time (gaming, web browsing or even on idle).

I already tried to monitor my graphics card with GPUz, but nothing looks out of place, temperatures and dust are well in control and I already updated to the latest drivers (355.82 WHQL just released). Did not try yet to change HDMI cable or test the screen with another computer, though I imagine the graphics card might be the problem (I used to have it a little OC'ed, but it's been reset to default for quite some time.

 

My specs are the following:

Core i7 4770

Gigabyte z87-HD3

16 GB Ram

Galax GTX 980 (reference)

Cooler Master GXII Pro 550W

Asus VX238 monitor

 

I've had this rig for a good year now, except the graphics card which is about 6 months old and I'm concerned that this might be a warning sign for something worse. None of these components have given me any sort of problem so far and the whole system has been quite stable (except an occasional BSOD or two). Is there anything that I can do to diagnose the problem or at least narrow it down to a specific component/software?

[kameshss]

Make sure your GPU is seated correctly in the slot.

 

Use Display Driver Uninstaller to uninstall the current GPU driver.

 

And use Nvidia website to download the latest driver then install it.

[Lcast15]

Is it possible that some of the software or keys is changing the config? Are there any monitors being pluged/unpluged?

[jamesnightingale]

This Is a very simple answer so it might be false. make sure your screen saver is off or sleep mode. also if its an old monitor that is common

[mancesco]

Is it possible that some of the software or keys is changing the config? Are there any monitors being pluged/unpluged?

I didn't install any new software since this issue appeared, nor I have anything running in the background that is related to my graphics; also this happens even when I'm not touching the keyboard so it can't be related to the keys. I'm not sure I understand the monitor question, but I only have one plugged and the cable is sitting properly.

 

This Is a very simple answer so it might be false. make sure your screen saver is off or sleep mode. also if its an old monitor that is common

Sleep mode and screensaver are both off.

 

Make sure your GPU is seated correctly in the slot.

 

Use Display Driver Uninstaller to uninstall the current GPU driver.

 

And use Nvidia website to download the latest driver then install it.

I'll try this one, hopefully that will solve it.

[mancesco]

I did a clean up of the drivers and a clean installation, but the problem persists.

[PCEnthusiastLuke]

I did a clean up of the drivers and a clean installation, but the problem persists.

It may be down to your monitor