troubleshooting RX 580 black screen… sometimes

Crazievil · December 13, 2018

Literally, this problem is driving me crazy and I am desperate.

It’s a complicated long story, so… I apologise, but please… help me.

I have bought a whole new gaming rig: GPU, CPU, MOBO, Monitor, keyboard, mouse and so on.

After some days of using I immediately noticed a strange behaviour: my monitor went into sleep mode a couple of times while gaming. However I have no longer seen this happen for a few months.

Then, suddenly, it happened again… and again and again… the problem became worse. Ok, let’s investigate.

I tried another monitor with a different screen resolution and a different refresh rate using the same DisplayPort cable. Everything worked fine for a couple of months even if I experienced some small brightness flickering with FreeSync on. Ok, maybe the problem was the original monitor. I asked for a warranty replacement and got a new one.

Once received, I opened the box, put the brand new monitor in place, changed the old DisplayPort cable with the new one and… panic. No signal at all. Ok, that’s becoming strange.

Then I tried the old cable-new monitor combo and i got signal. Ok, maybe they sent me a defective cable with the new monitor.

After some days… you know, it happened: no signal while gaming. Let’s investigate further.

I tried different combos of ports, cables, settings, monitors and this is a list of results.

FreeSync on, DisplayPort version set to 1.2 on monitor’s OSD and DP cable inserted into the port 1 of my GPU.

Cable 1: it works, but the screen goes to sleep.

Cable 2: black screen.

Cable 3: black screen.

Cable 4: black screen.

FreeSync on, DisplayPort version set to 1.2 on monitor’s OSD and DP cable inserted into the port 2 of my GPU.

Cable 1: black screen.

Cable 2: black screen.

Cable 3: black screen.

Cable 4: black screen.

FreeSync on, DisplayPort version set to 1.1 on monitor’s OSD and DP cable inserted into the port 1 or 2 of my GPU.

Cable 1: it works, but the screen goes to sleep.

Cable 2: it works, but the screen goes to sleep.

Cable 3: it works, but the screen goes to sleep.

Cable 4: it works, but the screen goes to sleep.

With FreeSync off: I always have signal, but the screen goes to sleep.

Cable 1: the one from the original monitor.

Cable 2: the one from the warranty replaced monitor.

Cable 3: is a DisplayPort 1.2 VESA certified (DISPLPORT10L from StarTech)

Cable 4: just found at home, I have no informations about it.

Notice that cable 1 and cable 2 should be identical, but they have different behaviours.

PSU: 700W

CPU: i7-7700K

GPU: Asus DUAL-RX580-O8G

MOBO: Asus Prime Z270-A

Original monitor: Samsung C27FG73 (144 Hz, 1080p, FreeSync 1)

Temporary monitor: LG 34UC99 (75 Hz, 3440x1440, FreeSync 1)

SUMMARY:

I want to play with the Samsung monitor with DisplayPort 1.2 at 1080p @ 144 Hz, FreeSync on.

The only way I have to achieve this result is:

Cable 1 + GPU’s port no. 1.

With this combo the monitor goes to sleep.

If I change one of this two things, I have a black screen.

LG Monitor: everything works fine with cable 1. No signal at all with cables 2, 3, 4.

One thing I noticed is that the monitor goes to sleep very often when i switch from desktop mode to fullscreen and vice versa. Or even when I change the resolution/refresh rate in-game.

What I tried:

Reinstall everything
Updating drivers
Updating motherboard bios
Trying older GPU drivers
Changing input detection from auto to DP only
And many other basic things.

What I didn’t try:

Change GPU
Change PSU
Use an HDMI cable because I am to lazy + I don’t want to lose FreeSync.

Things you shouldn’t do:

Don’t tell me I have 3 faulty cables and 1 not-so-good cable because is basically impossible.

Findiculous · December 13, 2018

I have been having a somewhat similar random issue and come across suggestions on other forums that havent been mentioned here (although my case is a little different as my card was second hand ex mining card so a lot of people suggest the card is just done for thanks to mining):

1: Check cables/power cord for GPU are plugged in properly on motherboard (also maybe take out GPU and reinsert until you hear a click as it might have come a little loose in transit)

2: Check the GPU settings and turn off the "Fan stop" option from your Asus GPU.

3: Move GPU down 1 PCIe slot (or up 1 slot if its not in the top slot)

Crazievil · December 13, 2018

Cables and power cord are ok, but I will surely move the GPU into another PCIe slot and see what happens. However, this wouldn't explain why it works with one cable, but doesn't with the others.

AivarasV · February 13, 2019

i have same problem. Tryed in two different motherboards, two different psu's, two diffirent dp cables, two diffirent monitors, reinstaled drivers and still having this issue.Issue video sample