PC Black Screens

[Wolfkin]

I upgraded my entire PC rig on Black Friday. Pretty much everything is new, except the drives which are about 3 years old now.

 

Current Specs:

Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-H

CPU: Intel Core i5-9600k

RAM: 2x8 GB 3200MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX

GPU: NVIDIA MSI RTX 2080 Gaming X Trio

PSU: EVGA G3 750W

 

I pieced the entire thing together and already I noticed something weird. The PC attempted to boot, failed, then attempted to boot again and succeeded. Everything ran fine for 3 months just with the stated issue occasionally popping up. About a week ago however it started randomly black screening, like I was holding the power button. This means that there are no logs I can show you, except a critical event in event viewer called Kernel-Power with Event ID 41, which simply states that the PC lost power unexpectedly. It can't be a CPU overheating issue since I am running a Cryorig R1 Ultimate, which usually keeps the thing below 60 degrees Celsius. The GPU doesn't go over 70 degrees either. So far I have taken the entire thing apart and put it back together, checking every connection in the process, including the CPU socket. I have updated all sorts of drivers including chipset and GPU drivers. I have updated the BIOS to the most recent version. I switched out the VGA, CPU and SATA cables, and plugged them into different ports in the PSU. I tried plugging the PC directly into the wall, instead of using an extension. But no luck. Currently there are 4 scenarios that can occur:

1. PC attempts to boot, fails, attempts to boot again and succeeds, but black screens about 5-10 minutes later.

2. PC attempts to boot, fails, attempts to boot again, fails again, then suddenly everything turns on with fans at 100% forcing me to turn off the PC by cutting power or holding the power button for a couple of seconds.

3. PC runs fine

4. PC attempts to boot, fails, attempts to boot again, fails, but instead of restarting it goes into the BIOS as it, for some reason, can't see the boot drive anymore. Disabling the XMP Profile seems to fix that. So maybe the RAM is unstable at 3200MHz? But I checked it using the Memory Diagnostic tool. Or my boot drive is failing? But I checked both my drives for errors and fragmentation. I am at a loss at the moment. The fact that the PC doesn't really know what is going on either isn't helping. I have also checked system file integrity using sfc /scannow and DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth.

 

Oh, and another thing. My 2080 has Micron memory chips, which from what I understand can potentially cause problems.

[Wolfkin]

Update: Reduced DRAM frequency to 3000MHz, PC has been running FurMark for the last 20 minutes without black screening. Previously, this would cause a crash about 2-3 minutes into the stress test. Maybe I'm just getting lucky, or the DRAM is actually the problem.

 

Update 2: It just did the same thing at 3200MHz...

[Spotty]

55 minutes ago, Wolfkin said:

Motherboard: ASUS ROG STRIX Z390-H
I pieced the entire thing together and already I noticed something weird. The PC attempted to boot, failed, then attempted to boot again and succeeded.

That's pretty normal for Asus motherboards to do a double boot the first time. IIRC it's a memory training thing it does just to properly detect the RAM. After the first time it should be fine, though if you ever clear CMOS or reset BIOS to defaults it might do it again. Nothing to worry about.
 

57 minutes ago, Wolfkin said:

But no luck. Currently there are 4 scenarios that can occur:

1. PC attempts to boot, fails, attempts to boot again and succeeds, but black screens about 5-10 minutes later.

2. PC attempts to boot, fails, attempts to boot again, fails again, then suddenly everything turns on with fans at 100% forcing me to turn off the PC by cutting power or holding the power button for a couple of seconds.

3. PC runs fine

4. PC attempts to boot, fails, attempts to boot again, fails, but instead of restarting it goes into the BIOS as it, for some reason, can't see the boot drive anymore. Disabling the XMP Profile seems to fix that. So maybe the RAM is unstable at 3200MHz? But I checked it using the Memory Diagnostic tool. Or my boot drive is failing? But I checked both my drives for errors and fragmentation. I am at a loss at the moment. The fact that the PC doesn't really know what is going on either isn't helping. I have also checked system file integrity using sfc /scannow and DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth.

I would be looking towards your memory. Check the Asus website for your motherboard to see if there are any available BIOS updates that may offer memory compatibility improvements. I'm seeing the latest being Version 2012 dated 19/2/2019, so only a few days old.

If the BIOS update doesn't help then just run the memory at 3000MHz, as that seems to solve your issue...
 

27 minutes ago, Wolfkin said:

Update: Reduced DRAM frequency to 3000MHz, PC has been running FurMark for the last 20 minutes without black screening. Previously, this would cause a crash about 2-3 minutes into the stress test. Maybe I'm just getting lucky, or the DRAM is actually the problem.

 

Update 2: It just did the same thing at 3200MHz...

So it worked fine at 3000MHz but when you set it to 3200MHz it crashed?

[Wolfkin]

It's now running fine at 3200MHz. Did 20 minutes of FurMark and 20 Minutes of CPU-Z Stress Test. It hasn't crashed. I updated the BIOS to version 2012 yesterday, hasn't made a difference. I am so confused. Thanks for the quick reply by the way. At least I now know that the double boot is pretty normal, the only thing is that it happens somewhat regularly without clearing CMOS or resetting BIOS. I even disabled the MemOK function on the motherboard, but it still did the double boot anyway. I will give further updates as things develop.

 

Update 3: PC is no longer double booting. The only thing I have been changing is the DRAM frequency (Still at 3200). Still running ok. Haven't had a black screen. This is weird since I haven't touched the hardware, and have only made unrelated changes to the BIOS.

[Spotty]

39 minutes ago, Wolfkin said:

At least I now know that the double boot is pretty normal, the only thing is that it happens somewhat regularly without clearing CMOS or resetting BIOS. I even disabled the MemOK function on the motherboard, but it still did the double boot anyway. I will give further updates as things develop.

It might be double booting if you are changing the memory frequency in the BIOS. Really should only happen once though and then be fine after that with normal start ups, assuming you're not changing settings in the BIOS. Been a while since I've used an ASUS board though so can't remember exactly how it behaves.
 

39 minutes ago, Wolfkin said:

Update 3: PC is no longer double booting. The only thing I have been changing is the DRAM frequency (Still at 3200). Still running ok. Haven't had a black screen.

See how you go with the memory at 3200MHz. If it starts shutting down unexpectedly again drop it down to 3000MHz and leave it a few days and see if it still happens.
If it keeps switching off, might have to start looking at other potential causes...

[Wolfkin]

I will follow those suggestions and keep the thread updated. Thanks a lot!

[Wolfkin]

We are back to the same problem. I haven't changed anything, I just haven't used it in a couple of days. So it went from running perfectly without any hitches back to being unable to post or booting multiple times before posting, without changing any BIOS settings or resetting CMOS. It also black screens and reboots a couple minutes after a successful boot. I don't know anymore.

[Wolfkin]

On 2/23/2019 at 4:39 PM, Spotty said:

See how you go with the memory at 3200MHz. If it starts shutting down unexpectedly again drop it down to 3000MHz and leave it a few days and see if it still happens.
If it keeps switching off, might have to start looking at other potential causes...

We are back to the same problem. I haven't changed anything, I just haven't used it in a couple of days. So it went from running perfectly without any hitches back to being unable to post or booting multiple times before posting, without changing any BIOS settings or resetting CMOS. It also black screens and reboots a couple minutes after a successful boot. I don't know anymore. 

 

What I just found is that it seems to be stupidly sensitive to being knocked around. My dog literally just wagged its tail against it, and it turned off.

 

Furthermore: Device manager is detecting the same drive twice. I have two drives but one is a Crucial SSD and the other a WD Blue HDD. Also, my GPU is running in PCIe x1 instead of x16. This problem I already had last week, but I managed to fix that by changing the VGA cable. Or perhaps the PCIe slot is faulty, or rather all of them as I already tried running my GPU in another slot, with the same problems (not sure if PCIe x1 or x16, didn't check that at the time, but black screening still occurred). In my mind, this means that it could either be the motherboard or the GPU.

 

Update (March 1st): Could mounting the GPU too high cause problems like this? I loosened the screws, got the GPU into a nice neutral position, tightened the screws back up, booted, and it's running in PCIe x16 again.

 

Update 2 (March 2nd): PC just black screened again. 

[Spotty]

On 3/1/2019 at 7:22 PM, Wolfkin said:

What I just found is that it seems to be stupidly sensitive to being knocked around. My dog literally just wagged its tail against it, and it turned off.

That's odd. Does it switch off if you bump the case? Give it a nudge and see what happens.

Check all of the cables inside the PC and make sure they're plugged in firmly.
Make sure the power cable in the back of the power supply unit is fully inserted.
Any shocks if you touch the case? Is the PSU grounded in the wall outlet?
Motherboard standoffs installed in the case to prevent the back of the motherboard contacting the metal of the case?

 

On 3/1/2019 at 7:22 PM, Wolfkin said:

Also, my GPU is running in PCIe x1 instead of x16. This problem I already had last week, but I managed to fix that by changing the VGA cable. Or perhaps the PCIe slot is faulty, or rather all of them as I already tried running my GPU in another slot, with the same problems (not sure if PCIe x1 or x16, didn't check that at the time, but black screening still occurred). In my mind, this means that it could either be the motherboard or the GPU.

Which PCIe slot is the graphics card plugged in to? Some slots that look like x16 may not have all the pins inside and are really just PCIex4 or x8 but just have the same slot width. Typically the top full length slot will be x16 which is where the GPU should be plugged in to.

Check the CPU socket for bent or missing pins. Bent pins can cause issues with memory, PCIe slots, and random shut downs...
If you've got a decent camera, take a photo of the socket and upload it. Can try and see if I can spot anything out of place (though normally pretty easy to spot yourself - they normally line up so if you see anything out of place it typically means its been bent/damaged)

 

On 2/23/2019 at 5:33 PM, Wolfkin said:

Oh, and another thing. My 2080 has Micron memory chips, which from what I understand can potentially cause problems.

If your GPU memory was faulty, that would cause little space invaders on your screen or other VRAM related issues. What you're experiencing won't be related. And from my memory it was less of an issue on the 2080s, moreso a problem on the 2080Tis where the memory was running at higher clocks and dying... But despite changing memory manufacturers I don't think Nvidia ever 100% confirmed memory was the issue on that so *shrugs*

 

 

At this point I'd say it's most likely a CPU socket issue, or general motherboard issue. Possibly PSU related, possibly something shorting...
Honestly I'm not sure though, this definitely is a tough one I think. Maybe the next course of action would be starting to borrow PC parts from friends or family and replacing things one at a time to see what is causing the resets.

[LookieHere]

I'm having this issue as well and I have no more hair to pull out! lol  I know it's not software/OS related because I built a Hackintosh and I've read this exact description of this seemingly random error on multiple forums for all different types of builds and OSs.

 

I've tried swapping memory stick locations, have gone through 2 motherboard firmware updates, DisplayPort, HDMI, removed XMP profile (reset to default)… I'm ready to blame ghosts at this point.

 

Unfortunately I do agree that it may be down to a motherboard, GPU or RAM problem although the RAM passed all memtest tests and my GPU is from a previous computer and didn't do this in that computer.

 

Just like other people I have to force a reboot and then the computer gets into the OS (in my case, macOS) and the damned thing continues like it went into an instant freeze state. It's frustratingly weird. I wish ANYone could figure this out and help.