Intermittent black screen

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Thu May 21, 2009 12:11 am

Alright, as of now, I have had a GeForce 9600GT for a while now (maybe about a year or so) and, well, ever since I've had no problems with it ever since then up until last week. While playing games such as Splinter Cell Chaos Theory and Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion (which I enjoy very much), everything seemed to be running without a hitch. Boy, was I wrong! The screen turns black intermittently, turns the monitor off (which can't be turned back on), so, when that happened, I soft rebooted the computer and both the POST and XP processes are okay. Heck, I even had the newest nVidia version, which was 185.85.
Then I've heard that new drivers can sometimes screw up and have these kinds of issues, so I rolled back to 182.06 to see if that would fix anything. No dice. This has happened at least five times today, and I'm downright confused; this shouldn't be happening, since my tower is very well ventilated and the room I'm in right now isn't hot at all. I also use compressed air to clean the components as well. Is my card about to crap out on me or what? Should I get one of these instead? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814133270
It's not too expensive, either.

Current PC specs:

CPU - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 (3.00GHz, not overcloked)
RAM - 2GB DDR SDRAM PC26400
OS - Windows XP Home Edition SP3
GPU - GeForce 9600GT 512MB GDDR3 (not overclocked)
Driver - 182.06
DirectX - DX9.0c with (March 2009 redistributable)

Post by **odditude** » Thu May 21, 2009 12:33 am

if it's that new, there's a good chance you're still in-warranty. contact the manufacturer.

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Thu May 21, 2009 12:38 am

Hmm...you mean PNY? Yeah, there should be a warranty; at least I saw one when I got it from newegg.

Edit 5:36PM: Newegg says that the warranty is 3 years limited. The problem is that the packaging it came with is long gone.

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Thu May 21, 2009 1:28 am

You need packaging? Video cards these days have longer warrenties... then again, I don't expect PNY to give a good one (they are one of the most generic of the generic hardware manufacturers).

Post by **odditude** » Thu May 21, 2009 1:31 am

nintendo_nerd wrote:Hmm...you mean PNY? Yeah, there should be a warranty; at least I saw one when I got it from newegg.

Edit 5:36PM: Newegg says that the warranty is 3 years limited. The problem is that the packaging it came with is long gone.

PNY warranty terms - warranty is one year; if you registered within 90 days of purchase it's extended to three years.

if it's within warranty, go here.

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Thu May 21, 2009 1:59 am

Crap. And I've checked the reviews on websites and some have said they've gotten black screens due to overheating; *sigh* I wish I knew about these known issues before getting one....Now I'm deciding between a GTX 250 and GTX 260 (either PNY or XFX). I don't want to go ATI due to having many bad memories and emulators like PCSX2 don't run too well with them. The problem I have with the 260 is the fact that I'm pretty sure I don't have s 2 six-pin connectors. But, then again it's more powerful. Any ideas?

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Thu May 21, 2009 2:05 am

it point blank won't run without the second connector. Now, it might include an adapter to turn two molex connectors into a PCI-E power connector...

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Thu May 21, 2009 2:45 am

Chances are, you're gonna have to get a new PSU for teh powah! You'll probably get the connectors you will need from the new PSU.

I would recommend XFX if only for the lifetime warrenty... something you probably won't get from PNY.

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Thu May 21, 2009 3:22 am

Well, for now, I got nTune and changed the fan speed to as high as possible; but I have my doubts on how long this solution will last; nevertheless, I'll keep looking just in case something else goes wrong.

Edit 8:21PM: Okay...so I have the fan at 100% speed and I used compressed air to rid the fan(s) of dust, but despite doing so, the core temp. is at 59 degrees Celcius...Isn't that dangerously hot for a GPU?

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Thu May 21, 2009 3:40 am

about 100 or so celcius is dangerous... well, 105 is for my 8800gt >.>

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Thu May 21, 2009 4:16 am

Okay, that is hot....so, I turned it off for 20 or so minutes, and it to an acceptable temp. I boot it up and load Oblivion only to experience a black screen/lockup yet again! Something tells me that there's something screwy going on here. I know videocards pretty well and I personally don't this behavior is by any means normal. WTC?

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Thu May 21, 2009 4:18 am

What exactly is your power supply?

Post by **odditude** » Thu May 21, 2009 4:21 am

Deathlike2 wrote:teh powah!

@op - speaking of which, what psu do you have now?

Deathlike2 wrote:I would recommend XFX if only for the lifetime warrenty... something you won't get from PNY.

fixed and seconded.

franpa · Post by **franpa** » Thu May 21, 2009 4:45 am

how did you remove the newer 185.85 drivers? you should use a driver cleaner product while in safemode to ensure it is completely gone. (I use DriverCleaner.NET)

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Thu May 21, 2009 4:52 am

odditude wrote:
Deathlike2 wrote:teh powah!
@op - speaking of which, what psu do you have now?

If you didn't check out my update to the comp thread, it was an Antec EarthWatts 650W.

I would've bought eVGA (it also has said warrenty), except the BFG one (yes, with the 216 core) for me was cheaper (even w/o the rebate) and was overclocked out of the box (no mem overclock though). The eVGA version on Newegg is still probably a good bet, if you don't mind the extra overhead in cost for the lifetime warrenty.

franpa wrote:how did you remove the newer 185.85 drivers? you should use a driver cleaner product while in safemode to ensure it is completely gone. (I use DriverCleaner.NET)

You must be kidding me right? I'll probably still use an NVidia uninstall tool, but the classic uninstalling via Add/Remove Programs still works as long as I've owned/used NVidia (and ATI) products.

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Thu May 21, 2009 5:00 am

I thought my PSU is either 450 or something, but who knows (it's somewhere in that range). And since the GTS 260 comes with this: http://www.evga.com/products/enlarge.as ... 255-AR&I=2 would that mean I won't have to worry about finding an extra two 6-pin connectors? If that's the case, I should get the 260 right?

Deathlike2 · Post by **Deathlike2** » Thu May 21, 2009 5:12 am

It's GTX... GTS is designated for the 250 (which is rebranded old tech...)

It seems you have picked this? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814130434

There are two alternatives...
BFG version (overclocked of course) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814143189
XFX version (overclocked as well) - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814150361

Anyways, the power specs recommend having a PSU of 500W or above, so your issue is nothing short of MOAR POWAH!

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Thu May 21, 2009 5:26 am

Well, it seems I have 500W after all...so, not sure about that dongle I saw...

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Thu May 21, 2009 5:36 am

The GTS 250(Which isn't quite rebranded... it's got a new PCB design that sucks less power, always a nice design change when it doesn't fuck with the performance) can run fine on a 380 watt PSU provided the PSU doesn't suck balls. I know because I have one in my dad's PC.

It's quite the nice card, BTW. Not too much slower than a 4850 with less power draw: http://www.techreport.com/articles.x/16504

Of course, it depends on the game. If the game doesn't take too well to the GF 9 series, the 4850 will be better by far, and vice versa. The 4800 series isn't that good for WoW compared to the GF 9/GTS 250 and GTX series, and IIRC, the Stalker games prefer the 4800 series.

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Thu May 21, 2009 5:42 am

Hmmmm....the GTS 250? I mean, would it slaughter the 9600? If so, I'll get it; I don't want to fry my PSU or have crashes and the like.

Edit 10:45PM: Okay, just ordered the GTS 250; the 260 was way too expensive for me. Sure not as powerful, but sufficient. It should run
alot cooler, right?

I.S.T. · Post by **I.S.T.** » Thu May 21, 2009 5:50 am

nintendo_nerd wrote:Hmmmm....the GTS 250? I mean, would it slaughter the 9600? If so, I'll get it; I don't want to fry my PSU or have crashes and the like.

Edit 10:45PM: Okay, just ordered the GTS 250; the 260 was way too expensive for me. Sure not as powerful, but sufficient. It should run
alot cooler, right?

Compared to a GTX 260? Fuck yeah.

Now, at one point in time the 9600 GT and the 9800 GTX(Which the GTS 250 is based off of) were fairly close in speed. However, in recent games, the extra power of the GTS 250 has begun to matter more.

Post by **odditude** » Thu May 21, 2009 2:28 pm

Deathlike2 wrote:
odditude wrote:
Deathlike2 wrote:teh powah!
@op - speaking of which, what psu do you have now?
If you didn't check out my update to the comp thread, it was an Antec EarthWatts 650W.

i saw your update, d00d (and good choice, btw... with a metric shit ton of headroom for your build, to boot)... but i was asking the original poster, not the chanop

@op - exactly what psu do you have, make and model? giving just the wattage doesn't mean a damn thing, since a 500W piece of crap is no better (and often worse) than a 350W quality unit.

I.S.T. wrote:The GTS 250(Which isn't quite rebranded... it's got a new PCB design that sucks less power)

not exactly. only the 1GB model got a redesign... the 512MB model is a 9800GTX+ with a new sticker, nothing more (unless they've started shipping a new PCB for the 512MB after selling though remaining stock - haven't seen reference of that anywhere yet, though).

Post by **grinvader** » Thu May 21, 2009 2:34 pm

odditude wrote:metric shit ton

The correct unit is "metric ass ton". Shit tons are derivated from the imperial assload, which vary per country.

nintendo_nerd · Post by **nintendo_nerd** » Thu May 21, 2009 3:05 pm

Good because I got the GTS 250 1GB model and not the 512 one. It should be here tomorrow, but it will be better than what I already have (9600GT), right?

snkcube · Post by **snkcube** » Thu May 21, 2009 5:48 pm

nintendo_nerd: So what exactly is your PSU's brand and model? You still haven't answered odditude's question.