Solved Intermittant Blank Screen: Win 7 : Geforce 460 GTX

[TimeSlip]

Hello all,

I've been having severe stability issues over the last few days. It started around a week back, and has gotten progressively worse over the last few days. I strongly suspect it's related to updating my graphics drivers to GF 314.22 over the last 14 days, as the computer became completely unusable (losing signal from GPU when windows starts) until I uninstalled the new GF drivers, and replaced them with older ones. I should add, that the problem did not start immediately, but around a week after installing the new drivers. At present I get a blank screen a few times a day, with no signal coming from the GPU.

Pretty sure it's not heat related, as the crashes have never occurred when I'm playing a game, just when doing lighter work. I've also install GPU-Z and the temp is fairly low. Also tried setting up a minidump file, but after each crash the folder remains empty.

At the minute, I'm trying to go back to an older driver, but I don't think that's going to solve it. I've attached the info from the 7Forums tool in the post, any help would be seriously appreciated. Thanks for reading!

Question: I've read somewhere that upgrading the motherboard drivers to the most recent from the intel (rather than manufacturer's site) can help. Can anyone tell me which driver I need for Gigabyte P55 UD3L? I tried using the app on the intel site and it wouldn't direct me to a download, nor have I been able to find out elsewhere.

Edit 1: Added the hardware conflicts from msinfo32

Edit 2: Formatted PC, and installed basic drivers (Mobo, Lan, Realtek Audio, and the older NVidia Drivers that were working ok) The problem still exists. Is it starting to look like hardware failure?

Edit 3: Performed memory diagnostic. No errors found.

Edit 4: Tried a clean boot. Screen still went black.

 

[ganon11000]

could you use MSI Afterburner to find the temps of your gpu and tell me them as I'm assuming it getting too hot and might need new thermal compound!

 

[TimeSlip]

Hello Ganon, thanks for the suggestion. I've been keeping an eye on GPU temps with GPU-Z. Most of the time when the blank screen appears, I'm just browsing or programming, and the temp range is 27 - 34 degrees. Would you say this is normal enough?

I cleaned it out today (as best I could with the tools to hand) there was some dust in it, not a major amount. Any other ideas?

 

[Patrick4215]

For this sort of problem I strongly recommend you to remove all the memory,video card, and Hdd and reboot your pc to see what will happen.

 

[TimeSlip]

Thanks, Patrick. Certainly willing to give it a try. Thing is, I don't have onboard graphics, so without the card there will be no display. Will this matter? Could you explain a little more what effect doing this could have? Resetting something? Much obliged!

 

[ganon11000]

Thanks, Patrick. Certainly willing to give it a try. Thing is, I don't have onboard graphics, so without the card there will be no display. Will this matter? Could you explain a little more what effect doing this could have? Resetting something? Much obliged!

It will, in theory, find the dead part but in honesty id remove everything but 1 ram stick, GPU HDD CPU and PSU and see if any issues occour

 

[Faladu]

Losing signal when windows starts, wouldn't be a driver issue, sounded more like power trouble or issue with motherboard.

How old is that Power Supply of yours? PSUs are the most likely failure point these days, 3 years of life is all I expect.

I would definitely reseat the video card after making sure the slot it was in was clean and it's fan(s), but I'd be looking at a new Power Supply.

[This PSU business is discussed in my A+ study materials, didn't just pull it out of the air]

 

[TimeSlip]

Thanks, Patrick. Certainly willing to give it a try. Thing is, I don't have onboard graphics, so without the card there will be no display. Will this matter? Could you explain a little more what effect doing this could have? Resetting something? Much obliged!

It will, in theory, find the dead part but in honesty id remove everything but 1 ram stick, GPU HDD CPU and PSU and see if any issues occour

So when I reboot after replacing the components, windows (may/will) tell me there is a fault with one of them?

 

[TimeSlip]

Losing signal when windows starts, wouldn't be a driver issue, sounded more like power trouble or issue with motherboard.

How old is that Power Supply of yours? PSUs are the most likely failure point these days, 3 years of life is all I expect.

I would definitely reseat the video card after making sure the slot it was in was clean and it's fan(s), but I'd be looking at a new Power Supply.

[This PSU business is discussed in my A+ study materials, didn't just pull it out of the air]

Think I built it around christmas 2010, (GTX 460 wasn't out by christmas 2009), so about 2.4 years. In fairness, it gets a lot of use. Power supply is a Corsair (either 650 or 700). Given that its a well branded PSU, would it last longer than the average?

Resigned to having to replace some components, but it's not that old of a system (fine for my needs) and I don't want to replace the whole thing, so any help isolating the problem part would be appreciated. Some of the posters mentioned taking out most of the components, rebooting and then replacing them, but I'd like to know a bit more about how this will help (i.e. how the part will be identified) when I reboot.

Thanks!

 

[TimeSlip]

Info from MGA Diag

Diagnostic Report (1.9.0027.0):
-----------------------------------------
Windows Validation Data-->

Validation Code: 0
Cached Online Validation Code: 0x0
Windows Product Key: *****-*****-468C6-73J6F-XVPF8
Windows Product Key Hash: pVBVHoof3PQRI6bA0q8jOvX3eT0=
Windows Product ID: 00359-OEM-8703287-16628
Windows Product ID Type: 3
Windows License Type: OEM System Builder
Windows OS version: 6.1.7601.2.00010300.1.0.003
ID: {9ECA1F33-DEDA-4C16-B7D2-2089E9891F1D}(3)
Is Admin: Yes
TestCab: 0x0
LegitcheckControl ActiveX: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Product Name: Windows 7 Home Premium
Architecture: 0x00000009
Build lab: 7601.win7sp1_gdr.130318-1533
TTS Error: 
Validation Diagnostic: 
Resolution Status: N/A

Vista WgaER Data-->
ThreatID(s): N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Version: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

Windows XP Notifications Data-->
Cached Result: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
File Exists: No
Version: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
WgaTray.exe Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
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OGA Notifications Data-->
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OGAExec.exe Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
OGAAddin.dll Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002

OGA Data-->
Office Status: 100 Genuine
Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007 - 100 Genuine
OGA Version: N/A, 0x80070002
Signed By: N/A, hr = 0x80070002
Office Diagnostics: 025D1FF3-364-80041010_025D1FF3-229-80041010_025D1FF3-230-1_025D1FF3-517-80040154_025D1FF3-237-80040154_025D1FF3-238-2_025D1FF3-244-80070002_025D1FF3-258-3

Browser Data-->
Proxy settings: N/A
User Agent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 8.0; Win32)
Default Browser: C:\Program Files (x86)\Mozilla Firefox\firefox.exe
Download signed ActiveX controls: Prompt
Download unsigned ActiveX controls: Disabled
Run ActiveX controls and plug-ins: Allowed
Initialize and script ActiveX controls not marked as safe: Disabled
Allow scripting of Internet Explorer Webbrowser control: Disabled
Active scripting: Allowed
Script ActiveX controls marked as safe for scripting: Allowed

File Scan Data-->

Other data-->
Office Details: <GenuineResults><MachineData><UGUID>{9ECA1F33-DEDA-4C16-B7D2-2089E9891F1D}</UGUID><Version>1.9.0027.0</Version><OS>6.1.7601.2.00010300.1.0.003</OS><Architecture>x64</Architecture><PKey>*****-*****-*****-*****-XVPF8</PKey><PID>00359-OEM-8703287-16628</PID><PIDType>3</PIDType><SID>S-1-5-21-3673852403-2145089822-215951040</SID><SYSTEM><Manufacturer>Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.</Manufacturer><Model>P55-UD3L</Model></SYSTEM><BIOS><Manufacturer>Award Software International, Inc.</Manufacturer><Version>FH</Version><SMBIOSVersion major="2" minor="4"/><Date>20100625000000.000000+000</Date></BIOS><HWID>6F6C3B07018400FE</HWID><UserLCID>1809</UserLCID><SystemLCID>0409</SystemLCID><TimeZone>GMT Standard Time(GMT+00:00)</TimeZone><iJoin>0</iJoin><SBID><stat>3</stat><msppid></msppid><name></name><model></model></SBID><OEM/><GANotification/></MachineData><Software><Office><Result>100</Result><Products><Product GUID="{90120000-0030-0000-0000-0000000FF1CE}"><LegitResult>100</LegitResult><Name>Microsoft Office Enterprise 2007</Name><Ver>12</Ver><Val>7480B9502DF0D86</Val><Hash>oYWOW5ayFE3pZ+jvTpuXYsY64JE=</Hash><Pid>89388-707-8722531-65997</Pid><PidType>14</PidType></Product></Products><Applications><App Id="15" Version="12" Result="100"/><App Id="16" Version="12" Result="100"/><App Id="18" Version="12" Result="100"/><App Id="19" Version="12" Result="100"/><App Id="1A" Version="12" Result="100"/><App Id="1B" Version="12" Result="100"/><App Id="44" Version="12" Result="100"/><App Id="A1" Version="12" Result="100"/><App Id="BA" Version="12" Result="100"/></Applications></Office></Software></GenuineResults>  

Spsys.log Content: 0x80070002

Licensing Data-->
Software licensing service version: 6.1.7601.17514

Name: Windows(R) 7, HomePremium edition
Description: Windows Operating System - Windows(R) 7, OEM_COA_NSLP channel
Activation ID: 586bc076-c93d-429a-afe5-a69fbc644e88
Application ID: 55c92734-d682-4d71-983e-d6ec3f16059f
Extended PID: 00359-00174-032-816628-02-6153-7600.0000-1022013
Installation ID: 016504293644104512977280214300259306719821355475195036
Processor Certificate URL: [URL]http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88338[/URL]
Machine Certificate URL: [URL]http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88339[/URL]
Use License URL: [URL]http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88341[/URL]
Product Key Certificate URL: [URL]http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=88340[/URL]
Partial Product Key: XVPF8
License Status: Licensed
Remaining Windows rearm count: 4
Trusted time: 19/04/2013 09:52:25

Windows Activation Technologies-->
HrOffline: 0x00000000
HrOnline: 0x00000000
HealthStatus: 0x0000000000000000
Event Time Stamp: 4:13:2013 18:11
ActiveX: Registered, Version: 7.1.7600.16395
Admin Service: Registered, Version: 7.1.7600.16395
HealthStatus Bitmask Output:


HWID Data-->
HWID Hash Current: NAAAAAEABgABAAEAAAABAAAAAQABAAEA6GFgOASDdo0oYICWQsYIhcKPpA2eXhC3Qnl2Vg==

OEM Activation 1.0 Data-->
N/A

OEM Activation 2.0 Data-->
BIOS valid for OA 2.0: yes, but no SLIC table
Windows marker version: N/A
OEMID and OEMTableID Consistent: N/A
BIOS Information: 
  ACPI Table Name    OEMID Value    OEMTableID Value
  APIC            GBT           GBTUACPI
  FACP            GBT           GBTUACPI
  HPET            GBT           GBTUACPI
  MCFG            GBT           GBTUACPI
  EUDS            GBT           
  TAMG            GBT           GBT   B0
  SSDT            INTEL        PPM RCM

 

[TimeSlip]

Also ran checkdisk and sfc scannow. No problems on scannow. Didn't see the results of checkdsk, as I left the house, but it had encountered no problems by the beginning of stage 5, which checks the empty sectors.

 

[TimeSlip]

Thanks, Patrick. Certainly willing to give it a try. Thing is, I don't have onboard graphics, so without the card there will be no display. Will this matter? Could you explain a little more what effect doing this could have? Resetting something? Much obliged!

It will, in theory, find the dead part but in honesty id remove everything but 1 ram stick, GPU HDD CPU and PSU and see if any issues occour

Hello Gannon. Tested it out and unfortunately didn't identify the part. Getting a loan of a GPU tomorrow, so that should allow me to eliminate/isolate the GPU as the problem. The only thing i've definitely eliminated so far is the monitor. Have done quite a few checks on HD and memory, so they seem less likely.

If it isn't the GPU, that leaves MOBO, CPU and PSU.

 

[smarteyeball]

If that loaner GPU fails I'd put money on it being the PSU

Unfortunately brand names fail as well.

 

[TimeSlip]

Yeah, GPU seems most likely. Hope I don't end up buying every part in turn, and not get the comp fixed for a few weeks. Cleaned out comp and reseated memory and GPU yesterday. No crashes yet, and unlikely that will solve the problem, but will wait till the error occurs again before replacing the graphics card. Thanks for your suggestion.

 

[TimeSlip]

Bit of a weird one, but since re-seating memory and GPU (5 days or so ago), there have been no crashes. Anyone else hear of anything like this happening? I'll close this off in another few days if the system remains stable.

 

[Faladu]

Reseating is standard early troubleshooting procedure.

Any reasonable PC repair place can fast test your PSU for failure.... you can buy the gadget [a PSU tester] yourself for:

About $15 for a cheap one, $30+ for a good one. [just checked on newegg] I spent $30 on one last year, it's a good investment.

 

[TimeSlip]

Been meaning to learn a little about repairing and working with hardware since my Dad's friend fixed my Samsung monitor by replacing the caps a few months back and saved me buying a new one. I'll look into getting a PSU tester, thanks.

 

[Faladu]

A+ study guide reminds me: The Big 4 are your normal failure points:

RAM (rare) [OC'n danger certainly, like all parts]
Motherboard (rare) [So many failure points on mobos, amazing that they don't fail MORE]
Video Card (again OC'n and poor air circulation/fan failure = murderers]
Power Supply [Doomed to fail eventually, helped by surges and blocked or clogged fan]
[CPU failure is rare and usually caused by OC'n by foolish users, failed installs in the first place, &/or bad fans/heatsink use, so doesn't make the list]

Personally, my failures have mostly been motherboard... 2nd PSU, 3rd Video card, never on RAM or CPU, although it getting loose over time on motherboards and needing reseated and/or slots cleaned, yes for RAM.

Users who never ever do routine maintenance on their PCs are lucky to get to 3 years, the amount of gunk and dust expected on opening their cases, I would cover my mouth and nose for a while.

Would you like a can of compressed air with those fries, sir? :devil:

 

[TimeSlip]

Thanks for the info Faladu. Nothing OC on my system. Really hope it isn't motherboard, as I have OEM windows and I think that dies with the board. I got a PSU Tester (one for dummies, with LED) and it tested ok. Guessing I can't be 100% sure without seeing voltages, but I didn't know that when I bought. Going to switch in the loaner graphics soon (its a crappy AMD - keep putting it off : ) Usually clean out the comp every 9 months or so. How much do you reckon this kind of maintenance extends the life of the comp?

 

[ganon11000]

I don't know about extending life (although it stops overheating) but it will make it run cooler. As for OEM windows my mobo has died loads of times, just phone Microsoft and they will give you a conformation ID (or use chat, its really easy to copy and paste that way) and I've used unused OEM keys from bottom of my laptop on X computer then moved it to Y computer. But you must remember to replace the key with a trial key to turn it into retail before moving to a new mobo then reenter your key and contact Microsoft if needed. The only one I don't have to contact Microsoft for is my GGOK