Solved One more sufferer. ATI 5770, Win7-64 Black screen

[HawkeyeJoe]

I have what I consider a pretty powerful system. Since about the middle of March, I have been crashing out with a black screen and after a pause, a reboot. I have worked to eliminate several glitches, which have improved matters. I found an unterminated SCSI CDRom drive, a second SCSI drive that did not have parity enabled, an unconnected Network adapter. But after all fixes, I still get a couple crashes each day. It happens most often in the game Rift. But it has also happened to an untended, idle computer. The crash starts as loss of video (black screen) with full sound playback continuing. I use vent and have reported my crashes on vent, after I lost the screen.

Since the crashes appear to be video related, I searched and found the Windows & Forums thread. I used the SF Diagnostic tool and attached the output file. Now, I humbly appeal for some help. I have been using personal Computers since 1978, Holloween night to be specific. I Really do know a lot about computers, having build several dozen over the years. I fixed computers down to the individual gate level in the early years of personal computers. But, in today's world of Ultra High density circuits, I am not as certain of myself as I once was.

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

 

[Golden]

Hi Joe,

Presumably you have tried different drivers for the card? What about cooling? Do you know what temperature the card is running at?

Can you run Speccy (http://www.piriform.com/speccy) so we can get a feel for the temperatures of the components in the PC?

Can you recall what you may have added/installed around March when the issues first started?

Regards,
Golden

 

[SlasherIT]

Are you running the most up to date driver for your graphics card? AMD Graphics Drivers & Software

 

[Ivan the SoSo]

Have you tried a different power supply?

 

[SlasherIT]

Have you tried a different power supply?

This is really important, make sure OP, that you check this and try another PSU.

 

[HawkeyeJoe]

OK. Here is a followup. I used the posted link to check for an updated set of drivers. I was surprised to see drivers dated 5/29/11. MY latest drivers were from late April., so I updated. I also installed Speccy from piriform. My system seems to top out heat wise in the 60° range, while under the heaviest load. I would like it cooler, but that is tolerable. Since I updated the drivers, I have not crashed, but it has been less than 24 hours. In the past I have gone that long. If I have not had the Black screen crash in four more days of steady use, I will mark the thread as closed.

My system is a very live system with new installs coming and going. That is why I sport so much ram and hard drive space. I know of no updates around the time the crashes started. If I could remember any of those, I would have tried removing them to solve the problem. I have cleaned flotsam and jetsam out of the registry and uninstalled unused software as a preliminary step to solving this problem. That did not help. The hardware reviews that found the SCSI troubles were identified from the event viewer in the computer management console. There was no clue to the video troubles in the event viewer either.

Regarding the power supply, I have a Thermaltake 750watt ps, which was an upgrade about a year ago. I have solved problems inn the past with a bigger or newer ps. I don't think that is the problem this time.

Thanks for all the support postings. It really does help. Great site BTW.

 

[SlasherIT]

I'm glad the updated drivers worked out well for you. You should, as a good practice, once a month check for new updated drivers for not only your GPU, but other things such as network LAN, Wi-Fi (if you have it), Audio, ect. New drivers keep your computer in good shape.

 

[HawkeyeJoe]

That is very good advice. I tend to do that. As an Accountant and tax preparer, I tend to get a bit behind in updates this time of year. But I know I updated the Video drivers at least 4 times since I got the new Sapphire 5770 back in November. This time, on upgrade number 5, it looks like my problem has been solved.

 

[SlasherIT]

Well, its nice to hear another problem solved. If you have another problem with anything Windows/PC related, just pop on down the forums and we'll help you. Best of luck in the future!

 

[Golden]

Nice one Joe. I agree, your PSU is more than adequate and a good make too.

Regards,
Golden