Windows 10: Random one-second black screens

Hi all!

Just assembled the following machine out of brand new components:

Mobo: GA-B250M-DS3H
CPU: G4560
GPU: integrated
PSU: Corsair VS550
RAM: CMK8GX4M2A2400C16
SSD: Kingston SSDnow 300V
Monitor: VGA (the only non-new component)

I have the following trouble -- random one-second black screens, without any error messages left behind. As if the signal was just cut off for a second. It's not the screen saver turning on, as it happens also when the PC is in use, and even when the PC isn't touched, the image comes back on its own.

I thought it was the VGA cable, but the screen works solid on another PC. The issue persists with the generic windows graphics drivers, as well as the latest intel drivers. Another thought was the heat, as I later learned I should have needed to press the diagonals down on the heat sink simultaneously, not one at a time, but the temperatures seem in the norm. Average 46C ... went up to 87C max when doing Heaven benchmark (single pass). Not if that temp is normal for the Heaven.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

:)

 

Black screen cause by the driver in Windows 10.

I updaded the driver , strange thing when i tried this before my driver crashed it said it was up to date. Now it's better still a black screen for like 5-10 seconds that was not there before (also someties it does not happen)

1 didn't tried in safe mode.

2 after the driver update there was no random black screen but i used it only a little , yes there were random black screen , like i was writing for 10 minutes in a word and got a black screen suddenly.

 

Black screen

Windows screen goes black, as in power save mode, at random times, stays black for a random amount of time

 

Does your monitor say "check signal" when it happens?

 

It says "power saving mode".

 

Would be nice if you could swap monitor to know for sure.

What happens if you set monitor to never sleep?

Those temps seem kinda high. I'd ditch the stock cooler at some point.

Can you boot from a Linux live cd to test? If it's fine there, it's a Windows/software/driver issue. You've got a hardware issue if Linux also glitches.

 

The screen is already set to never sleep. The issue does not seem to be present under linux after a couple of hours of testing.

 

Run the Intel processor diagnostics tool.

Download Intel® Processor Diagnostic Tool

 

I didn't know such tool existed. Thanks! The test was a complete pass.

 

So, the test was a complete pass.

Also, when I reran the benchmark, then the Intel tool showed much better temps than HWinfo64.

The blackout issue still keeps happening.

 

I'm at a loss as to what could cause that, given the troubleshooting done so far. It's probably a driver. The only thing I could recommend would be to backup/wipe/reload. Don't install anything and monitor. If the issue doesn't appear, reinstall drivers one at a time, conintuing to test. No problems after that, move onto applications.

I witness black screens on my own PC, but they were present only when running a certain application. It went away with a an application update. My work PC also black screened recently running the CPU stress test in CPU-Z 1.78.3 and caused monitor to enter sleep mode. Updating CPU-Z to version 1.80 fixed that one as well.

Personally, I think 86c under load is way to hot for the CPU. I'd expect that from a laptop but not a desktop. High 40's at idle while crappy, wouldn't cause any issues.

 

I should probably have mentioned this, but it started happening immediately after a clean install. Maybe I installed Chrome before I noticed it, but that's it. The only drivers I manually installed were the Intel Graphics ones, and that was in hopes of alleviating the issue.

Hmm... however, I made my Windows 10 USB installer with the Microsoft tool that automagically created the bootable stick without me downloading the ISO first... which I've never done before. Maybe it created a specific installation package, tailored to the PC that I used to create the media?

Now that I think of it, I did have other graphics issues on another rig, where I also used the similarly made USB media (not the exact same stick though), but I attributed the issues to a faulty GTX 560 which in the end completely died. It had worked flawlessly (if a bit hot) for years.

 

I don't think the tool talors the install media to the PC that downloaded it, but I may be wrong.

Just for the heck of it, create new install media and try again. Stupid stuff happens sometimes *Smile

Before nuking the install, give this tool a try. Wipe out the existing gfx drivers and then Install the newest.

Display Driver Uninstaller Download version 17.0.8.6

 

Messed around a bit before seeing your latest post. Main takeaways:

• The installation works just fine in another rig.
• Tried installing Windows on another drive -- the issue happened even during the install, which might be normal, except it took place during the extraction of the files to the drive where the % runs... the installation shouldn't be adjusting the graphics at that point.
• Tried another VGA display -- same issue.
• Tried a HDMI display -- no issues.
• Tried HDMI and VGA dual screen... the HDMI remains fully lit when the VGA blacks out.

 

I think you have a problem with the vga port itself on the board. Why it doesn't present itself in Linux, I dunno. I'd RMA the board at this point.

Pure speculation but if it's not the board, then it has to be the CPU.