Computer Black Screen During High Intensity Games

[Lankysmash]

Hi guys, been having this problem for a while now, not really sure what the cause of it could be.
Anyway, whenever I play a graphics intensive game, or any similar task, my computer will eventually go to a black screen for a few seconds, then restart. While doing so the fans lights etc. are still on, and no memory dump is saved. At first I thought the problem was PSU related, but I've recently bought a brand new PSU, and it does not seem to have fixed the problem. In terms of temperature, everything is pretty reasonable, nothing too high, and I've RAM tested using memtest86.
My system specs are as follows:
Operating System: Windows 8.1 Pro 64-Bit
Motherboard: Giabyte GA-990FXA-UD3
CPU: AMD FX-8150 Eight-Core Processor @ 3.6GHz
GPU: AMD Radeon 7970
RAM: 16384MB
Not sure what other information would be useful, but any help with this would be appreciated, as I'm struggling to find a reason for this issue.
Thanks guys.

 

[debbiec12323]

I'd think maybe is something to do with the video graphics card you have on that computer, since you changed the PSU and still doing it.

 

[Tmagic650]

Not memory or power supply... Leaves only the video card itself

 

[Lankysmash]

Yeah, alright, any way to test it without replacing etc.? Just surprised im not getting any form of memory dump when it goes, thats all.

 

[Tmagic650]

You can remove the video card and check that the fan is clean and spinning freely. Also, take a pencil eraser and clean the gold pins and re-install the video card... Check for any updated drivers while you are at it

 

[Lankysmash]

Alright, will do, thanks

 

[Lankysmash]

Ok, did as suggested and didnt seem to have any effect, I then swapped my video card out for an older one I had lying around, and it's still doing the same crash on games, any other possible options?

 

[gbhall]

You seem to have eliminated he most common things that often cause that symptom. What is left is, *gulp* components of the motherboard. It might be a step forward if you fully opened the case and directed a powerful fan over the motherboard whilst stressing the PC as you normally do.

If that helps, then you can do more invasive things such as refreshing the CPU to cooler paste, or invest in a larger cooling fan. You are not likely to find some of the more way-out possibilities like a cracked channel on the motherboard (opens under thermal expansion), although you can check for signs of overheated components like resistors or capacitors - singed paint, blistered capacitor caps).

If you research this problem, you will also come to realise that sometimes the problem is memory voltages and timings incorrectly set by 'auto' in the bios. Setting them manually is a matter of careful checking of the memory specs and bios actual settings. Example here post#15 onwards https://www.techspot.com/community/topics/black-screen-lock-up-randomly-during-games-only.154428/