What happened to my computer?

[bushwhacker]

Hiii anyone can help with my pc diagnosis?

Randomly blank screen, everything freezes after a minute or 2 of gaming.
+ Pc itself is dust free at most of times, using a compressed air can.
+ PC was reformatted with 24H2 version of Windows 11.
+ Windows loads and the app loads just fine, but sometime later in game, the screen goes blank and everything freezes.
+ Cleaned and redo the thermal paste. Checked all board and card power connections.

Not very sure why it been like that. suddenly happening with problems for a month now.

Spec. i5 2350 4nd gen I think. mixed 6gb ram at 4gb and 2GB. Has GTX970. HDD is 870evo ssd, with or without the spinning hard drive 1tb western digital. Power is cx750. Motherboard is asus cm6630 (based on P8H61-M)

Thought it was maybe windows update thing (There was dropping supports of hardware and preventing some of computer from loading), so I am using build 26120.1912 with tpm bypassed.

Tried the stock ISO directly from microsoft's tool that download the iso into USB. still same thing.

I am positive its not software, so I needed help diagnosis the hardware instead

Power supply has provided from corsair factory , so the cable is thick. I always make sure the cable is for the power supply. Video card out and replug in. made sure the connection is good. still same problem.

So im stumped.

and my grammar is not my forte

 

[captaincranky]

I admittedly know almost nothing about, nor have I any experience at PC gaming. So, take this FWIW, regarding some things you don't seem to have tried yet.

Most black screens are caused by overheating. Have you tried dialing back the game settings to see if that helps? Perhaps you're asking too much of the old gal.

I have absolutely no idea why you feel obligated to be running Windows 11 in a PC of that era.. Also, any ISO created by the most recent download of Windows 11, is somewhat likely to have any possible offending updates already baked into to it.

So, install temperature monitoring software.
Dial back your gaming settings
Roll back the OS to Windows 10. It should have no trouble scheduling an "all P core", hyper threaded CPU. The only real advantage Windows 11 has over 10, is in it's ability to control CPUs with mixes of P and E cores. which you don't have.

 

[bushwhacker]

I admittedly know almost nothing about, nor have I any experience at PC gaming. So, take this FWIW, regarding some things you don't seem to have tried yet.

Most black screens are caused by overheating. Have you tried dialing back the game settings to see if that helps? Perhaps you're asking too much of the old gal.

I have absolutely no idea why you feel obligated to be running Windows 11 in a PC of that era.. Also, any ISO created by the most recent download of Windows 11, is somewhat likely to have any possible offending updates already baked into to it.

So, install temperature monitoring software.
Dial back your gaming settings
Roll back the OS to Windows 10. It should have no trouble scheduling an "all P core", hyper threaded CPU. The only real advantage Windows 11 has over 10, is in it's ability to control CPUs with mixes of P and E cores. which you don't have.

I am pushing for security over gaming. But there are days when I want to play games and feel secure for my family to use while I am at work. Windows 7 was my go-to, but unfortunately with the browser and holes in a wireless network, so I moved up to Windows 11.

Well, up to the point of spending money on the computer upgrades, I do not have money to buy new computer that match with Windows 11; so the TPM passable was possible for now until I can afford the off-market business computer ( This compuer was from business too for $50 5 years ago! )

Windows 11 has never been a problem until last month, so I ruled out GTX970 from overheating (until you pointed that I could be wrong about overheating ); but I will be checking CPU too. I remember I had to install some app ( I think is MSI tuner program for nvidia ) and turned off the AUTO fan, and utilized fan at 60%. The screen stayed a bit longer.

Do you think I have overheating or dying video card? how can you tell?

Card is EVGA, and brought off market; it was solid card for past whole year until recently. I have redone the paste and problem seemed the same?

 

[captaincranky]

@bushwhacker

OK Every time M$ releases a new OS, they always resort to "security concerns", to create hysteria in those who persist in continuing to use the prior release. Remember, when Windows 7 was being ousted, "security", was trumpeted as a major concern. Soon to be no problem at all, as soon as you updated/upgraded to Windows 10. To be fair, "Windows Defender" was "miraculously" updated as well to "bulletproof" status.

I too, am a habitual Windows 7 user. However, I also have 3rd party AV software installed, and use either Firefox or Opera as my browsers. I don't want anything to do with EI or Edge. But when M$ makes all these claims of "security concerns", they are claiming full security with a bare Windows installation, and NO additional software installed or required.

Anyway, when I installed a fresh copy of Win 7, I was offered a final, massive, "security update". Well, after I allowed that to be installed, I couldn't even navigate to Walmart via a Google search, without fu*king Windows blowing up warnings about "third party links". I felt betrayed. It's as if they bricked Win 7 on purpose, and were trying to force Windows 10 on me against my will.

Now, if you've already bypassed TPM 2.0, you've already pretty much eliminated any security advantage Windows 11 may have had. So, Windows 10 shouldn't be a problem.

Moving on, did you reduce your game settings to minimum?

I thought MSI "Afterburner" had GPU temperature monitoring software included. Yes, no? It is possible that the GPU might be overheating, and could stand to have its thermal compound renewed. (I'm assuming you only did the CPU. (Yes, no?)

Although I'm not willing to speculate on a possible bad VGA yet. It is possible that it was run hard in a mining rig, so who knows.

The quickest way to rule out a bad card, is to yank it, and run your box off the board or CPU's IGP.

How about if we give those things a shot?

BTW, that number you have listed as your CPU, comes back as a laptop processor. I'm really
[HEADING=3]In any case, that generation of Intel CPU does have an IGP. (The "F" models (no graphics) weren't released until Gen 12xxx).[/HEADING]

 

[captaincranky]

@bushwhacker BTW, I forgot to mention that a failing PSU can also cut out under heavy load.

 

[slmediaos]

Hiii anyone can help with my pc diagnosis?

Randomly blank screen, everything freezes after a minute or 2 of gaming.
+ Pc itself is dust free at most of times, using a compressed air can.
+ PC was reformatted with 24H2 version of Windows 11.
+ Windows loads and the app loads just fine, but sometime later in game, the screen goes blank and everything freezes.
+ Cleaned and redo the thermal paste. Checked all board and card power connections.

Not very sure why it been like that. suddenly happening with problems for a month now.

Spec. i5 2350 4nd gen I think. mixed 6gb ram at 4gb and 2GB. Has GTX970. HDD is 870evo ssd, with or without the spinning hard drive 1tb western digital. Power is cx750. Motherboard is asus cm6630 (based on P8H61-M)

Thought it was maybe windows update thing (There was dropping supports of hardware and preventing some of computer from loading), so I am using build 26120.1912 with tpm bypassed.

Tried the stock ISO directly from microsoft's tool that download the iso into USB. still same thing.

I am positive its not software, so I needed help diagnosis the hardware instead

Power supply has provided from corsair factory , so the cable is thick. I always make sure the cable is for the power supply. Video card out and replug in. made sure the connection is good. still same problem.

So im stumped.

and my grammar is not my forte

Hey there, it sounds frustrating! A couple of things you might check:

1. RAM Issue: Mixed RAM sizes can sometimes cause instability. Try running your system with just the 4GB or 2GB stick to see if it helps.
2. GPU Overheating: Even if the thermal paste is redone, monitor GPU temps while gaming using tools like MSI Afterburner.
3. Power Supply: Your CX750 should be fine, but power supplies can degrade. Maybe try a spare one if you have access to check.

 

[Mark Fuller]

If the power supply is failing, what I used to do is take off the panel to get to the inside of the computer and direct an ordinary electric fan onto the power supply to keep it cool which is a sure sign that the fan does not work to keep the power supply cool. You should check to see if the power supply fan on the back is still working. Of course if this is not a tower and a laptop instead, then you could still check and see if the fan is still spinning. If it is not, maybe being a laptop you could take the underside panel off and see if the fan is clogged with dust to the point it will not spin. In which case you could clean it and maybe it will work. Fans on laptops are notorious for becoming clogged with dust, and that would apply especially if it is used for gaming. If not, I have had success sometimes just turning the fan by hand to unstick it, and a new fan for a laptop is not expensive, although for a tower it can be, depending on what type of PSU you decide to replace it with. BTW, now that I think of if, if you are into gaming and overclocking, then maybe the electric fan idea might not be a bad idea anyway, and if If I am not mistaken, they even make small portable air conditioners. Just a little trick someone might try.

 

[captaincranky]

. BTW, now that I think of if, if you are into gaming and overclocking, then maybe the electric fan idea might not be a bad idea anyway, and if If I am not mistaken, they even make small portable air conditioners. Just a little trick someone might try.

This is all valid advice, to a point. PSUs tend to fail in various ways. One primary cause of failure is the rectifier capacitors. These are categorized in three ways, primarily by capacity, but also operating temperatures , (85c meh), (105c excellent), solid or liquid, and who made them.

Given those variables, just because a PSU was sold as "750 watts", doesn't mean that will remain at 75o watts for it's lifetime. So these "blackouts" could be evidence of that. And (assuming the fans are operational as you've pointed, what "once upon a time", was a 759 watt unit, could conceivably be huffing and puffing at maybe 600 watts. No amount of additional cooling would help, were that to be true. Plus, we're working on a budget, so portable air conditioning is pretty much off the table. (Nor should it be necessary).

This link describes Corsair's PSU lineup, and "CX" is the bottom of the line. Suffice it to say, compromises have been made.

Explaining the CORSAIR PSU Lineup (2023) | CORSAIR

A quick overview of our current PSU lineup and their differences.

www.corsair.com

As we haven heard from Mr. Whacker in a couple of weeks, maybe we should wait until he clocks back in, and work from there?