# Solved: Random black screens while playing games



## Smokei (May 20, 2012)

Hello,

I have the following problem for a while now and I've ran out of ideas on how to fix it.

So, while I play games, at random times, sometimes 5 minutes, sometimes an hour or more, my screen will become black and unresponsive. Sometimes I'm able to still hear the game sound after the screen goes black, and sometimes I can hear buzzing. The screen doesn't always go black, I can sometimes see, umm, lets say vertical stripes in different colours.

It happens in all games I play (Starcarft 2, League of Legends, Diablo 3..) and it is really really ruining the game experience for me.

Computer configuration is the following:
intel core i3 540 4 
GB DD3 1333 MHz 
radeon hd 5750 1 GB graphics
Samsun 24'' monitor
Win 7 64 bit windows

The computer is about a year old, and this problem wasn't happening from day one when I bought it.

So far I've tried many things including:
Antivirus scan - nothing was found
Memtest - no errors were found
Temperature checks - all temperatures were ok
Complete driver wipeout and reinstalling - didn't give any results 
Motherboard, sound driver updates - didn't give any results 
Various Catalyst Control Center tweaks - didn't give any results 
Many many other things that I've read in threads where people had similar problem like me and it helped them

I am really running out of ideas and I'd really like to fix this.

Thanks in advance


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## Tanis (May 30, 2006)

Hi and welcome to TSG.

Is this a 'big brand' machine like HP, Dell, Acer etc ro a self / custom build?

If it's big brand, what is the exact make and model, have you changed / upgraded any hardware in it?

What is the exact make and model of the power supply?


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## Smokei (May 20, 2012)

Hi, it is not really a big brand, it is MSG W computer. Anyways, it is not a custom build and I didn't do any changes or upgrades in it.

Power supply in it is 500 W MS industrials and since its not a custom made computer I guess that those who assembled it were sure that the PSU is strong enough?


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## Tanis (May 30, 2006)

For a prebuilt machine, some of the first things I would look at are:

1) Any upgrades ... you say you haven't done any so it is exactly as it came out of the factory.
2) Overheating ... very very common especially over time as dust builds up on the heatsinks. You say the temps are OK, but what are those temps? What software did you use to check them?
3) Power Supply ... Typically prebuilt machine manufacturers cut costs where possible (obviously, they want to make as much profit as they can). The PSU is always a prime candidate for buying cheap when infact it is probably one of the most important components to buy quality (if you want the PC to last anyway). All PSU's output degrade over time, the harder it has to work (near its limits) the faster it will degrade.

Can you post a couple of screenshots with HWMonitor (free app). Post 1 shot of it when your PC has just turned on and sat at the desktop (with HWMonitor running of course  ) and then a second screenshot where you have run a game for a few minutes (with HWMonitor running in the background), hopefully it won't crash.


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## Smokei (May 20, 2012)

Ok, I'll take the screenshots now.


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## Smokei (May 20, 2012)

Here are the pictures. As you can see, nothing special, I doubt its overheating :/


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## tom6049 (Aug 6, 2007)

Smokei said:


> I can sometimes see, umm, lets say vertical stripes in different colours.


If the video card isn't over heating and isn't over clocked, then it sounds like it's simply dying.
It wouldn't hurt to make sure that the video card fan is still spinning.


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## Tanis (May 30, 2006)

Temps etc all look fine as you said, I didn't necessarily doubt what you said but always good to see it . The +12v rail is well out in those screenshots but I suspect that is the software misreading the sensor, if it was the values in the pictures I would be surprised that the machine ran at all, might be worth just double checking it in the BIOS to see what the +12v rail is at idle.

The card could be on its way out and your symptoms could easily be a sign of that. I assume Windows and all your drivers etc are all patched and up to date? Using the latest certified drivers from the graphics card manufacturer, not beta ones.


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## Smokei (May 20, 2012)

Yes, all driverrs are updated, no beta drivers are used.

I've come to conclusion that I'll have to replace my graphics card. Anyone can name me a few that will do for me? I'm mostly playing diablo 3, starcraft 2 and LoL


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## black-wolf (Aug 8, 2008)

This site gives you GPU hierarchy. What you get depends on your budget. http://www.hwcompare.com/


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## Smokei (May 20, 2012)

Ok, I've taken my PC to repair to the shop where I bought it.

It was there a few days, I picked it up, the guy that repaired it said that computer nicely passed Memtest, prime 95, VGA test and wd diag. 

He told me that I could reinstall OS, which I did and today again, played few games of SC II, and BAM it happnes again, in Diablo 3, it happened again.

I've updated all the BIOS, Audio/Video drivers, reinstall both starcraft 2 and diablo 3 and it still crashes.

Please help me somehow, I'm really out of options


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## black-wolf (Aug 8, 2008)

Check the voltages in the bios and make sure the 12 volt is OK. What are the manufacturer and specs of your PSU? They should be on the side of the unit when you take the side panel off.

How much RAM is in the machine?


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## Smokei (May 20, 2012)

Here is the picture of my PSU http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/98/img0479lf.jpg/

BIOS pictures: PIC 1: View image: IMG 0481
PIC 2: Imageshack - img0482j.jpg

PC has 4 GB of ram, more then enough for Diablo 3


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## black-wolf (Aug 8, 2008)

Voltages look OK.
Try running with 1 stick of RAM in slot A if OK then switch sticks and try the same thing.


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## Smokei (May 20, 2012)

Well, the guy in the repair did memtest on both sticks and he said that it was fine.

I think I'll buy a new graphics card tomorrow.
Is that a good decision?
What if it still crashes after that??


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## harleygjc (Jun 12, 2007)

I know the answer to this, as I had the same problem, it's the graphics card itself, there is alot of forums about the 5750 and it seems to be a know problem with the card itself! there is only one solution which I've had to do and that is to get another card!! since I got rid of mine I've had no more problems


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## black-wolf (Aug 8, 2008)

Buying a new card is OK, unless you have one that you can borrow to test with. After that we'll just have to try some additional testing.


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## Smokei (May 20, 2012)

Ok, I hope new card will help. Will get it tomorrow, I think nvidia this time, not quite sure which model should I take .


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## black-wolf (Aug 8, 2008)

Depends on your budget. It seems that there can be driver issues with nVidia and with Radeon GPU's


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## harleygjc (Jun 12, 2007)

I got rid of my 5750 for the exact same reason, I've now got a nvidia gtx 560 and have had no problems at all! my local shop removed the ati garbage and installed and updated to the latest nvidia drivers and everything runs fine.


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## Smokei (May 20, 2012)

Bought new graphics card today, everything is fine now.

Thanks to everyone who tried to help me


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## black-wolf (Aug 8, 2008)

Thanks for letting us know, you can marke this solved at the top of the page.


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## vogelmeghan398 (Jun 6, 2012)

when I play Diablo III I get this random Black Screen thing that just freezez the screen for 2 - 3 seconds and then everything is back to normal, it happends pretty often more and more after i've played for a while. I've upgraded my graphic card several times, and it's not wrong with the graphic card. Anyone got a solution ? 
Reinstall and hope for the best ? Help please.
Btw, I'm on starter edition if I don't fix this problem I wont upgrade, maybe Started Edition bug or something ?

http://www.freesmileys.org/smileys.php


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## black-wolf (Aug 8, 2008)

vogelmeghan398 you need to start your own thread and you will start getting some help.


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