Crash to black screen but only with certain games
Crash to black screen but only with certain games
Hello everyone, first time poster but long time lurker!
I apologise in advance for the lengthy post, I'll try to give as many details as I can without adding unnecessary stuff. So, as the title says, my pc crashes to a black screen, with fans spinning up and it being still turned on, but only with
some
games. This is what happens in sequence:
I start a game (Veilguard and FFXVI are the major culprits) and, usually in about 10/20 minutes, pc crashes;
Goes to black screen, fans spin up to max. LEDs are still on (both in case and peripherals);
Stays like that for about 3/4 seconds, then the Debug monitor on my mobo (Asrock b550 Steel Legend, I'll post my full specs at the bottom) starts giving codes. In sequence, they are: 36 (PEI_CPU_SMM_INIT), 98 (DXE_CON_IN_CONNECT), 99 (DXE_SIO_INIT) and finally d6 (DXE_NO_CON_OUT).
At the same time the beeper on my motherboard makes
5 short beeps
followed by
1
short beep
. I couldn't find it in the manual, but by looking around online it looks like this means that GPU is not being recognised (for any reason);
If I press the
Reset
button, the it does exactly the same thing, starting from step 3. If I force the shut down with the
Power
button it instead starts normally;
As I said, this only happens with some games which are usually quite GPU intensive, however other games, which are just as demanding (like Modern Warfare 3 and Black Ops 6) work with *mostly* no issues. I say mostly because the issue has presented itself with these games, although extremely rarely.
Below are my specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: ASRock B550 Steel Legend ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Storage: Kingston A400 240 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
(this is where the OS is installed and most default apps/software)
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN580 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Black 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: XFX Speedster SWFT 319 Radeon RX 6800 16 GB Video Card
Case: Thermaltake CTE C700 Air Chassis
Power Supply: Corsair RM650 (2023) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM - DVD 64-bit
Now for the lengthy part where I tell you what I've already tried:
Every single part in this computer, Storage aside, is new. I've been having this issue for a while, but only recently it has started getting worse and worse. Mobo, CPU, CPU Cooler, GPU, RAM, Case and PSU have all been replaced in 2024. This issue was present on my system, though not as serious, long before that (started at least in 2023 that I can remember);
I've already checked the connections from PSU to all the other parts and they look and feel solid. I've redone them just in case;
Tried running with just one stick of RAM;
I've tried running my RAM both with and without XMP enabled;
I've kept an eye on the temps (I have two monitors) while gaming and the temperatures are well within normal measurements;
I've tried creating minidumps after each crash, and yet they are
never
generated. I've checked that the settings are correct after each crash and they are;
I've replaced the paste on the CPU cooler more than once, both when I bought the new cooler (which happened first) and when I replaced the CPU itself;
I've considered the possibility that the power draw might be too much as in theory this system should have a Wattage of ~500. My previous PSU was a 750 and I still had the same issue (also, before replacing the parts, the wattage was lower, around 450);
I've performed a Windows reset but
not
yet a clean install with USB (which in hindsight I probably should have done anyway);
I've performed a clean driver install with DDU when I swapped the GPU (from Nvidia RTX 2060 to what I have now);
It has
very rarely
happened that, after a crash, the GPU drivers would get messed up. The GPU would show up in Speccy, but if I tried to open
any
game it would tell me that there's no graphics card (which seems weird since, AFAIK, my CPU does not have an integrated GPU and shouldn't even let the system boot without one). If I tried opening AMD Adrenalin it would then tell me that the software version is incompatible with the installed drivers. This usually requires a full reinstall as simply rebooting wouldn't fix it;
I'm sure I've tried other stuff too, but at this point it's hard to remember. I don't even know how to pinpoint the issue and I'm frankly feeling quite defeated. I'll accept any suggestions and thanks in advance to anyone who's taken the time to read my wall of text!
After skimming through the post it appears this is a new system with an old windows install.
First thing I would do is back-up your files and a fresh install of windows.
With a reset all it does is check the windows install.
It does not reset the registry which could/probably have registry entries for all of your old hardware/drivers back to the original install.
Hi there,
Are you connecting with the cables provided for PSU replacement, or using the existing ones?
What BIOS version are you currently running?
Have you attempted the sfc scannow/DISM utility?
Here’s the link: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...em...6e85d4094e
- Check both.
The 650w rating seems a bit low. Are you pushing the CPU or GPU beyond their limits? The minimum for that GPU is 650w.
Hey Roland
!
Just using the cables that came with the new PSU, including the lead cable (I swapped it just to be safe).
Running BIOS 2.40, maybe an update would help.
It made me realize I didn’t mention the motherboard in my earlier post since the crash also happened with the old one. I updated the original note accordingly.
Not pushing overclocks—I think it’s beyond my comfort level.
I’m using RAMs with XMP, which should be "manufacturer approved," correct?
I just ran DISM and sfc scannow. DISM said the restore worked fine and sfc reported no integrity issues.
The information provided is from November 2022 and may be outdated. It suggests a good time to fully update to avoid any issues or hardware-level fixes. After updating the BIOS, clearing CMOS is necessary. XMP works fine. Also, PBO is available for CPU users as an overclocking option.
I'll make sure to revise the text as soon as I can, likely tomorrow morning. Regarding PBO, I saw in the BIOS it's set to Auto. Should it be turned on or off? Or should I keep it as it is?
PBO auto indicates the system is active. Enabled allows it to reach its maximum boost when required, delivering 4.7ghz which significantly enhances gaming performance. Disabled means the CPU stays at its base clock speed of 3.6ghz, affecting overall efficiency. It's recommended to test with PBO disabled to check for crashes; if it runs smoothly, the PSU issue is less likely. Performing a BIOS update and CMOS reset can help identify further issues.
Hi Roland,
I've updated my BIOS and attempted to disable PBO, but it hasn't worked. During one of those rare moments when my GPU stops working unexpectedly, I took a screenshot of the issue. Speccy identifies a GPU (CPU-Z wasn't captured), but now I can't run any GPU-dependent programs unless I reinstall the drivers using DDU. It's worth noting the problem appeared even with another GPU (Gigabyte RTX 2060 Windforce OC), suggesting the driver issue is likely tied to the situation rather than the hardware itself.
I also cleared the CMOS after updating the BIOS, so everything should now match the original specifications and I haven't made any changes.
After skimming through the post it appears this is a new system with an old windows install.
First thing I would do is back-up your files and a fresh install of windows.
With a reset all it does is check the windows install.
It does not reset the registry which could/probably have registry entries for all of your old hardware/drivers back to the original install.
Hey
Yes, that's on my to-do list for this weekend (if I can manage to get my hands on a 8+ Gb USB stick. I only have a 4Gb at home, it's been ages since I last used one..)!
Just to clarify though, this issue started on the "old" system, it didn't start after I replaced the parts. If anything, I started replacing parts because of the crashes (which, of course, now makes me feel very stupid).
A fresh install doesn't hurt though, so I'll definitely be doing that.