Issue with flickering screen and rapid fan speed increase
Issue with flickering screen and rapid fan speed increase
I recently played GTA V and Ready or Not without any issues, but launching Dying Light 2 or The Beast causes crashes after a short session. I’m unsure if the problem lies in the game intensity or a Nvidia driver concern.
I mentioned it too when the machine is not in use. GTA V is an older title that doesn’t demand much GPU power, making it roughly a middle ground between idle and intense gameplay. I still believe the problem lies with the system's capabilities.
For instance, today when idle there were no crashes at all. But while playing games—particularly tougher ones such as Dying Light 2 or The Beast—the crashes appear. I really don’t understand what’s going on. I looked at the PSU and GPU cables, and everything is connected properly. The temperatures are also staying well within safe ranges. Also worth mentioning is that this problem didn’t occur before; a few days ago I managed to play those same games for 3-4 hours without any issues.
A few months back, I began experiencing the same issue repeatedly. The display would randomly flicker, GPU fans would spin at full speed, and I needed to perform a hard restart. It occurred in games as well as during idle. I tried all possible solutions—DDU with driver updates, BIOS updates, removing the curve optimizer, running sfc scannow, etc.—but nothing resolved it.
However, after checking forums, I noticed most users who fixed the problem replaced their GPU power cable, and the issue disappeared immediately afterward. This made me think the problem likely started a few weeks after I swapped my old adapter for a new Corsair 12V-2x6 cable. I reinstalled the original adapter and it has worked perfectly since then, with no crashes at all.
Consider using the adapter that came with your PNY GPU instead of the 12V cable from your PSU. It’s unusual for a loose connection to cause problems only in certain games.
Generally, the 12V-2x6 cable included with the PSU performs better than the adapter that comes with the card. I believe this is because a loss of display followed by fans spinning at maximum speed is often linked to a GPU power issue. In my experience and many others', the problem lies with the cable. It could also be due to the PSU or even the GPU itself. The cable doesn't have to be "loose" to cause issues; sometimes a short between pins occurs, especially when things get hot.
The fact that this tends to happen mainly during demanding games increases the likelihood it's a power-related problem. It suggests the GPU struggles to run at near full capacity, causing it to crash due to high power demand. When the GPU can't obtain the required power, it shuts down as a safety feature, spinning fans to a stop and potentially causing Windows to crash.
It seems unclear what you're asking about, but I'll try to rephrase it. You're curious if the 3DMark test results indicate the GPU is being tested at full power, possibly pointing to a driver issue in certain games. You mentioned playing Hogwarts Legacy, which is known for its demanding performance, and you didn't experience any problems there either.
This doesn't strongly indicate anything. Many users with similar problems can handle stress tests well. Stress tests don't accurately mimic real game conditions. You might want to test other recent games that require a lot of GPU power to determine if the issue is unique to Dying Lights. However, since it occurred even when idle (as mentioned in your original comment), it's unlikely to be a software or driver problem. Memory leaks usually cause the system to freeze rather than the entire PC crashing. This pattern suggests the GPU is entering safe mode, which often points to a hardware or power-related issue.