Random PC black screen during low-demand applications Game crashes with black screen intermittently
Random PC black screen during low-demand applications Game crashes with black screen intermittently
Hey everyone, I'm going through the diagnosis carefully before jumping into any fixes. I didn't want to waste time or create a Reddit thread, so I came here instead, lol. My setup includes a 4000d airflow case with four 120mm fans and two 140mm fans. I'm using a SeaSonic M12II 620w Bronze PSU, MSI X470 Gaming Plus Max motherboard (latest firmware: 7B79vHG), a Ryzen 5 3600 processor, NZXT Z63 AIO Corsair Vengeance LPX with two 8GB modules, 16GB DDR4 3600 MHz RAM, and two 1TB M.2 SSDs plus a 500GB 2.5PNY Gigabyte Vision 3070 TI (current OS). Windows 11 Home is running.
I previously had the Ryzen 5 3600 with the same motherboard and an EVGA GTX 770 on Windows 10 Home. It worked well—no crashes, just slow performance. I was concerned about power limits, but my system stayed stable. I only play at 1080p, didn’t overclock beyond stock, and games like Elden Ring, Monster Hunter World, RE2, Black Mesa run smoothly without overheating.
Recently, I’ve been running older titles from my backlog and started getting black screens and reboots. The Event Viewer showed Event ID 41, but that wasn’t definitive. After the crashes, Windows reported a missing M.2 drive (the OS was on the 2.5" SSD) until I manually restarted. I thought the Windows install might be corrupted, so I upgraded to Windows 11 on the 2.5" drive, but it still had random crashes with the drive disappearing at startup.
All drives reported normally in BIOS. I can handle more demanding games now, but random titles cause blackouts. The latest issue is with Zelda: Breath of the Wild on CEMU emulator—after a few minutes it crashes, even though I set max settings. I’ve logged CPU and GPU usage during playthroughs; it’s around 150W GPU and 50W CPU, nowhere near the PSU’s 620W rating.
I’m not sure if the problem is with the PSU, the motherboard, or RAM. I didn’t want to replace anything yet. If you notice anything else, just let me know.
PC freezes, goes black, restarts with no drive attached, and only draws around 200 watts during crashes per HWiNFO64 data.
I was worried about getting criticized for using an outdated power supply unit. I’ll look at your post. I didn’t want to waste $100, re-test all my cables, and still face the same issues. I hope I wasn’t caught using any Gigabyte or MSI products. Still learning, I guess. Now that I’m on Windows 11, I’m nervous about going too deep into BIOS driver settings.
I tested both Windows 10 and 11, but they always restart. Right now I'm installing Windows 10 on my old 1TB SSD and using Apex to access my 2TB SSD. If it doesn't crash when running everything from the HDD instead of the SSD, then the issue is either the motherboard or the SSD itself, since the SSD is connected to the motherboard slot.
I believe the only thing left to check is my RAM. I'm not sure how to verify if it's the motherboard or something else. I need to confirm that the SSD isn't the issue, since the crashing games aren't even on that drive. This has happened across different BIOS versions, GPU updates, and even Ryzen drivers. I've tried updating everything, but the problems keep occurring.
It's unlikely the problem is with your RAM because you've been using those two sticks for months without any issues after replacing a faulty RAM module that was causing crashes. Your RAM seems to be functioning properly.
Did your issues appear only after switching to Windows 11? Honestly, I’m not an expert on power supplies, but it seems like the GPU maker suggests a minimum of 750 watts just for you.
yeah, had the problem on Win 10 as well. I know I'm pushing the limit of my PSU on paper, but I'm only gaming at 1080p, and have like no peripherals besides my AIO. 2 of my case fans I set to not even turn on unless things get to 60C. Looking at my data log, and watching HwINFO64, the most I've ever been pulling is like 250w tops. Howitz having similar issues with a 1000w PSU is making me think it might be Mobo related.