The black screen indicates a problem, yet the computer continues to operate.
The black screen indicates a problem, yet the computer continues to operate.
My computer suddenly stopped working for a few seconds while a YouTube video was still playing smoothly, as indicated by the audio output. Immediately after, a black screen appeared, then the sound began to malfunction, and eventually the machine completely went dark—still with all fans running—and the CPU light stayed on. At that moment, I had no option but to power down the system completely.
This is the second incident of this kind; previously, the audio glitches occurred much earlier. In both cases, the computer could be restarted afterward and functioned normally, though with a slight slowdown or minor stutter when loading a browser, or even a brief glitch in the sound for half a second.
The sequence leading up to the second crash was as follows: regular internet browsing, a few YouTube clips and Twitch streams using Opera, a background game, a folder explorer, and a VLC player. For the first incident, it was similar, except instead of a game, I was using Photoshop. It’s worth mentioning that this was normal usage before the crash, suggesting the issue might have originated from something else.
A bit more context: the problem began after I cleaned the PC and disassembled its parts. A small mistake happened when I connected the monitor HDMI into the motherboard port instead of the VGA, causing a brief power loss (I was panicking). Then I switched it to the correct port. It’s unclear which happened first—either a pixelated boot screen with a clear image or a blue screen warning it couldn’t start properly. After resetting, it worked again, even during another power outage a few days later.
Until yesterday, that was the last time it happened. I cleaned the entire system, reinserted RAM, rebuilt the CPU, and ran disk checks (chkdsk), disk repair, and the System File Checker for both OS and hard drive—all completed without issues.
I examined the Windows Event Viewer and found only a power loss log from my forced shutdown. I also confirmed I don’t have spare hardware for testing, even though I had to wait days before the crash occurred.
I suspect the problem might be related to the VGA port, as it triggered a visual error first, but the light indicator reassured me otherwise. Now I’m uncertain.
Here’s my PC’s build spec:
- AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Pinnacle Ridge
- AMD Radeon RX 580
- Corsair Vengeance LPX 2666MHz 2x8
- MSI B450 Gaming Plus
- Corsair CV750 750W 80 Plus
- Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB NVMe M.2
- Seagate Barracuda 1TB
- Windows 10 Pro
Welcome to the forums, newcomer!
Your Corsair CV750 750W 80 Plus is great!
What is the age of your PSU in this setup?
MSI B450 Gaming Plus
Which BIOS version are you using for your motherboard?
To be truthful, your system would gain from a DDR4-3200MHz tight latencied( timing ) dual channel ram kit.
Hey, sorry for the delayed reply. I've been sharing updates on another forum because this one hasn't gotten a response yet (probably because of the long wait).
1. The PSU is pretty new, just a couple of years ago after upgrading from Corsair 450W.
2. Late 2023/24, it's been working fine for a few months now.
3. I've been thinking about buying two 16GB DDR4 3200mhz Corsair Vengeance LPX units, but I first had to deal with the crashing issue.
Update notes:
CPU:
- Cinebench2024_win_x86_64: Not functioning properly.
- CinebenchR23.2: Works normally until the end.
- VGA: Performance remains stable throughout.
- MOBO: HWiNFO64 shows all voltages and currents within normal ranges, with no significant fluctuations.
RAM:
- Windows Memory Diagnostic: Detected an issue with \Windows\system32\winload.efi, though the system starts without problems.
- OCCT Memory Test: Experienced a crash after 80% load for an hour; black screen occurred when not present. Suggested RAM involvement, but tests also ran at 80-86% usage and full CPU load.
Games:
- Assassin Creed Syndicate: Runs smoothly at 40 FPS on highest settings without background apps.
- Victoria 3: Loads slowly but functions normally in the overworld without background processes.
- Rising Lords: Performs poorly with lag when interacting elements are touched, especially under heavy background usage; may indicate a specific bug affecting performance.