Your PC performs well on tests but struggles with gaming now.
Your PC performs well on tests but struggles with gaming now.
Output appears as black or the monitor displays "no signal" in about half the games I attempt to run. The issue isn't immediate; most titles load into the title bar before crashing to a black screen. I assumed my graphics card was failing, but certain benchmarks performed perfectly for hours. MSI Kombustor and Artifact Scanner function smoothly at high frame rates without any artifacts. GPU stress tests remain stable during the PassMark Free Trial. Benchmarks show no problems with the GPU, consistent across MSI Kombustor. I switched to Windows 11 from Windows 10. After the upgrade, some games either load and then switch to a black screen with or without audio, or they load fully through the menu before failing when trying to start (like pressing "play now" on the game title screen). Certain titles simply won’t launch, such as Borderlands Wonderland, Fallout 76, and Mass Effect. However, I completed an intense, precise session of TABS without any interruptions. Unigen Superposition Benchmark caused crashes and a black screen of death. PassMark Benchmark runs well, with many attempts involving reinstalling drivers, cleaning installers, updating graphics settings, and more. I also tried Direct X troubleshooting, BIOS updates, and various system tweaks like downgrading the CPU for better stability. In MSI Afterburner, I disabled MS Defender and Norton Antivirus/Malware, verified the game files, reinstalled Steam, updated BIOS, and set RAM to 32GB with RTX 3080.
Consider removing Norton, it seems like a driver or Windows problem. I’d just reinstall Windows 11 from scratch or revert to Windows 10. Since the issues began after your upgrade, it’s unlikely the GPU is the cause—especially since it isn’t that old. Did you run any mining activity on it?
I felt quite let down by the Norton purchase. There are SO MANY extras included. Jeez, it’s fine as long as I choose what to enable carefully, but at first it felt like a popup nightmare.
Windows 11 has been available for a while now, and people have noticed improvements over time.
Windows Defender plus occasional malware scans from tools like Malwarebytes (free) cover the basics. Along with solid internet habits and possibly an adblocker, this is usually sufficient. It might seem like a software issue, but hardware problems aren't ruled out—things like power delivery, VRAM issues, or other hardware quirks could still be at play if you push the software troubleshooting limits.
I don't mine crypto. I purchased the GPU new from the maker. And I play games very rarely outside of that.
I recently let my previous antivirus expire and realized I hadn’t scanned for viruses in a while. I discovered a great offer on Norton, so I switched to it. But after using Norton, I disabled around 80% of its capabilities since it was generating many processes and pop-ups. I feel like asking Norton why they charge me for all these interruptions, as it seems unfair to pay for such issues.
I see... I really dislike the right-click settings! Like, what's wrong with the default ones? I discovered a fix, but it still doesn't work perfectly.