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PC keeps black screening, system is still up but display is gone?

So I just put the EVGA PowerLink back in and it booted again straight to black screen, removed the PowerLink and it booted up fine again. That can't be the problem surely because it wouldn't make sense, essentially the PowerLink is just a rigid cable.

I'm still calling it coincidence.

More testing tomorrow.

EDIT/ I have just read a post on Reddit where someone else had the same black screen issue and it turned out one of the metal rails inside their PowerLink had oxidised slightly which reduced the power just enough to make their GPU black screen. Scraping the oxidation off cured their problem.

I'm going to take mine apart and have a look.
 
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RipGroove said:
I installed the new GPU and it booted to black screen 3 times in a row (same as normal, PC boots up fine but no display after POST) so then I removed my EVGA PowerLink connector from my GPU and it booted up with a display right away and I've been gaming for approx 1hr. I'm going to call that a coincidence for now because I was having similar results by having to pull a stick of RAM out to get it to boot yesterday. And obviously after putting the replacement GPU in on Saturday the PC ran fine for 3 days straight. So for now, this is where we're at:

  1. DDU, install latest GPU driver (done, no change)
  2. DDU, install previous 3 GPU drivers (done, no change)
  3. Fully update Windows (done, no change)
  4. Swap Display Port cable (done, no change)
  5. Update GPU firmware (done, no change)
  6. Swap GPU (done, no change)
  7. Turned of XMP (done, no change)
  8. Swap RAM (done that, no change)
  9. Swap PSU (done, no change)
  10. Remove EVGA PowerLink connector from GPU
Currently the PC has ran games for approx 1hr and has ran 3DMark's Time Spy 4 times in a row. I'm still calling it a coincidence after removing the EVGA PowerLink connector because A) I'm not lucky enough for the problem to just be that, and B) how ridiculous would that be after spending near £500 on replacement parts, borrowing parts and messing about with it for 9 days.

So obviously I'll keep hammering the PC and possibly run some more memory tests so when the inevitable next black screen happens, the next logical steps have to be:
  1. Swap CPU like for like
  2. Swap motherboard
Because at this point I would have eliminated the GPU, RAM, PSU, Display Port Cable and the EVGA PowerLink connector so there's bugger all hardware left to swap other than the CPU and motherboard.
Click to expand...

Once my PSU arrives, i will officially be in the same boat as you!
 
After reading that post on Reddit about corrosion inside someone's EVGA PowerLink causing black screen issues I took mine apart, I can't see any corrosion but I can see some faint burn marks on one of the plugs:

Less visible in the photo but they are definitely burn marks:
50327006998_19c3483500_b.jpg
 
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I'm up to 5hrs gaming, around 10+ cold boots and 12x 3dMark Time Spy runs without an issue now since removing the EVGA PowerLink. I'm still skeptical that that's the issue though, although that would explain a power deliver issue that only affected the GPU and thus the display.

I have contacted EVGA just to see if they've had any reports in the past about the PowerLink causing this issue and also sent them the photo of the burn marks on mine.

Could this really be it? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also just for reference, EVGA confirmed that they do not offer any repair/refurb services within the EU which may well be the reason I don't buy an EVGA GPU on my next build.
 
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RipGroove said:
I'm up to 5hrs gaming, around 10+ cold boots and 12x 3dMark Time Spy runs without an issue now since removing the EVGA PowerLink. I'm still skeptical that that's the issue though, although that would explain a power deliver issue that only affected the GPU and thus the display.

I have contacted EVGA just to see if they've had any reports in the past about the PowerLink causing this issue and also sent them the photo of the burn marks on mine.

Could this really be it? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Also just for reference, EVGA confirmed that they do not offer any repair/refurb services within the EU which may well be the reason I don't buy an EVGA GPU on my next build.
Click to expand...
It's very possible the cause. This is why I never used "psu cable extensions", "riser cards" and the like.

If the problem goes away after a solid 24 hours then you know that's the culprit.
 
EastCoastHandle said:
It's very possible the cause. This is why I never used "psu cable extensions", "riser cards" and the like.

If the problem goes away after a solid 24 hours then you know that's the culprit.
Click to expand...

I completely didn't even think about that PowerLink at all. When I initially swapped the GPU for a replacement the system ran fine for 3 days so I'm not going to be confident for at least a week.
 
Don't reapply paste/ open up your card, until you're absolutely sure it does not void your warranty (In the UK). In the US it's not enforceable but UK law is quite obscure. That's if there's still warranty left and that you haven't broken the warranty sticker yet.
 
Dinkel said:
Don't reapply paste/ open up your card, until you're absolutely sure it does not void your warranty (In the UK). In the US it's not enforceable but UK law is quite obscure. That's if there's still warranty left and that you haven't broken the warranty sticker yet.
Click to expand...

My GPU is way out of warranty and I already reapplied paste anyway.
 
Also just noticed this on my PowerLink connector, see the 3 pins here have all lost their shine, these are the same 3 pins that have burn marks on the outside of the plugs, the more I look at this thing and think about how it works the more I'm starting to dislike it:

50330366383_d880072baa_b.jpg
 
RipGroove said:
Also just noticed this on my PowerLink connector, see the 3 pins here have all lost their shine, these are the same 3 pins that have burn marks on the outside of the plugs, the more I look at this thing and think about how it works the more I'm starting to dislike it:
50330366383_d880072baa_b.jpg
Click to expand...

Don't use that anymore. It's done! Whatever happened there is resistance in those plugs now, at the very least.
 
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