HELP - PC restarting without error - straight to black screen

Sheffladjimmy · 3 Feb 2022 at 18:52

So I am in need of some assistance with an issue that I have with my PC, whereby my computer will suddenly black screen on me, and restart without warning.

This error seems to happen more so when playing the steam game 'Rust', but there doesn't seem to be any correlation between FPS drop to PC crashing.

I believed it could have been a RAM issue, as I was running 16gb originally, and my PC was using 15.5gb playing 'Rust', but I have since upgraded to 64gb of RAM, and still experience the crashes.

I run 'Rust' in Administrator mode, along side 'Steam', so I don't believe there is any issue with access to the software being denied within the system itself.

My PC is plugged directly into a wall socket, and not an extension lead, and therefore, don't believe its a loss of power from the mains itself, but question whether the PSU could be having issues (Question would be would the PC restart itself, or turn off if the issue laid with the PSU?)

I've looked at the temps on CPU and GPU after crashes - CPU will get to around 50 Celsius (Based on BIOS temp) and GPU will get to around 75 Degrees (Based on Task Manager temp) - appreciate that BIOS and Task Manager may not give accurate readings, but that's all I got

My system set up is as follows:

i7-9700k @ 3.60GHz
64GB RAM
GeForce RTX 2080ti
500GB SSD
2TB HDD
Water cooling system

My drives seem to all be up to date, including the GPU, and so, doesn't seem to be an outdated drive (From what I can gather).

The crashes had a 2 week gap, with crashes around 10th Jan, and then they suddenly restarted on 29th Jan (6 crashes within the space of 3-4 hours). The crashes have been daily since 29th Jan.

Any help or ideas would be appreciated as this has been going on for the last month.

LeoK · 4 Feb 2022 at 15:22

Hi Sheffladjimmy,

The first thing I'd do is have a look in eventvwr (event viewer). Check Administrative Events, then the 5 logs under Windows logs (if it is a hardware fault you it is like system logs you need).

Please note, it's normal to see lots of errors and warnings. Have a look very close to the time the issue happened and after you turned pc back on. It's quite a bit of work but if you're lucky, you might find a clue like Kernal-Power error. If you find something, google it. It might be a starting point.

Personally, I would find it challenging to track such an intermittent fault. If there is nothing in the logs, I'd try to find a way to trigger the fault on demand. If you can do that, you might be able to trace the cause by trial and error.

Cheers

Retro6 · 8 Feb 2022 at 15:58

It sounds like a RAM issue to me, even new RAM can go bad although not a common occurrence for new RAM to go bad right away.

I would suggest testing your RAM sticks one at a time with memtest. There could also be an issue with the hard drive so I'd check that as well but sounds a lot like a RAM issue.

champ222 · 9 Feb 2022 at 13:23

I had this problem, it turned out to be the PSU, so dont rule that out

Sheffladjimmy · 9 Feb 2022 at 21:33

It's a strange issue for sure that I'm experiencing. Touch wood - since this post I haven't crashed. But there hasn't been any updates that I know of to my PC.

When I checked the Computer Management, it used to mention two Critical errors - One being Kernel Power, and the other being DistributedCOM.

As for RAM, it used to happen before I upgraded my RAM and afterwards, so, although I appreciate there could be a RAM issue, given that I replaced it, I seem to want to rule that out.

PSU is one issue I thought it could be, but I wouldn't know how to test it?

If I ever crash again, I will be looking straight to Event Viewer, Administrative Events, and the Windows Logs etc, and I'll post my findings

Until then, I hope I won't have to :cry:

ANDARIAL · 10 Feb 2022 at 08:35

What psu?
and are you using 2 separate gfx power cables?i.e. not 2 connections on 1 cable?

Retro6 · 10 Feb 2022 at 10:14

I recommend checking that your power supply is adequate to power all your hardware. Find out the power consumption of all the hardware in your machine then make sure your power supply can provide it or try using another power supply to see if the problem goes away.

Sheffladjimmy · 14 Jun 2022 at 20:32

Further update - this is still happening, and as of yet, I have found no cure for the issue. This doesn't just happen in the game 'Rust', or 'Steam' for the matter, but I'm also crashing on other games, such as Fortnite, via Epic Games.

Info on the actual black screening is that the computer crashes, but the audio output is still active - I can hear people talking on discord, but they cannot hear me.

I've also had, although only once, the screen turn black and there were 5 consecutive beeps - mostly, I have to hold the power button in on the PC to hard restart the PC, as the PC just completely turns black.

The most recent crash was within the last hour - error messages on computer management was as follows:

Event Type: Critical
Event ID: 41
Source: Kernel-Power
Log: System
General note: The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.

Event Type: Error
Event ID: 28
Source: Kernel-EventTracing
Log: Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-EventTracing/Admin
General note: Error setting traits on Provider {*****}. Error: 0xC0000001

Event Type: Error
Event ID: 6008
Source: EventLog
Log: System
General note: The previous system shutdown at 19:36:02 on ‎14/‎06/‎2022 was unexpected.

Event Type: Error
Event ID:10010
Source: DistributedCOM
Log: System
General note: The server {*****} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.

Event Type: Warning
Event ID: 219
Source: Kernel-PnP
Log: System
General note: The driver \Driver\WudfRd failed to load for the device *****.

Event Type: Warning
Event ID: 360
Source: User Device Registration
Log: Microsoft-Windows-User Device Registration/Admin
General note:
Windows Hello for Business provisioning will not be launched.
Device is AAD joined ( AADJ or DJ++ ): Not Tested
User has logged on with AAD credentials: No
Windows Hello for Business policy is enabled: Not Tested
Windows Hello for Business post-logon provisioning is enabled: Not Tested
Local computer meets Windows hello for business hardware requirements: Not Tested
User is not connected to the machine via Remote Desktop: Yes
User certificate for on premise auth policy is enabled: Not Tested
Machine is governed by none policy.
Cloud trust for on premise auth policy is enabled: Not Tested
User account has Cloud TGT: Not Tested
See https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?linkid=832647 for more details.

Event Type: Warning
Event ID: 10016
Source: DistributedCOM
Log: System
General note:
The application-specific permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID
{*****}
and APPID
{*****}
to the user WINDOWS***** from address LocalHost (Using LRPC) running in the application container Unavailable SID (Unavailable). This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative tool.

***** = Replacement of potentially sensitive data

As for power consumption, within BIOS, the voltage is as follows:
+12V = 12.096V
+5V = 5.040V
+3.3V = 3.328V

CPU Core Voltage is 1.088V
CPU running at 42c and Motherboard running at 35c

My GPU is all up to date - no updates via Nvidia.
System is up to date with all relevant updates - Still running Windows 10, though.
Power plan on the PC is 'Balanced'
Only relevant USB's are plugged into the PC - Mouse (Wireless), Keyboard (Wired), Blue Yeti (Wired) and Hyper Cloud 2 (Wireless).

Grim5 · 14 Jun 2022 at 20:38

This issue is hardware failure, it's just tricky identifying which component is at fault but the most likely culprits would be: PSU, CPU and RAM. GPU is unlikely because GPU would generate driver crash messages in event viewer and you don't have any.

Sheffladjimmy · 14 Jun 2022 at 20:43

Grim5 said:
This issue is hardware failure, it's just tricky identifying which component is at fault but the most likely culprits would be: PSU, CPU and RAM

Well the RAM was replaced in January 2022 - the issue was occurring prior to the RAM being placed so I cannot believe it would be RAM.

I'm not sure how I'm able to check the PSU to see if there is a hardware fault with it - any tips would be of great help.

As for the CPU, again, not sure how I would test this.

sastusbulbas · 15 Jun 2022 at 07:34

I suffered a couple of black screens and similar issues before my old EVGA 1070 GPU died.

Couple that with it happening to you during games well if u can try another GPU it would possibly help determine.

Nothing wrong with running Memtest either just to rule it out. Am I reading that you added more memory and the issue happened more?

My lads PC suffered Event 41 Kernel issues after a new psu, two ssd and W10 were installed. Despite testing most of the pc no hardware fault was found, it runs stable if he turns fast start and hibernation off. But that was only happening on odd mornings when switching the PC on or during Window update restarts.

What power supply are you using? How old? Like others said it would be worth calculating draw.

Edit, your saying a black screen yet you can hear others on Discord, if Discord and Audio are running on the PC it would indicate the PC is working.

Are your games on a seperate drive?
Are you monitoring your GPU temps?

Is your pc or filters dusty?

Sheffladjimmy · 15 Jun 2022 at 19:45

sastusbulbas said:
I suffered a couple of black screens and similar issues before my old EVGA 1070 GPU died.

Couple that with it happening to you during games well if u can try another GPU it would possibly help determine.

Nothing wrong with running Memtest either just to rule it out. Am I reading that you added more memory and the issue happened more?

My lads PC suffered Event 41 Kernel issues after a new psu, two ssd and W10 were installed. Despite testing most of the pc no hardware fault was found, it runs stable if he turns fast start and hibernation off. But that was only happening on odd mornings when switching the PC on or during Window update restarts.

What power supply are you using? How old? Like others said it would be worth calculating draw.

Edit, your saying a black screen yet you can hear others on Discord, if Discord and Audio are running on the PC it would indicate the PC is working.

Are your games on a seperate drive?
Are you monitoring your GPU temps?

Is your pc or filters dusty?

The issue was happening the same pre- and post- purchase of the new RAM. Haven't really found a difference in the frequency.

My initial thought was the GPU as the display turns black - but as the audio output is still playing, and having tried to check whether the integrated graphics card is taking over the display, and the GPU driver is turning off, this doesn't seem to be the case. Both the GPU and integrated graphics card both seem to not want to work when the screen turns black.

I've also tried to restart the graphics driver using Windows + CTRL + Shift + B to see if that would restart the driver and show the display again. I hear the beep for the reset of the driver, but to no avail.

Having checked my PSU today, its a Corsair VS550 (550w). I'm thinking to look at replacing the PSU to see if this is the issue, and my PC is not receiving the power it needs, but will need to look at what PSU to purchase in replacement. Ideally, I'd be looking at maybe 750w to provide the extra power. Maybe something like a Corsair CX750M, but will need to do a bit more digging on whether this PSU will suit my PC, and be a suitable replacement.

PC is coming up to 3 years old - July 2019 is when I purchased it.

Exactly that - the PC is still technically on. I hear Discord, sometimes they can still hear me, sometimes they can't. Its intermittent. But the audio still works, and therefore, the PC is still working, leading it to be more display/graphics issue.

The two games I notice the issue with are both on my SSD - same as my OS. The HDD is just there as extra storage.

PC isn't particularly dusty - I clean it out with an air compressor every 3-6 months, cleaning the fans, filters, and any excess build up in the corners and gaps etc.

sastusbulbas · 16 Jun 2022 at 07:47

Your 550w power supply will be struggling with a 2080ti, two drives, 4 sticks of memory and an i7.

Most reviews were recommending 750w to 1000w.

Are you therefor running a single PCI-E connection from PSU?

Sheffladjimmy · 16 Jun 2022 at 18:44

sastusbulbas said:
Your 550w power supply will be struggling with a 2080ti, two drives, 4 sticks of memory and an i7.

Most reviews were recommending 750w to 1000w.

Are you therefor running a single PCI-E connection from PSU?

Yes, believe it is a single PCI-E connection.

I'm going to look at PSU's, and look for an upgrade. If thats the issue, then it'll be sorted. If not, at least my PSU will be a good PSU

Sheffladjimmy · 21 Jun 2022 at 18:21

To all involved in the above thread - I thank you for your help.

Having replaced my PSU with a EVGA 1000 GQ - 1000W, it does seem the issue has been resolved.

I did also install DDU and reinstalled my Nvidia Graphics card driver as I was also experiencing a Bugcheck issue - of which has been resolved.

So far, its been 5 days without a crash