I built my first PC about a month ago and I'm still learning the basics. It has a Ryzen 5 7600X, GeForce RTX 5070, ASRock B650M Pro RS WiFi motherboard, and Montech Century II Gold 850W ATX 3.0 power supply. At random times, the display and audio cut out while the fans ramp up to full speed. The lights and fans remain on until I force the system to shut down. After that, it usually won't start properly unless I reseat or reset the graphics card and clear the CMOS. There doesn't seem to be a consistent trigger: it has happened during games, immediately after entering my Windows password, and while the computer was idle. Some days it happens repeatedly, while on other occasions I can use the PC for weeks without a problem. When I remove the graphics card and connect the monitor to the motherboard, the system appears stable, but I want to use the dedicated GPU. I've checked the GPU power connections and used separate PCIe cables rather than relying on one daisy-chained cable. I'm not sure whether the BIOS, Windows installation, drivers, RAM settings, GPU seating, or power delivery could be responsible. What should I test first?
4 Answers
Reseat the graphics card and make sure every GPU power connector is fully inserted at both ends. Check that the card isn’t sagging or being pulled sideways by the cables. Since the system is stable on the motherboard’s video output, the GPU connection or power delivery is a reasonable place to investigate.
Start by updating the motherboard BIOS to the latest stable version. Early BIOS versions for AM5 and DDR5 systems could be unreliable. Also reinstall the chipset and graphics drivers, and make sure Windows is fully updated. If the original setup process was rushed, a clean Windows installation is worth considering after the hardware checks.
Temporarily disable the memory overclocking profile, such as EXPO, and test the computer at default RAM settings. Unstable DDR5 settings can cause crashes that look like a graphics-card failure. If your BIOS exposes a memory power-down option, try testing with that changed as well.
I’d troubleshoot in this order: update the BIOS, disable EXPO or other memory overclocking, reinstall the GPU and chipset drivers, and then test with a fresh Windows installation if it still happens. You can also try a modestly lower PBO setting on the Ryzen processor, since some AM5 systems are sensitive to aggressive automatic boosting. Only after those tests would I start swapping major parts such as the power supply or graphics card.
Reinstall Windows first because it costs nothing and rules out a bad software setup. If the issue remains with updated drivers, default RAM settings, and a current BIOS, then testing with another known-good power supply would be the next step.
If those steps don’t help, should I replace the power supply first or reinstall Windows first?