I'm troubleshooting recurring black-screen crashes with an MSI RTX 5090 Gaming Trio installed in an ASUS ROG STRIX X670E system with a Ryzen 9 7900X3D, 64 GB of DDR5, a Corsair HX1200 PSU, and Windows 11. The crashes occur during demanding games such as Delta Force and Dota 2. The display goes black, but Discord, game audio, and voice chat continue working for a while before the system recovers or reboots.
Event Viewer reports VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (0x116), Arg3 0xC000009A, and NVIDIA nvlddmkm Event ID 153 messages mentioning "GpuRcReset TDR" and "BusReset TDR." The failures usually happen after the GPU has been under load for some time rather than immediately after starting a game.
I have already performed a clean driver installation with DDU, repaired Windows updates, reseated the GPU and power connections, tested with FurMark, removed overclocks, reduced GPU power, and lowered the memory speed from DDR5-5600 to DDR5-3600. Lowering GPU power seemed to improve stability temporarily, but the issue remains unresolved.
The monitor is an Alienware AW3225QF connected directly to the GPU by DisplayPort. For power, I'm currently using a Lian Li Strimer cable instead of the adapter included with the graphics card. The connector appears fully seated.
I'm planning to update the motherboard BIOS and test the system with the GPU forced from PCIe Gen 5 to Gen 4 while keeping the GPU at stock settings and the memory at DDR5-3600. Has anyone experienced this combination of black screens, continued audio, Event 153, bus-reset TDRs, and VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE on an AM5 PCIe Gen 5 platform? I'm especially interested in whether switching to PCIe Gen 4, using the original or a direct PSU cable, updating firmware, replacing the motherboard, or replacing the GPU ultimately fixed the problem.
3 Answers
Update the motherboard BIOS to the newest stable version before doing too many hardware swaps. BIOS and AGESA updates can improve PCIe training and lane stability on AM5 systems. After that, force the slot to PCIe Gen 4 and retest the same games. If Gen 4 is stable while Gen 5 continues to fail, that points more toward PCIe signal or platform compatibility than a game-specific problem, although it still doesn’t prove whether the board or GPU is at fault.
Event 153 can be driver-related and has appeared across multiple NVIDIA driver versions, so a clean reinstall does not necessarily rule it out. Since reduced GPU power helped, I’d also test the power path carefully. Remove the Strimer temporarily and use the PSU’s original cable or the manufacturer-approved 12V-2x6 adapter, making sure it is fully inserted and not sharply bent near the connector. If that changes the behavior, use a direct cable made specifically for the HX1200 rather than a generic adapter.
The card is an MSI RTX 5090 Gaming Trio, and I’m currently using the Strimer instead of the included 12V-2x6 to three 8-pin adapter. I’ll test with the original connection before drawing conclusions.
Don’t overlook the display chain, even though the Event 153 entries make the GPU path suspicious. Try another certified DisplayPort cable, another monitor input, or a temporary HDMI test. Also confirm the monitor is connected directly to the RTX 5090 rather than the motherboard video output. If the problem persists with a different cable and with PCIe Gen 4, the remaining practical suspects are the power cable, motherboard firmware or slot, and finally the graphics card itself.
The monitor is connected directly to the RTX 5090, not the integrated graphics. It uses DisplayPort with the Alienware AW3225QF, so I’ll include a different cable or HDMI in the isolation tests.
I haven’t tested Gen 4 yet, but that is my next controlled test along with DDR5-3600 and stock GPU settings. I’ll change only one setting at a time if possible.