My computer occasionally loses the monitor signal, while the system unit becomes unresponsive and all the cooling fans ramp up to maximum speed. I haven't noticed any overheating. I replaced the power supply yesterday, and the computer worked normally for the entire day, but the issue has returned. I'm using an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER. The crash sometimes happens during demanding games such as Far Cry 6, but it can also occur shortly after startup when the system has been idle for only a few minutes. What could be causing this, and what troubleshooting steps should I try?
1 Answer
A black screen followed by fans running at full speed often points to a graphics-card crash, though the card, power delivery, cables, or drivers could all be involved. Even a relatively new card can develop a fault, so its age and lack of physical damage don’t completely rule it out. Make sure every power connector is fully seated and use the correct, separate cables from the new power supply rather than reusing modular cables from the old one. It’s also worth using Display Driver Uninstaller in Safe Mode, then installing a current stable NVIDIA driver. If possible, test with another graphics card or use integrated graphics to see whether the crashes stop.
I was hoping the graphics card wasn’t the cause since it was bought new and has only been used for gaming. It has never been dropped or moved, but I understand that an internal fault is still possible. I’ll check the power connections and try a clean driver installation.