My PC sometimes loses display output during low-activity periods, such as browsing, scrolling, or sitting idle. When it happens, all the fans run at maximum speed, and the power button no longer shuts the system down, so I have to switch off the PSU. It never seems to happen while gaming or playing video, and there are days when it does not happen at all.
I have reseated the GPU, RAM, and GPU power cable, performed a clean GPU driver installation, and updated the BIOS. The system uses an ASRock Fatal1ty AB350 Gaming K4 motherboard. Since the problem seems related to idle power states, I am wondering whether it is a PSU issue or something else. I already bought a replacement PSU, but I would appreciate other troubleshooting ideas before replacing the cables.
2 Answers
This sounds more like an instability problem when the system enters a low-power state than a PSU failing under load. As a test, temporarily disable CPU C-states and PCIe ASPM in the UEFI, then disable Windows Link State Power Management. If the crashes stop, you can re-enable those settings one at a time to identify the trigger. Also check Event Viewer after the next incident. Kernel-Power 41 only means the shutdown was abnormal, so look for graphics, hardware, or driver errors immediately before it.
Try the Windows power-management setting first because it is easy to reverse and does not require changing firmware. In Advanced Power Options, open PCI Express and set Link State Power Management to Off. If the issue continues, test the BIOS settings next. On many ASRock boards, CPU C-state options are under Advanced > CPU Configuration or an AMD CBS menu, while PCIe power-management options may be under Chipset or ACPI Configuration. The exact names can vary by BIOS version, so take photos of the original settings before changing anything.
Thanks. I have not changed those settings before. Do you know where they are located in ASRock's UEFI?