For the past week, my Windows 11 PC has intermittently lost its display after around 90 minutes of use. It has happened while gaming and while simply browsing with music playing. The monitor suddenly reports that no HDMI signal is detected, even though the cable is still connected. The computer itself may continue running: on one occasion I could hear game audio and accidentally launch another game after the screen went black. Spotify also seemed to skip tracks during one incident. Turning the monitor off and on does not restore the picture, but restarting the entire PC does.
The system has an RTX 5070, Ryzen 5 5600, 32GB of DDR4 memory, and an approximately 650W Pylon power supply. The GPU uses a 12VHPWR connection and does not appear to be sagging. The NVIDIA Game Ready driver is version 596.36. The display is a 144Hz 4K monitor currently set to 1440p. Could this be a graphics card, power delivery, cable, overheating, or driver problem?
3 Answers
Because you can still hear game audio and Windows sounds, this sounds more like the GPU driver or graphics card has stopped producing a video signal than a complete system shutdown. Check Event Viewer or Reliability Monitor for display-driver crashes, then reinstall the NVIDIA driver using the clean-install option. If the problem began after a driver update, testing an earlier stable driver is also worthwhile.
Monitor GPU and CPU temperatures, hotspot temperature, and power behavior while reproducing the problem. A black screen that appears only after the system warms up can point to overheating, unstable power, or a failing card. Temporarily lower the GPU power limit or clocks and test with a different game or a GPU stress test. If it still happens with another cable, another monitor, and a clean driver installation, the graphics card or PSU should be tested in another system or returned under warranty.
First check the simple hardware possibilities. Try a different HDMI cable and, if possible, another display input or DisplayPort. Also verify that the 12VHPWR connector is fully inserted and not sharply bent right next to the plug. A direct cable from the power supply is preferable to a loose or questionable adapter. The exact PSU model matters here, so find the label and confirm its wattage and quality rather than assuming it is 650W.
It is using a 12VHPWR cable, and cycling the monitor's power does not bring the signal back. I need to check the exact Pylon PSU model and try another display cable.