For the past month, my PC with an RTX 5070 Ti, Ryzen 7 7800X3D, and MSI X870 Gaming Plus WiFi has been experiencing startup freezes, severe lag, black screens, and occasional reboots. Disabling Windows Fast Startup initially solved the problem, but the issue later returned with Event ID 153, 14, and 13, along with error 0x116.
Updating the graphics driver made the 0x116 error disappear temporarily, but the system still sometimes becomes extremely sluggish or freezes on the desktop. The latest freeze seemed to happen while using a browser, so I suspected hardware acceleration. I used DDU and rolled back to driver version 610.88, although I am not sure whether that will help.
The odd part is that games run normally; the problems mainly occur during startup or shortly after logging in. PCIe Link State Power Management is already disabled, and there are no unusual startup applications enabled. What else should I check to determine whether this is a driver issue, a loose power connection, or a failing graphics card?
3 Answers
Error 0x116 means Windows detected that the display driver or GPU stopped responding and could not recover normally. Driver problems, unstable overclocks, power delivery, or defective hardware can all cause it. Check the complete Event Viewer entry and compare its timestamp with startup, login, or browser activity. If the same card works normally under gaming load but fails during desktop transitions, testing another GPU or testing this card in another computer would help separate a card fault from a motherboard or software issue.
The combination of Event 153 and 13 can indicate that the graphics card briefly loses power or its PCIe connection. Reseat the card and firmly reconnect the 12VHPWR or other GPU power cable at both ends, checking for an incomplete connection or visible damage. Since the problem occurs during browser use, temporarily disable browser hardware acceleration as another test. If possible, also try a different power cable or test the card in another system.
Because the crashes happen shortly after boot, try simplifying the system as much as possible: disconnect nonessential USB and RGB devices, disable overlays and motherboard utilities, and perform a clean boot. If the issue continues with hardware acceleration off, no startup utilities running, and the PCIe power settings already disabled, the remaining likely suspects are the GPU power connection, the graphics card, or the motherboard's PCIe slot.
A replacement graphics card cleared the same errors for someone else, so the GPU itself should not be ruled out even if games appear stable.