I'm experiencing a frustrating problem where my monitor keeps disconnecting from my GPU. It feels like it might have started with an Nvidia auto-overclock that I interrupted while loading a game. Now, I'm facing artifacting in games like Farming Sim and Valorant, and the monitor sometimes shows 'no signal' while the PC remains on. Sometimes, it randomly restarts.
Here are my specs:
- Tomohawk Z790 Wifi Motherboard
- 32GB DDR5 RAM
- Nvidia RTX 3060
- Intel 13th Gen i7-13700k
- AIO Liquid cooling with three fans.
I've already tried a bunch of fixes:
- Updated my BIOS
- Reseated my GPU and RAM
- Tested with another monitor and HDMI cable
- Rolled back and fresh installed display drivers
- Cleared CMOS on the motherboard
- Discovered I had my monitor plugged into the motherboard instead of the GPU (which has been fixed now), but it hasn't changed the issue.
I also found out that re-plugging my GPU's power connector somehow counted as changing hardware, which messed up my Windows Pro license. Now I have to deal with reinstalling everything or getting a new license.
I'm not super tech-savvy, so any help would be appreciated! Thanks so much! <3
1 Answer
It sounds like a frustrating situation! First off, having the monitor plugged into the motherboard instead of the GPU would definitely cause issues since you'd be using the integrated graphics instead of your dedicated graphics card. So, that’s good to fix. Now, since you’re getting artifacting and disconnections, it might indicate a problem with the GPU itself. If you bought your PC new, it shouldn’t be faulty, but it’s possible that it developed issues over time.
As for the Windows activation issue, it’s likely tied to the motherboard or your Microsoft account. When it comes to reinstalling Windows, you can do an in-place install that keeps your files and apps, so you won’t lose anything. If after that you're still having problems, it could very well be a hardware issue with the GPU. What model do you have?
Thanks for your help! It's an Asus NVIDIA RTX 3060, and I did manage to recreate the problem on both the integrated and dedicated GPU options. I got it custom built three years ago for my birthday, so I don't think it should be dead yet. Hopefully, it's just a software issue!