My new PC has an RTX 5050, Ryzen 5 5500, 16GB of RAM and Windows 11. Every game I've tried opens to a black window, but I can still Alt+Tab and use the desktop. FurMark runs without a problem.
I've clean installed Windows and tried multiple NVIDIA drivers, a BIOS update, different PCIe settings and disabling overlays. Games briefly worked after I changed the RAM from 3200MHz to its automatic 2666MHz setting, but the problem returned after a restart. What should I test next?
Start with the RAM. Changing its speed coincided with the games working for a while, so that's a useful clue even though it doesn't prove the memory is bad.
Run a memory test such as MemTest86 at the current settings. If you have multiple sticks, power off the PC and test each one on its own, using the slot recommended by the motherboard manual. If both work individually, try the other slot too. Note which combinations fail rather than changing everything at once.
An error is worth investigating, but a clean test doesn't completely rule out an intermittent problem.
FurMark passing is useful, but it doesn't clear the GPU or the rest of the system. A stress test and a game can exercise different parts of the graphics pipeline. Keep hardware on the suspect list while you narrow down what actually fails.
The whole machine isn't shutting off, so I wouldn't jump straight to replacing the power supply based on this symptom. Check that the GPU power connection is fully seated and that any modular cable is the correct one for that exact PSU model.
If the memory checks don't turn anything up, testing with a known-good compatible GPU or PSU could help isolate the fault. I'd try that before buying parts on a hunch.
Have a look at Reliability Monitor and Event Viewer around the time a game goes black. The forced shutdown entries don't necessarily explain the original problem, so look for errors that appeared before those. The name and timing of any game, display driver or application error could give you a better lead.
Diskette Dan:
Reliability Monitor shows some update failures and an application error, but no obvious GPU driver crash. I'll check whether those line up with a game launch.
Answers are reviewed before publication.
altitude-ish:
Check the manual for the actual board rather than assuming a four-slot layout. Slot recommendations depend on the motherboard.