Screen Goes Black, but Sound Still Plays When Playing Certain Games

Prototype661 · Apr 26, 2013

Pretty much what happens is that i'll be playing a game for about an hour or two, and then the screen will suddenly go black, but the audio still plays. To get the computer responding again I have to manually restart the computer. This happens at random times in my games; I could be playing for not even 5 minutes and it will stop responding, and sometimes I can play for 3 hours straight and not a single thing happens.

richc46 · Apr 26, 2013

Welcome
Go to the website of your graphics card and update driver.

Allan D · Apr 27, 2013

Hello Prototype661,

In addition to what Richard has said, I would suggest performing a Pre-Boot System Assessment (PSA / ePSA) Diagnostics.
Run the test and check if gives any error code. Note down the error code and update me with the same, would let you know the next course of action. If the test passes on all the hardware components, follow the next step.

Run the Dell PC Diagnostics on the video card to check the functionality of the video card.

Please try the steps and write back with results.

Prototype661 · Apr 28, 2013

richc46 said:
Welcome
Go to the website of your graphics card and update driver.

I have just updated all of my drivers, but the computer is still acting the same.

wither 3 · Apr 29, 2013

It could be that the power supply on your monitor is going bad. However, if it only happens while playing games, I don't think that would be the problem. It could also be the power suppy on your system or the graphics card since both are seeing higher loads while playing games. Have you looked at the Event Viewer to see if there's anything there that might identify the problem?

Patonb · Apr 29, 2013

As my usual reply toi this type of issue...

Download Furmark and runm in for a bit.
FurMark: VGA Stress Test, Graphics Card and GPU Stability Test, Burn-in Test, OpenGL Benchmark and GPU Temperature | oZone3D.Net

It is a videocard stresser program. If you fail doing it it'll point to an issue.

Watch your temperatures, they really shouldn't go more than about 90C and doing so points to overheating and probably needs a good cleaning.

Prototype661 · May 2, 2013

Here's my theory: My computer is almost 7 years old and it used to be my dads work computer, therefore it was constantly on. Then he gave it to me so I could have a good computer to play games on. Because of the computer constantly being on and used, the power supply is starting to fail. The screen goes black because the video card is not getting sufficient power, and fails.

BTW I just switched to a different computer that we almost never used and put the good video card from the original computer in it. I have an ATI Radeon HD 4600 Series video card.

Patonb · May 2, 2013

Yha that's very sound theory, and very plausible.

I'd run furmark on it anyway just to test it out...

wither 3 · May 2, 2013

Your theory goes along with what I surmised in post #5 which lead to testing suggested by Patonb.

Prototype661 · May 12, 2013

OK so I just switched the graphics card to another computer, but i'm still having the same problem. I did notice something though. The screen went black in the middle of my game as usual, but the computer is still responding. Even though the screen is black, I can still hear myself running, swinging my weapon, jumping, (etc.). This obviously means that this is a graphics card problem. I'm just not sure if it is overheating or not getting sufficient power from the PSU.

wither 3 · May 12, 2013

It could be that it's just kaput.

Patonb · May 13, 2013

Not loking to good for the card. Can you put a known good card into the busted one?

wither 3 · May 13, 2013

I'm not sure what you mean by putting a good card into a busted one. You can buy a new card and insert it into the motherboard. You just have to make sure that the new card and your motherboard are compatible and that your power supply is large enough to power the new card and meet other power requirements.

Patonb · May 14, 2013

And you don't think I know all that?

wither 3 · May 14, 2013

Sorry Patonb. I was thinking that response was from the author of the thread. As I said, I didn't know what you meant.

Prototype661 · May 14, 2013

Thanks guys for the help. Guess i'll just have to get a new card.

Patonb · May 15, 2013

wither 3 said:
Sorry Patonb. I was thinking that response was from the author of the thread. As I said, I didn't know what you meant.

I know

Prototype661 said:
Thanks guys for the help. Guess i'll just have to get a new card.

Be warned, you only have a 300W power supply and will be limited to low end/ Entry cards.

wither 3 · May 15, 2013

Most of all, let us know how it turns out.

Screen Goes Black, but Sound Still Plays When Playing Certain Games

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