Black Screen Crash - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

bingle · 10-16-2004, 08:22 AM

I'm having a weird problem right now where my video will essentially shut off - my monitor just loses the signal and there's no recovery, short of a reboot. I'm not sure what's causing it; my only guess is that it might be power-related? It seems to happen during CPU- and hard-drive-intensive tasks, like video encoding, but not during things like 3D games. It also only began happening a little while ago, so it's possible it's a software issue, but I'm not sure what software could do that.

Here are my specs:
300-watt power supply
Radeon 9800 Pro
Athlon XP 2600+ (1.9 GHz)
DVD burner
2 80-gig hard drives (7200rpm)

My system hardly ever gets above 40C, so I don't think it's heat-related... I've also tried the most recent Catalyst drivers and they didn't seem to help.

Any ideas would be appreciated, this is starting to get annoying :-(

Bingle

NavySEAL · 10-16-2004, 09:01 AM

Well, it seems that the MINIMUM requirement for the 9800 PRO is a 300-WATT PSU. Or it could be because you might have Overclocked some of your hardware?

jonjon42 · 10-16-2004, 09:22 AM

the power supply is not adaquate for that hardware I think. alot of that stuff is pretty power hungry. get a bigger (400w+) PSU...

bingle · 10-16-2004, 11:07 AM

Actually, it's a 350 watt, my mistake. Power does seem to be a possibility, then, but is there anything else anyone can think of? I'd rather exhaust all the possibilities before buying hardware :-)

Also, as far as power supplies go, anyone know how Thermaltake's PSUs are? I have a nice Antec one right now (the SmartBlue) and I like Antec stuff. I've not had any experience with Thermaltake.

Thanks for your help so far :-)

Bingle

skaven · 10-16-2004, 01:18 PM

I wouldn't recommend anything other than an Antec power supply...I've replaced far too many non-Antec PSUs to recommend anything other than ol' reliable Antec.

bitrunner · 10-16-2004, 01:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bingle

Actually, it's a 350 watt, my mistake. Power does seem to be a possibility, then, but is there anything else anyone can think of? I'd rather exhaust all the possibilities before buying hardware :-)

Also, as far as power supplies go, anyone know how Thermaltake's PSUs are? I have a nice Antec one right now (the SmartBlue) and I like Antec stuff. I've not had any experience with Thermaltake.

Thanks for your help so far :-)

Bingle

I'd get a new power supply, but short of that try unhooking one of the hard disks as well as the DVD burner. If that fixes it, you know you have a power issue, but even if not a new PSU would be good.

oiekeooiyw · 10-16-2004, 06:04 PM

Not sure of the OS and you didn't say if it happens when you are working or if it happens after you take a few minutes away from your computer. Many of the MS operating systems have issues coming back from Stand By. I would check your settings and make sure it not set to power down the monitor and not to go into Stand By.

jonjon42 · 10-16-2004, 06:47 PM

also another issue I've found if you have several power hungry devices on one circuit (in your house) you may get these crashes (happened to me)

bingle · 10-17-2004, 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oiekeooiyw

Not sure of the OS and you didn't say if it happens when you are working or if it happens after you take a few minutes away from your computer. Many of the MS operating systems have issues coming back from Stand By. I would check your settings and make sure it not set to power down the monitor and not to go into Stand By.

It's XP. It doesn't go into standby - I originally had it set to power off the monitor after a few minutes, but I noticed that it wouldn't come back up, sometimes, so I switched that option off. Now it still does it, though ;-P

Anyway, I'll try unplugging some stuff from the PSU and see if it still happens.

Thanks all!

Bingle

10-16-2004, 08:22 AM	#1 (permalink)
bingle Crazy Location: California	Black Screen Crash I'm having a weird problem right now where my video will essentially shut off - my monitor just loses the signal and there's no recovery, short of a reboot. I'm not sure what's causing it; my only guess is that it might be power-related? It seems to happen during CPU- and hard-drive-intensive tasks, like video encoding, but not during things like 3D games. It also only began happening a little while ago, so it's possible it's a software issue, but I'm not sure what software could do that. Here are my specs: 300-watt power supply Radeon 9800 Pro Athlon XP 2600+ (1.9 GHz) DVD burner 2 80-gig hard drives (7200rpm) My system hardly ever gets above 40C, so I don't think it's heat-related... I've also tried the most recent Catalyst drivers and they didn't seem to help. Any ideas would be appreciated, this is starting to get annoying :-( Bingle

10-16-2004, 09:22 AM	#3 (permalink)
jonjon42 Psycho Location: inside my own mind	the power supply is not adaquate for that hardware I think. alot of that stuff is pretty power hungry. get a bigger (400w+) PSU... __________________ A damn dirty hippie without the dirty part....

10-16-2004, 06:47 PM	#8 (permalink)
jonjon42 Psycho Location: inside my own mind	also another issue I've found if you have several power hungry devices on one circuit (in your house) you may get these crashes (happened to me) __________________ A damn dirty hippie without the dirty part....

10-16-2004, 09:01 AM	#2 (permalink)
NavySEAL Crazy Location: U.S.	Well, it seems that the MINIMUM requirement for the 9800 PRO is a 300-WATT PSU. Or it could be because you might have Overclocked some of your hardware?

10-16-2004, 11:07 AM	#4 (permalink)
bingle Crazy Location: California	Actually, it's a 350 watt, my mistake. Power does seem to be a possibility, then, but is there anything else anyone can think of? I'd rather exhaust all the possibilities before buying hardware :-) Also, as far as power supplies go, anyone know how Thermaltake's PSUs are? I have a nice Antec one right now (the SmartBlue) and I like Antec stuff. I've not had any experience with Thermaltake. Thanks for your help so far :-) Bingle

10-16-2004, 01:18 PM	#5 (permalink)
skaven Insane Location: Austin, TX	I wouldn't recommend anything other than an Antec power supply...I've replaced far too many non-Antec PSUs to recommend anything other than ol' reliable Antec.

10-16-2004, 06:04 PM	#7 (permalink)
oiekeooiyw Insane	Not sure of the OS and you didn't say if it happens when you are working or if it happens after you take a few minutes away from your computer. Many of the MS operating systems have issues coming back from Stand By. I would check your settings and make sure it not set to power down the monitor and not to go into Stand By.