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Question

Monitor no signal after loading game and fans whirring notic

Sep 14, 2016 10:02PM PDT

Dear CNET community,
I would really appreciate if you could help me with this issue.

PC monitor showed black screen and "no signal" from DVI after loading League game. Fans on PC started whirring a lot (noticeably audible). Music was still playing and all USB ports were still getting power. Unplugging and plugging back DVI cable didn't help with the no signal message. Tried turning the PC off and on again, and it booted fine but then came to a black screen with a white horizontal bar across it and some small colored dots. No mouse movement or keyboard input changed the display. Turning it off and on a second time produced a normal boot up and log in. It was only until I tried reentering my League game that the monitor lost signal again and fans whirred loudly again.

Is this an overheating issue from my monitor? Or my PC? (Is the PC not sending signals to the monitor because the graphics card is overheating? Why doesnt reconnecting the DVI cable do anything to the state of the monitor?)

Specs and background info:

My PC went through an automated Windows 10 update last night (I'm not on the Anniversary version).

Graphics card: NVIDIA GTX 1080 Gigabyte edition

Monitor: ASUS VG278HV 27" 144hz 1ms 1080p

DVI cable: dual link

Discussion is locked

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Clarification Request
Are you on some insider build?
Sep 14, 2016 10:12PM PDT

Those versions are ones you report issues back to Microsoft. I'm running into those versions for some reason more often and the owners are getting miffed about the lack of support from our office. But the office can't do a thing with that version.

Any chance of getting a retail version?

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Windows 10 Home and Updates
Sep 14, 2016 10:37PM PDT

I'm just on Windows 10 Home. I bought it from a retail store.
Update: I turned my PC back on after 30 minutes but the graphics card LED words did not come on. I took out my graphics card and checked it. Everything looks fine. I screwed it back in. Computer booted as usual, I am now using it to open up Chrome. This is the behavior it exhibited previously after turning it off and on a second time BEFORE opening a League game. I'm worried that my graphics card can't handle running a game, so I haven't tested it again yet. My question still persists -- why would the graphics suddenly stop working? I think I can rule out my monitor having issues because my graphics card LED did not work that one time. Do I need to worry about my PC cooling (I have the Corsair H80i v2 Hydro Series Processor Liquid Cooling System, and my graphics card seems to have its own mini-fan too) or my graphics card overheating periodically? My room temperature is usually around 71-75 degrees F, but there's not much I can do about that.

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These are not bullet proof PCs.
Sep 14, 2016 10:59PM PDT

There's a warranty on such for this very reason. It's a new system so you need to work the system. I'm unsure why the liquid cooling. The desktops I've seen in the past decade never required it. But folk seem to like to do this for overclocking and that is an issue. No maker I know will warrant an overclocked system.

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Still need help on this issue!
Sep 15, 2016 10:27AM PDT

(1) I have not overclocked my system. (2) My point about my liquid cooling system is not that my PC requires it but that it should be adequately cool. (3) The forefront of PC gaming and graphics rendering has changed a lot in the past 10 years. (4) Warranty or not is besides the case. I built my PC myself, so yes I'm aware that every computer part has a different warranty. I am not looking to return or sell any of my parts -- merely, I am just trying to get a sense of any issues affecting its performance regarding the situation I described above.

If anyone has any musings of possible solutions or has an idea of the cause of the issue, please let me know!

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Let's say I am the tech. And what you didn't tell.
Sep 15, 2016 10:45AM PDT

I would treat it like any other dead PC. I'd see if I could boot a live OS from CD/DVD/USB and if that works then Windows might be blown. Depending on if the client paid for data protection, I do one or another reload.

If it's just a game that causes this we might tinker with game reloads and settings. For example some games have know bugs that we google. This sort of work is expensive and charged at 150 per hour.

The 1080 is more than capable of handling the game. But is the PC built to support the 1080? Since you can break the PC with this game and the PC is new, this is a clear warranty issue.


WHAT DIDN"T YOU TELL HERE?

Some folk buy a PC then add the video card. I see this all the time. The PSU or other item isn't up to the added card.

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What I did tell, and what I expected
Sep 15, 2016 3:05PM PDT

Based on the information I provided, you would know that my Windows is not "blown" and that it's not necessary to try booting the OS from CD/DVD/USB.

I'm not asking for anyone to do any work FOR me for which they should be paid "150 per hour." I was under the impression that CNET and other tech help forums were open platforms for computer users to post questions and seek FREE advice. I'm not asking you to do the sort of work that you call expensive. I think it's reasonable to check the web, if the problem isn't documented then ask forums, and if no help can be given to then start looking for paid tech help.

Posting on here was my method of seeking out experienced PC builders/users/gamers to see if they might be able to use their knowledge to suggest potential issues I should check out. If you feel that I have left out information, you could simply ask for my entire PC build to check e.g. if my PSU can support a 1080, as you mentioned above.

It's hard to believe that people would actively comment on help threads to offer unhelpful or deragatory "advice." I am a programmer, not a hardware specialist, so there's a large range of possibilities I can imagine that contributed to what went wrong with my PC, but I would have appreciated the authority of someone who could offer a deeper insight. Call me naive, but I see people posting on Piazza forums for help every hour, and students gladly lend help to them without the need to be monetarily incentivized or even MENTION the rate their services would go for. I believe your conduct is unprofessional. Meanwhile, I am still seeking the answer to my PC issue, so if anyone else has anything to offer, please feel free to comment.

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Answer
You are on the team too.
Sep 15, 2016 3:32PM PDT

You have to pitch in as well. Your reply sounds demanding.

And I'm more than just a programmer. I design electronics (mostly embedded computiner), write code and ran repair shops. Today I'm more about on call for the tough cases.

I don't mind your demands here at all as this is an open discussion forum.

-> Bottom line. Your story is light, missing details and most of all, the PC was bought and has a warranty. I'd use that!