# [SOLVED] Black Screen problem in games



## Layn (Jan 2, 2012)

not sure where i'm supposed to post this. The game forums and support themselves aren't much of a help.

in Assassin's Creed Brotherhood and Revelations as well as Dead Island i have occasional Black screens (with sound. usually looping sounds like ambient sounds continue, while oneoff audio like a dialogue line continues until it finishes) which i can workaround by pressing ctrl+alt+del followed by esc (i end up back in the game which'll work for a bit longer until the next black screen comes). If i press alt+F4 while i see the black screen, nothing happens, but after doing the procedure i mentioned before the game immediately exits (basically the command gets stored but delayed).
In the beta of Tribes Ascend i've noticed a similar problem, that i've noticed in AC:B and AC:R at certain graphics settings. instead of the screen going black i still see the (frozen) game, but a lot of the game assets in the environment simply disappear. lighting and i think some textures disappear too (it has been a while since i tried it).
most other games seem fine

as i said none of the game forums nor support have been helpful.

i've considered graphiccard overheating, but that usually shows itself as artifacts and other graphical glitches, i think. It does reach about 80ºC but from what i understood my graphiccard should be able to handle that
i've though about my processor overheating, but wouldn't it just shutdown the whole system? Anyway according to speedfan my CPU reaches at max. 50ºC, but the cores for some reason go up to 55ºC. again i've read this should be okay for my CPU, but i do worry a bit.
I don't think it's the memory either. i did a couple memtests and they seem fine. And AFAIK if there was a problem, the game would crash, and not continue as if there had been nothing as it does when i do that procedure i mentioned.
Also i figured it must be something hardware, since i've tried the games without any nonessential background services and processes running and the same happened. Admittedly i didn't try formatting my computer, but... i really really don't want to do that.


And that's all i can come up with with my own experience. i probably missed a lot of things. Does anyone have an idea?

my specs:
Win7 SP1 64bit
Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550
Asus Maximus 2 Formula Motherboard
2x Corsair DDR2 2048MB PC2-6400 RAM
Nvidia Geforce GTX 280 (from XFX i think)

i think i lost the edit button somewhere.

i think it's worth of mention that i have 2 screens, and while the one screen is black (the one with the game), the second screen still works (for example i just saw the steam store update from the winter sale page to the normal usual steam store page just as the sale ended)


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

Could be any number of possible issues. Anything from game glitches, to driver issues, to hardware issues.

Check Windows Event Viewer to see if Windows is logging any errors. Aside from that, ensure all of your system and video drivers are up to date. Manually look for updates, don't rely on Windows update. To rule out heat, open the case if possible and blow a fan into the PC. That will ensure it's cool.


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## Layn (Jan 2, 2012)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

thanks for the reply!

asfar as i can tell event viewer hasn't logged any errors, but i might be looking at it wrong. at least the summary says no errors in the last hour and there are no new events in general related to the game.
video drivers are uptodate. i'm not sure when i last updated everything else, so i'm going to check that .
as for heat i ran a 15min furmark burnin. It did reach 105ºC but it stayed there and didn't cause any problems i could notice. i also tried using a fan while playing but i don't remember it helping in any noticable way.

i'm also going to try my roommates graphic card when i have the time. He thinks that my cards memory might be broken, but honestly none of us has any real clue.

i don't think a tv card can conflict in such a way, but i might as well remove and try without it. i haven't used it in a while anyway.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

power supply

make
model
wattage


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## Layn (Jan 2, 2012)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

the box and powersupply itself says Corsair Tx650Watt power supply


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

650 is a bit on the lightside i would expect to see a min 750 or better

try your room mates card what model is it


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## Layn (Jan 2, 2012)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

it's newer, i think he said from the gtx 400 series. I wanted to try it to see if anything might be wrong with mine. But if it's the power supply, then his graphic card won't fix anything.
is 650 really that low? i remember being torn between a 500 and 650 and decided for a 650 just in case i added something more powerhungry later on.


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## tombombadillo (Jan 5, 2012)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

Your card uses a maximum of 236W, CPU 136W, RAM max of 12W, Mobo nothing over 50W(I think). Your power supply seems sufficient for your rig. Unless it is faulty, I'd say the power supply is not the problem. 

What about your GPU's drivers? Have you recently updated them? I know when I updated my drivers for BF3 beta it affected some of my other games and the same thing with the drivers for Rage. Ensure the drivers are up to date and are downloaded from nvidia.


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## Layn (Jan 2, 2012)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

Yes, i've been updating nvidia drivers regularly ever since i noticed the problem in AC: Brotherhood, which was march last year. I haven't tried the current beta drivers though


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

are you installing the drivers correctly


in the device manager uninstall the video card
reboot tapping f8 and choose low resolution mode
when windows finishes rebooting
disable a/virus
install your drivers
reboot the computer


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## Layn (Jan 2, 2012)

i usually run driversweeper before installing a new driver, but to make sure i'll just try again and follow your instructions

so removing the tv card and updating the video drivers didn't do it...

About all the other drivers. i'm on the asus site and i'm pretty sure i don't need everything and it's all a bit old anyway. What should i make absolutely sure to update?
Also is flashing a new Bios as dangerous as all the warning make it sound. I keep avoiding doing that.


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

have you tried the other video card


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## Layn (Jan 2, 2012)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

*phew* finally our semesterprojects are finished and graphic cards all over are becoming free to get tested 

so, my card is this brick, a xfx geforce gtx 280:
http://www.hartware.de/media/reviews/840/xintro.jpg

and this one is the one i tried, a giganyte geforce gtx 460:
http://images.bit-tech.net/content_...rd-review/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-460-1gb-ab.jpg

it looks better cooled and in fact... my card the lowest temperature i get is 60ºC, my roommates card in my pc had 60ºC as its MAX temperature, i'm not even sure it ever actually reached 60.
anyway, visually everything looks the same. As i said even with my card with those high temperatures it doesn't get graphical glitches... so mhm

anyway i tested my roomies card and the games no longer get a black screen. So it definitely is the video cards fault. But what? i hope it's somehow fixable. afterall it works with most things really well


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

it looks like power

the 460 only pulls 60% of the power that a 280 pulls


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## Layn (Jan 2, 2012)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

mhm, how could i best test it? i'm not sure i can find a bigger power supply right now, would be removing my tv card and any extra fans be enoug? don't i need the fans to get the already high video card temperature down? mhm
If it is the power supply, i'll just best get a newer stronger card with lower power consumption, right?


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## dai (Jul 2, 2004)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

cpu and gpu pull 90% of the power removing other things does not make much difference

underpower generates heat


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## Layn (Jan 2, 2012)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

so, is there any way to test?

although the solution for whatever it ends up being is the same: buy a newer better less power consuming card. which is kinda a shame because this one works perfectly except for that. well i guess i can sell it


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## Layn (Jan 2, 2012)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

i bought a new video card and also a new fan and now everything is working. also my pc is running for the first time in it's life on a temperature that speedfan deems good


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## JimE (Apr 16, 2009)

*Re: Black Screen problem in games*

Glad you got it sorted. Just note that Speedfan is not always reliable. Confirm the temps by other means before just assuming Speedfan is correct.


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