GTX 970 crashing after being left off for months

[Gregg_Seipp 568]

Hi all,

 

I started up my computer today after months of not simming.  At first, even before starting P3D 2.4, the GTX970 was crashing to black screen.  I installed the latest drivers...same thing.  The slightly good news is that the longer I leave the computer running, the longer it seems to be taking to crash after restart.  Not sure if anyone else has had such a thing happen.  I have a pretty hefty power supply BTW.

 

Gregg

[Jim Young 2,356]

How did you know it was your video card causing the crash?  Did you see an error?  There are other hardware errors that can cause your system to crash to a black screen.  Even a bad module in your dll.xml (you would most likely see the crash when starting P3D if this was the case).  You need to check the event viewer to see if the crash(es) are related to your video card.  The following from the draft updated AVSIM CTD Guide being updated:

 

Check the Windows 7/8/10 Event Viewer – The Windows Event Viewer can provide a wealth of information regarding your CTD or information about your crash that may not have been recorded in a Windows Error Report.  Plus there could be other problems being reported that need to be fixed that could be causing your application crashes. You can get to your Windows Event Viewer by going to the Windows Search Box, type ‘Event’ and then look up in the Menu and click on Event Viewer.  Once open, click on Custom Views > Administrative Events.  You should immediately see an error report.  Double-click on it and then, in the lower left corner, click on Copy and then paste the report here.

 

Make sure the video card is not overclocked in any way.  Roll back the drivers to an earlier version if you have not done so already.  The fact the longer you leave the computer running, the longer it seems to be taking to crash is an indicator as your system continues to load drivers.  I would also download a driver updater.  I use Driver Booster which is freeware.  Just an out of date USB port could cause problems.

 

Welcome back!

 

Best regards,

[SteveW 1,792]

Could be you just need to reseat the GPU card in the slot Gregg. Blow out the dust first and make sure all is clean around before moving it.

[Gregg_Seipp 568]

 

 

How did you know it was your video card causing the crash? Did you see an error? There are other hardware errors that can cause your system to crash to a black screen. Even a bad module in your dll.xml (you would most likely see the crash when starting P3D if this was the case). You need to check the event viewer to see if the crash(es) are related to your video card. The following from the draft updated AVSIM CTD Guide being updated:

 

Good points.  Yeah, I did check the event log as well as AppCrashView.  Also, I could hear the sim still running when the screen was black.  So far, everything points to the card. 

 

 

 

Could be you just need to reseat the GPU card in the slot Gregg. Blow out the dust first and make sure all is clean around before moving it.

 

Yeah, good idea.  I'll try this in the morning. 

[Gregg_Seipp 568]

It seems to be working now.  I pulled the card out, cleaned it off, reseated it, firmly reconnected the power.

[SteveW 1,792]

Good work Gregg! All the best.