Black screen issues while gaming on Windows 10

electricdriver33 said:I update my GPU manually through NVIDIA's own site. Which specific card was giving you grief, what did you swap it out for, and is there actually a meaningful performance gap between 4GB of GDDR6 VRAM and 6GB of GDDR5 VRAM?

If you're handling the manual update yourself, everything should be fine. I’m no RAM expert, but I tend to trust proven specs, so I’d personally opt for the DDR5 route.

Most of the rigs I mess around with run on NVIDIA cards with 2GB of GDDR5; I have three total, though two are just sitting in my closet right now. They are all sequential models, and frankly, I can't recall the exact specs off the top of my head. Regardless, one of my setups is nearly identical to yours—just using an MSI motherboard—where one NVIDIA model works perfectly while another refuses to boot. I tried swapping the problematic card into a different rig thinking it might be dead, but damn if it doesn't work flawlessly there. Why does that happen? Who knows.

There is also some truth to what people are saying about cracks causing black screens. It happens, though it used to be much more common than it is now.

I don't claim to have all the answers for your specific situation, but if a different card manages to launch the games, at least you'll have a baseline for comparison. It's entirely possible your current card is partially failing, or perhaps it's just a bad connection, a driver conflict, a dodgy crack, or a DirectX issue. Components simply weren't built to the same high standards they used to be.

This might sound a bit ridiculous, but these kinds of conflicts happen all the time when NVIDIA audio drivers clash with your system defaults. Take a look at Device Manager under Sound, video and game controllers. If you see anything from NVIDIA listed alongside the standard High Definition Audio Device, just disable the NVIDIA entry and see if that fixes it.
As for that fan noise you mentioned, it could be a few things. It might be an issue with the CPU or the motherboard—perhaps a thermal sensor failed, causing the fan to run at max speed until the processor overheats and the whole rig shuts down. Or, as Jeremy Lopez57 suggested, it could be a hardware failure on the GPU itself.
Without actually seeing the machine or hearing the noise, though, we're all just guessing. If you know someone who builds PCs and has some spare parts lying around, they could probably swap components out and have this sorted in a single afternoon.
Anyway, good luck. I hope you can get this resolved quickly and without breaking the bank.

Thanks for the tips and the good vibes. I'll let you guys know once I finally get this sorted so everyone else can benefit from the fix too... 🙂

Jeremy Lopez57 said:That black screen might just be because your GPU is too weak; honestly, I doubt you'd struggle with installing a cracked game. Though, with your setup, you should be able to run everything listed except The Last of Us.
A 450W power supply should be enough (barely).

It’s not even close to being barely enough; that card isn't exactly a power hog. I've actually run two of those cards at once for mining on a 450W unit.

Anyone know the deal with single vs. dual fan cards? I'm looking at some GTX 1660 (Super) options... some have 6GB DDR6 VRAM while others are stuck with 6GB DDR5. Just playing in 1920x1080p (Full HD)...

A single-fan setup means a shorter card, which lets you squeeze it into a smaller case. As far as cooling goes, it’s pretty much a wash. Whether you have one, two, or three fans—I personally run a GTX 1660 Super with three—they'll all keep things cool without breaking a sweat.

Don't just go swapping out your GPU blindly; that's not how this works. Have you actually tested it in another rig? Or maybe tried a different card in yours? Check what the Event Viewer is throwing at you. You even bother reseating the card or cleaning the contacts and blowing out the slot?

This thread feels like someone pulling up to a mechanic saying "my car won't start," and the guy responds "you need a new engine" without even popping the hood...

fadedorca66 said:Don't just go swapping out GPUs blindly, that's not how this works. Have you tried testing it in a different rig? Tried a different card in yours? What’s Event Viewer saying? Did you even bother popping it out of the slot to clean the contacts and blow out the dust...

This whole thread feels like someone pulling up to a mechanic saying "my car won't start," and the guy just replies "you need a new engine" without even opening the hood...

Some good news. Device Manager actually sees the card now, so I'm finally seeing an image on my screen. Turns out it was just a bad seating on the motherboard—I wasn't being super careful when I plugged it in, my bad, still learning the ropes here; sorry for blaming Microsoft and NVIDIA for my own screw-up 😬. Once I get some games running, I'll let you guys know how it goes. Just praying to God everything stays stable... 🙂

So I fired up Hogwarts Legacy. It crashed right during the shader compilation and kicked me straight back to my desktop, but honestly, it probably just remembered the last time it tanked... Tried again and everything ran smooth as silk. My PC defaulted the game to low settings, but it’s actually playable and looks decent enough. Only thing is, I’m not really a Harry Potter fan—never touched the books or the movies—so now I’m sitting here wondering if I should just uninstall the whole thing or whatever... Haven't even checked out any other games yet. 🙂

I finally gave The Last of Us Part I V1 a spin on low settings, and honestly, everything seems to be running just fine... looks like the issue might actually be sorted out now. 🙂

Hopefully it keeps working 👍

I guess that GPU could probably handle some mid-range stuff without breaking a sweat.

That's how you actually fix things, instead of just guessing.

fadedorca66 said:Hopefully it keeps running smoothly too 👍

Honestly, that GPU could probably handle just about any medium-tier setup without breaking a sweat...

That's how you actually fix things, instead of just guessing

I wouldn't bet on it though, since the low settings for The Last of Us Part I say you need almost 6GB of VRAM. 😉
But just like Hogwarts Legacy, it still looks pretty decent even on those lower settings... 🙂

electricdriver33 said:I wouldn't bet on it... looking at the low settings for The Last of Us Part I, it's asking for nearly 6GB of VRAM. 😉
Though, just like Hogwarts Legacy, it still looks pretty decent even on those lower tweaks... 🙂

Meanwhile, Far Cry 6 and atomic Heart run perfectly fine on high settings with the specs I listed in my first post. 🙂
I'm not really the type to swap out my rig every two years. Mine’s been running since 2018 and I plan on keeping it for as long as possible... maybe decades if I have to. I'm definitely not tossing it just because some new game drops if everything else is still smooth... 🙂