Screen Flickers, followed by black screen

[Fanatic_NZ]

This is a new PC, less than a week old, and while playing an online game (WOT), after approx 5 mins the screen flickers for a few seconds before switching to a black screen, and back to normal a number of times and then finally having the screen turn off completely and staying that way until I reboot.  Usually after rebooting, the issue doesn't occur again.

I have so far tried updating all drivers, ensuring the power cord is correctly plugged in, switching the graphics settings to use the video card exclusively, none of which have made any difference.  It is interesting that this issue will only occur once per day (usually) and after rebooting, it doesn't occur again, though like I said I've only had the PC for a week, so this might not necessarily be the case.  It has only so far happened when playing games, no other times.  If I Alt-Tab away from the game as soon as it starts happening (screen flickering) to the desktop, the screen flickering stops (sometimes it flickers once or twice more) but doesn't progress to the "Black Screen of Death Frustration".  Reverting back to the game screen causes it to start flickering again.  

This behaviour suggests to me something wrong with the video card, or possibly some overheating?? Any thoughts?  I'm nearly ready to return computer for a repair, given it's only a few days old I don't think I should be having problems like this so soon. 

 Thanks

[Betty0610]

@Fanatic_NZ

Welcome to the HP Support Community.

Does it happen with other games? If no, please contact the game manufacturer.

If it does, update the graphics card, BIOS and chipset drivers, from the HP website, if HPSA was used:

https://support.hp.com/in-en/drivers/selfservice/hp-pavilion-27-xa0000-all-in-one-desktop-pc-series/...

This device is not designed for gaming, so ensure the system requirements are sufficient to play the game, and use the lowest in-game resolution and check if that helps.

Let me know if this helps.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution button, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

Thanks!

Have a great day!

[Fanatic_NZ]

Thanks Betty,

The only drivers that required updating were the chipset drivers, all others were up to date.  I'll let you know if that fixes it.

To answer your question, yes this does occur with other games as well.  Incidentally, the game I had been playing only causes the GPU to run at 50% so hardly stressing out the system.  While I agree that this system isn't "designed" for gaming, it does have a GTX 1050 graphics card which is good enough for a mid range gaming pc, and should be suitable to run most games at mid to high graphics settings.  I am only running the games I play at mid settings, the CPU, RAM and GPU are all only running at 50% or less.  What does seem strange though, is that if I restart the pc after the problem occurs after a cold startup (ie first start for the day) the problem doesn't occur again, even if I turn the graphics settings up to MAX.  

[Betty0610]

Alright, keep us posted.

Though it has a good graphics card, the device isn't designed to withstand the heat and the fan flow that comes with gaming, however, if it works fine after a restart, you may want to create a new user account and check if that works.

If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution button, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!

[Fanatic_NZ]

Well, the computer has now died completely. Was only browsing, heard a click and the computer turned off. It now won't turn on at all, and when I unplug the power adapter, power it off and on the green LED on the adapter confess on, but as soon as I plug into the computer the light goes out and the computer won't turn on. Unfortunately I don't have another adapter so can't test it out, and we are in lockdown so no heading out to get a new one. HP support have been less than helpful, and I've given up contacting them, as all I ever get back from them is new Case ID numbers, I now have 3, promises to get back in touch and little else. Absolutely useless. 

[sandytechy20]

@Fanatic_NZ

Welcome to HP support community.

Perform a hardreset and check if that works:

Here are the steps:-Click here

Check with the different power cable if you have.

Let me know how it goes.

Cheers.

[Fanatic_NZ]

Hi Sandy.

I have been through all the steps to troubleshoot this problem with HP Support Via your WhatsApp channel.  Nothing worked.  I don't have access to an alternate power supply to test that and on querying whether I can get one sent to me, suddenly no one seems to want to answer that question, all I get is a "we'll get back to you"  If they aren't going to actually help me, I just wish they'd say so and I can arrange to purchase a new PC for my kids school work and just accept that getting my 1 month old HP computer fixed is a bridge too far when dealing with HP directly.  Why is it so hard for HP support to answer a simple question???!!

[sandytechy20]

@Fanatic_NZ

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

If you are unfamiliar with how the Community's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community.