Monitor goes blank randomly without warning

[SgtJon117]

At random intervals during almost any task my computer has begun to stop giving video output and the monitor goes blank claiming it is going into power save mode. It is worse during games in which it feels like it only goes about 5-7 minutes into the game before the monitor goes into power save mode. Though this happens during even the most mundane tasks (surfing the web, watching a movie, etc). I know the computer is still running as I can hear the sounds from my task continuing without me.

All of the power settings are set to "Never". I have tried rolling back drivers. I have tried upgrading drivers. I have reseated the video card and the RAM. I have thoroughly dusted the computer with compressed air several times. I have tried different monitors. I seriously doubt it is a heating issue as I have a box fan near by that runs at high and I have tried to run with the case open to air. I seriously doubt it is any sort of power issue as it is the exact same setup I have used for 7 months or so (when I upgraded the video card) without change and this issue hasn't occurred until about 2 weeks ago.

Some days this never happens, other days it happens frequently. The only notable thing that "seems" to fix it is removing one of the 512 MB sticks of RAM, as I was able to go without the issue for 2 days. Yet is that really the issue? As it seems to start up and utilize the RAM just fine. EDIT: Nevermind, even with RAM removed the issue occurred.

So I come to this forum at a loss of what to do. Attached is my DxDiag. Does anyone have any ideas?

EDIT 2: I can only guess the video card is slowly failing after only 7 months but I've never heard of a card failing like this.

 

[seph ir oth]

Hmm sticky situation ... you don't have any personalized settings that would make it do this?

Your graphics card wouldn't make it go to sleep ... it would just crash altogether most likely. I doubt it's the video card failing. I would assume that it's some sort of virus doing this to your computer if you've done what you could with your drivers and hardware. Have you tried virus scans from different anti virus software packages? Did you try running in safe mode for a bit?

Just brainstorming

 

[SgtJon117]

All settings other than Power and Screensaver are default (both of those being set to Never). The video card settings are set to "Let the app decide" though I've tried performance as well. I will try the scans and safe mode then post results.

 

[seph ir oth]

All settings other than Power and Screensaver are default (both of those being set to Never). The video card settings are set to "Let the app decide" though I've tried performance as well. I will try the scans and safe mode then post results.

Have you tried just booting to safe mode PERIOD, and using your computer in that state? In safe mode, only the needed windows stuff is booted at start-up. If it runs fine in safe mode, you can be certain that it's some sort of virus. If it doesn't, it's hardware.

 

[staind25]

If you're fairly certain that it's not a power issue, I suspect the motherboard...either that, or your video card is failing. If you happen to have a spare video card, I'd try swapping them out and seeing if the issue persists. If it's still a problem, I'd blame the motherboard.

 

[SgtJon117]

I performed a virus scan and it found some random Java trojan. Afterward I entered safe mode and ran that for a bit with no issues. So far I've had two days without a blank screen and have been able to play full matches of my favorite game. Here's to hoping it may have been fixed.

 

[T.s.e]

Is it a laptop? If so, it might be overheating. I've had this problem many times before, and what I've found that works is actually removing the battery and keeping the charger cord inside at all times. Seems a little counter-intuitive when it comes to portability, but hey...

(You can also make sure to clean out the fan)