Understanding and diagnosing unexpected monitor blackouts followed by system reboots can be challenging, but with careful analysis, you can pinpoint the root cause. Based on the detailed information you’ve provided, here is a professional overview and recommended troubleshooting steps.
Overview of the Issue
Your computer, equipped with an Intel Core i7 12700F, NVIDIA RTX 3060 GPU, ASUS PRIME H670-PLUS D4 motherboard, and 32GB DDR4 RAM, is experiencing spontaneous black screens during operation, especially when gaming or running GPU-intensive applications. These blackouts are followed by system reboots, with event logs indicating critical errors related to display driver failure.
Key Observations
- Symptom Pattern: Screens go black or freeze, audio continues briefly, then the system reboots.
- Event Log Data: Multiple critical events such as “Sudden Shutdown,” “Windows Stopped Working,” and specifically bug check code 116.
- Bug Check Analysis:
- The primary crash code: VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (0x116).
- The crash dump indicates failure in the Nvidia display driver (
nvlddmkm.sys). -
The crash is often caused by the display driver timeout and failure to recover.
-
Minidump Insights:
- The faulting module is nvlddmkm.sys, the NVIDIA graphics driver.
- The error message: “Attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed.”
Probable Causes
Given the evidence:
– Graphics Driver Instability: The error heavily suggests instability or corruption in the GPU driver.
– Hardware Issues: While less likely, potential GPU overheating, hardware defects, or power delivery issues can’t be ruled out.
– Software or BIOS Settings: Incorrect configuration or outdated BIOS could contribute.
– System Environment: Driver conflicts or system file issues.
Recommended Troubleshooting Steps
1. Update Graphics Drivers and BIOS
- Ensure you have the latest NVIDIA drivers compatible with the RTX 3060. Use NVIDIA’s official driver download page for the latest stable release.
- Download and update your motherboard BIOS from ASUS’s official website to ensure chipset compatibility and stability.
- Consider performing a clean installation of the GPU driver using Display Driver Uninstaller (DDU), then reinstall the latest driver.
2. Check Hardware Health
- Temperature Monitoring: Use tools like HW
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