I recently purchased a new PC. The following are the specs:
Processor: Intel Core I7 2600K
MOBO: Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3
Graphics: Gigabyte GTS450
RAM: 2 x 4GB - Corsair PC133
HDD: 2TB - WD SATA 3
OS: Windows 7 Home Premium x64
NOTE: I have not overclocked the hardware.
When I installed the OS and drivers, I used all the default drivers provided by the hardware manufacturers.
After setting it up, I was seeing black screen without a mouse cursor displayed after the Welcome screen. At this point the HDD activity led stopped blinking and the only way for me was to do a hard reboot/shutdown. I found that I was only able to access the OS through Safe Mode.
I proceeded to uninstall the graphics driver and all the graphics apps, and allowed Windows Update to detect and install the graphics driver accordingly, which it did. It seemed to fix the problem **partially**, where I was no longer seeing the black screen immediately after the Welcome screen. Now, what I have found is that the system boots up find and I see the desktop coming up. However, at random point after the PC is turned on, I hit the black screen of death (mouse cursor not available, HDD activity led not blinking). At this point, the only way to get out of it is to perform a hard reboot/shutdown.
I removed the GTS450 graphics card and I'm using the MOBO on-board HDMI to connect to my monitor, and now it seems to be working just fine - been using it for 2 days and I have not seen any black screens.
I would like to re-install the GTS450, but I do not know how to fix this issue. Given the hardware config above, would any of you know why I might be facing the random black screen problem? And any suggestions or known methods to overcome this problem?
-DR
