NVIDIA RTX 5060 & 5060 Ti Owners Report Frustrating Black Screen Problems
For those who have upgraded to an NVIDIA RTX 5060 or 5060 Ti, some continuously staring at a black screen instead of their glorious game worlds might be one among the crowd. Frustrating, indeed, this issue has become a matter of the inundating reports thrust upon social media and NVIDIA's forums.
Users have been making a hue and cry regarding their systems crashing or hanging totally without as much as a flicker on the screen, presenting instead a black void. What boggles the mind is how randomly these gnawing black screens appear - they're not just present at the apex of your GPU usage. Some folks can't get beyond their BIOS screen, which in itself is an altogether different-and bizarre level.
What Is Behind These Nightmarish Black Screens?
Exact Cause seems too complicated and doesn't seem to have anything to do with a taxing task. Your system could be idling, or you could be in the middle of a game, and then - poof - darkness. Lots of "bricking" have been heard with the RTX 5060 Ti; whereas this normal RTX 5060 is very new, it seems to be heading down a path similar to that.
It has been on the troubleshooting fingerpointing elations toward NVIDIA support, but if the issues persist, crash dump files are requested for further investigations. It is pretty evident that this is something of universal concern.
Can NVIDIA's Firmware Fix Save Our Souls?
NVIDIA just came up with the GPU UEFI Firmware Update Tool v2.0, which is the newer something in effort to resolving the black screen problems that singe the owners of the RTX 5060 series. But the "yet."
NVIDIA clearly states that the update should "only" be installed if a black screen is showing after a reboot of the system. Meaning this is not a blanket resolution for all black screen - many users still having trouble getting their systems to boot correctly the first time after even installing their new RTX 5060 Ti. For some, it didn't work after installing drivers. Others can get into the operating system just through safe mode.
NVIDIA's Troubleshooting Checklist
NVIDIA has also provided some general troubleshooting steps alongside the firmware, just in case you get caught in this black screen loop:
- Fully power down your system before booting up.
- Compare what SBIOS (system BIOS) from the manufacturer has of the latest installed on your motherboard.
- Check that your system is on UEFI boot mode and not Legacy/CSM mode.
- Boot with an alternative graphics source, if possible (such as a secondary graphics card or your CPU's integrated graphics).
- Once your system is powered on, allow your operating system to fully load with the graphics driver installed.
And from NVIDIA: avoid using Legacy/CSM boot mode. If your motherboard, unfortunately, does not support the UEFI boot mode, then you will need to contact customer service of your GPU manufacturer to get a specific Legacy VBIOS update for your card.
It's not an easy time for RTX 5060 owners. While it offers a ray of hope for one specific incident concerning an update to the firmware, the much larger plague of a black screen is a major headache. Here's hoping for some broader and deeper solutions from NVIDIA in the future.
