(Bought Two) G5 SE Crashing, Locking Up - There's no fix, return it

Yeah, admittedly, that took a while to figure out. But, even after a full factory reset and reinstall, even before drivers updated, it happened. I updated everything proper after that, trusted it would get better, and it still occurs.

Thanks for the detail.

Run Del Diagnostics to make sure there isn't a hardware problem that is covered by the warranty.

If nothing is found, I would simply install Windows 10 using Media Creation Tool.

.

Remember that Dell laptops have customized drivers for your exact model, so uninstall any other manufacturer's driver and reinstall the original Dell drivers. 

Yeah, I thought that, too. Diagnostics (including pre-boot BIOS ran diagnostics) all find no issues, though. Nothing even logs the crash as having occurred- it just locks up and then reboots.

I appreciate the suggestion.

Initial testing:

I tried running some game benchmark tests, without using my cooling pad (after applying this solution)- I think the temperature never hit the same highs.  (I would hit 160-170F pretty quickly, the cooling pad could knock off 20F from that; after doing this fix, I hit maybe 155F without the cooler.)

This really might be something- I'll keep testing.

I was literally just going through these menus and trying this, as you posted this!  Found the same site, and wondered how legitimate it was- I'm always wary of FORCING the computer to do things via root/regKEY areas- I mean, we shouldn't have to, but we've got to get control back!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSVbxqqomdQ

This guy has a video doing the same thing.

I'm hopeful, because this sounds like the issue is blasting too much wattage into the processors, which would explain the lockup and sounds I hear (a side effect is the extra voltage/wattage bleeding into the speaker/soundcard) (sounding like I know what I'm talking about)...

I'll try it- if it works, it'll be a few days before I feel even remotely confident, but if it doesn't, I'll probably know within a day.

I appreciate the post- will keep an eye out, and let you know if I have results!

I managed to play a few games like Ghost Recon Wildlands and FarCry on Ultra for about 10 minutes without the system crashing again. Benchmark tests reveal a 5-10% reduction in FPS from before I changed the performance booster settings, but I'm okay with that as long as the system is stable.

Still yet to test out for longer durations though. I agree with you on ideally not having to tinker around with any of this, completely wrong on Dell's part!

I'm in a dillema now to keep this or get a refund before my 30 days gets over, completely takes away the joy of getting something new! 

I really appreciate the context.

My last computer, I built- and I nearly built this one, but decided the portability of a laptop is more important to me (my last build was about 10" cubed, still not nearly as convenient as a laptop, even with a portable station on wheels, all in one plug attached, etc).  It was just such a kick in the teeth that, my first build ran perfectly, and then I buy this "PROFESSIONALLY BUILT" machine, for it to be terrible useless for all its crashes.  That computer is years old, which, in gaming terms, means I ran everything nowadays on "potato" setting.  I didn't need this to run even 60FPS, I just needed it to not crash multiple times a day...

And yeah, that warranty is a great big "GOTCHA"!  It gives the real impression they don't care about doing the right thing.  I can't send it back for repairs- I know what happens in that process, they reformat it, turn it on and off, then send it back.  You run it for a day, and CLEARLY see they never even tried to look into it- they ran the BIOS diagnostics, which stated "no problems" and probably plan to sock you with a bill for a 'no failure found' repair ticket.

I'll keep researching how to tell what's tanking this randomly- from over powering components, to bloat ware.  If it's anything short of a literal mechanical failure, there has to be a solution.  It would just be nice if Dell would perhaps issue a statement about this being a known issue and something they're working on- not blaming us for.  It's not like it's unknown- it seems practically every other post I read about this machine goes this same way.

Thanks, again.

Feeling your pain. I considered the G5 SE, but decided to go with the Intel/RTX option and get the G5 5500... Let me tell you, the grass hasn't been much greener in Intel land... Three BIOS updates in one month and I have a feeling more are coming until things stabilize. Dell Update kept locking at 10% (ended up having to do a manual uninstall/reinstall of Dell Update). Laptop kept doing something very strange when I'd close the lid... after an hour or so I'd re-open (or next morning) only to find it had hard rebooted and was presented with a blue screen showing Windows 10 didn't start properly.

Like you, I ran all the diagnostics test and everything was coming up clear.

Fortunately my issues have been mostly resolved (the occasional reboot to blue screen still happens, albeit only when lid closed and it should be hibernating), but only after some heated discussions with Dell support. Calling Dell support finally led to a support tech remoting into my machine. I had installed a second m.2 SSD drive and for some reason between Dell drivers and Windows 10 stock drivers for the device there was a problem. Device-manager, right-click and "update driver". I suggest doing that on your drives, RAM, etc... Also went into Windows System logs and noticed some odd behavior with Skype so uninstalled Skype and fixed one other issue I kept seeing with one of the Dell bundled apps.

The bottom line is that you've chosen a Windows 10 PC and even buying from one of the highest rated vendors like Dell, there's going to be issues because you have so many parts vendors. You have an OS product from Microsoft and a composite hardware product by Dells... Parts vendors, PC manufacturer, OS vendors. Three parties that finger point at one another when things go wrong. If you want a system that "just works" that's also a gaming PC, well that product does not exist. The closest thing to it would probably be the Microsoft Surface Book ($2500+ for a 1660 TI, but build quality and overall quality of spec-drivers etc is rock solid) or buy one of the AMD based Mac Book Pros with m5600. You'll pay through the nose, but perhaps that is what it cost to get a product that's well vetted, rock solid in driver and hardware stability that doesn't steal your most valuable asset , time.. Even Apple isn't without its quality issues (google "mac keyboard fiasco") but there is a difference in build quality for sure and when the hardware vendor also owns the OS and only works with a handful of parts suppliers of course they are going to build a much, much better product in terms of stability. In fact, I would say if you truly value your time, Windows 10 systems in general are generally garbage. I had a $5000 Dell laptop about three years ago it was nothing but problems. You can't expect Ford to build you Mercedes-Benz or McDonalds to make you a 5-star meal. They might try to market something up there and slap a high-end price tag on it, but it's not going to happen. They quality assurance has to be there from the design, spec of parts, to the build process, to the customer service interactions. A company like Apple or even Microsoft with their Surface line, would get about an 8.5 on a 10 scale. Dell would probably be like a 5.5 and a vendor like MSI I'd probably give a 3.5.  You don't always get what you pay for, but see sometimes you actually do.

I think of gaming PCs and especially gaming laptops a bit like high-end exotic sports cars. Although the G5 series isn't bleeding high-end its in the ballpark and comes with the same high maintenance tax, you're basically pushing the hardware as far as it can go. So in that regard stability should be generally good on a quality system, but it's performance over stability mindset and that doesn't come without some general problems. 

Good luck

P.S. The Dell 30-days no hassle return policy seriously needs to be modified. As it was explained to me, it's 30 day return from the time "buy button is clicked". If your Dell arrives 2-3 weeks later, for most people 7-9 days is all you really have to do the return from the point of opening the box. Really you don't even have that much time because to honor the 30-day return it has to be back at the factory/service center by day 30. So you can't drop it off at UPS on day 30 and think the return shipping date is going to help you any. What I don't like about the 30 day policy is that it isn't transparent. They advertise 30 days and yet there is this horrible fine print around it. When a company is so clearly non-transparent about terms it leads buyer to wonder what else marketing might be masking. In my view point its unethical and manipulative, which unfortunately means as a company Dell is matching those negative attributes. 

@ysuryak 

Well, I've had similar results- I've only had maybe 2 separate 1-hour testing periods (not definitive at all), but I've been watching the stats closely.

1) I agree, FPS drops a little bit.  I think I dipped around 55 during The Division 2's Benchmark Test on "High" (not max)- topping around 75.  Previously, I'd do maybe 5-10FPS better.

2) My temps are up to around 5-15 degrees (F) better- I actually didn't need the external fan/cooling pad to play a game.  I was initially hitting 175F playing games (even on low-ish), and had to get the cooling pad to avoid burning it out, long term.  I'd get to around 145F with it.  Now, I'm hitting around 145-155F without it, and the cooling pad actually isn't making much of a difference anymore.  I find that interesting- the heat sink design is not good, but forcing the extra cool air was a REQUIREMENT before.

No crash yet.  It'll take a few more days of testing- maybe a big gaming weekend, to feel better about it.  Wondering if you've gotten any further or had any other anecdotes in your tests.