m17 R3, occasional complete screen freeze

Question

Hey all, I have an Alienware m17 R3 with the following specs:

16.0 GB of RAM, 6 Core Intel Core i7-10750H CPU @2.60 GHz, and an NVIDIA RTX 2070. My 1-year premium support has expired and so I am seeking help here.

In my case, my computer periodically (on average 1 time every week or two) will have the screen completely freeze while I am in the middle of a game. What I have noticed is that it typically seems to happen with a full-screen game, such as Red Dead Redemption 2, and I try to tab out into a browser or even access the snip-it tool on my computer; in other words, when I try to switch between programs (it does not always do this when I try to switch from a game to a different program, maybe like 1% of the time). Following that, the screen remains frozen with the last image I saw from the game (or wherever) and the fans will start to die down and become quieter. The only thing that tends to fix this is completely powering off the computer, after which it will ask for repair options (typically I continue on as it's a relatively minor option and the one time I let my system be scanned for issues, nothing showed up). I do not believe this issue was present when I first had the computer but rather started after a number of months. It happens infrequently enough, but I'd like to fix this if possible (I never logged it with support, unfortunately, so I don't think that's an option either).

I know many people have issues with m17's freezing, but this seems to be more random (as it certainly does not always freeze up; I can have it go for several hours at a time with Read Dead Redemption 2 at high settings and there are no issues). I am not certain this is something related to the graphics card drivers; it's possible, but I have not paid close enough attention between updates to know for sure. I also do not think it is thermal throttling as I have observed RDR2 thermal throttle in the past (ultra settings) by slowing down the fps drastically, and this seems unrelated.

Any advice would be appreciated!

A51-06 · Answer

crimsom · Answer

Hi @SFX99 welcome to this free user to user Alienware laptop discussion forum. This is not Dell Support. Thank you for a good Opening Post.

The Alienware m17 series has Hybrid Power Design. The design intent of Hybrid Power is to allow the Alienware m17 system to maintain full system performance under extreme heavy loading conditions. Under a heavy loading environment, the system may be stressed to pull more power than the designed system power profiles allow for. In order to accommodate the additional power needs under heavy loading, the battery will be triggered to provide additional amounts of power to the system. With hybrid design, it prevents system throttling (until the battery capacity drops below 20%), by using power from the battery to support additional power needs by the system. Alienware 15 R3/15 R4/17 R4/17 R5/M15/M17 performance issue or battery drain while AC adapter is connected | Dell US

The usual fix is to get the more powerful ac adapter, such as the 330W ac adapter DP/N GMT0M.

Power users will require a new battery more frequently. For the typical user, noticeable reduction in run time generally will be observed after 18 to 24 months. For a power user, reduction in run time generally may be experienced within 18 months. Dell recommends buying a new OEM laptop battery when the run time does not meet your needs. Dell Laptop Battery - Frequently Asked Questions | Dell US

Please create windows Battery Report. How to Get Your Windows 11 Battery Report (lifewire.com) Check Battery Capacity History to provide full charge capacity compared to battery design capacity and Battery Life Estimate. How to check battery health on Windows 11 | Windows Central

The usual fix is get new OEM replacement 6-Cell 86Wh Battery DP/N 69KF2. Amazon and eBay provide users with additional purchase protection guarantees. Always check the manufacture year/month date beneath the square matrix on the white label, it should be less than six months old. If no white label or old date of manufacture, or incorrect DP/N, reject battery using the additional purchase protection guarantees.

Please run the windows Reliability Monitor and wait for event timeline to load. There should be critical events reporting m17 R3 freezing, and opening these events will include the root cause. How to use Windows Reliability Monitor to identify software issues | Dell US

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m17 R3, occasional complete screen freeze

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