X51-R2, Black Screen Random

Hello!

Can you confirm, when this problem occurs does the monitor loose signal completely?

If so, make sure that on BIOS/Advanced/Integrated_Devices the PCIe-Gen3 is disabled and that the monitor is connected to one of the NVIDIA GTX670 video ports and not the ones on the Motherboard. You can check the available Video Card connections here.

You should also verify that you have the latest BIOS A04.

Let me know how it goes!

Thanks for responding. I can confirm that the Gen3 is disabled and that the monitor is hooked directly into the gtx. However, I do not have the BIOs A04. I will proceed with that and report back after a few days of use to see if this fixes the problem. Like I said it only does it when it wants to, it can work perfectly all day long, but on some days its constant black screen during gaming.

After installing the BIOS you asked me to im still having the same problem. Any more suggestions?

Let's run a Gaming Test on AlienAutopsy. Check for CPU and GPU temperatures, FPS drop and let me know if you get any errors or if it crashes during the test as well. 

Hello again. All the tests have passed without a crash of my monitor going off. I would like to mention I use a custom fan curve using MSI AFTERBURNER, which keeps it up to 5-10C cooler than the system would itself default. Before using MSI AFTERBURNER I would have temps up to 89-90c. With my custom fan curve now it never goes over 85c. This is the only thing I have changed in the afterburner, all the other settings are default for the system still other than my fan curve I had created. The CPU temps are at a healthy 40c or so as well. (Note even before using MSI afterburner the system still had the same problems, so MSI shouldnt be to blame).

The monitor cutting off and the system staying on is still the issue here. Sometimes the the gfx card drivers will recover and I can keep playing. Or the monitor stays black and I'm forced to restart manually.

*Note* I've already had the alienware swapped out with a completely new system and hardware before through talking with support many months ago. (Still the same problem) (Black screen and forced to restart).... I gave up for awhile, but I noticed my warranty only has a few months left so It's better I try to figure this problem out now or call support and get another system for a third time... 

Anymore help to figure this out would help lots!

Send me your Service Tag and link to this thread on a personal message so I can review your case further. 

Hey, I have exactly the same problem on the same X51 R2 with the same GPU...

My system goes black totally random, most of the times while gaming, today it restarted 5-10 seconds after I pressed the power button. And it did it 6 times in a row... Sometimes the computer is still running but the display is black, other times the fan goes crazy (makes a lot of noise) then after 10 seconds it shuts down. 

I installed MSI afterburner  to check the temps, I also tried to create custom profiles to increase the fan speed from lower temperatures. Sometimes it's crashing at around 84 degrees other times at 50-60...

I have this problem from the first day (1-2 months ago...) I tried everything... nvidia drivers, dell drivers the drivers that windows 8 is installing... but the result was the same

My monitor cable is going to nvidia gpu not to intel one, my bios is 04 and the pci 3 is turned off.

Please help me!

Send me your Service Tag on a private message as well. 

I did

I just made some tests with FurMark and I recorder 2 of them.

I have the latest dell drivers for my GTX 670. I set the screen resolution to 1024x768 to be able to record.

- Here is the first test with all the apps closed just after a fresh restart. My X51 crashes after 2:40 minutes at 83 degrees while the fan is at 61%.

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

- In the second test I made a MSI Afterburner fan profile to help the cooling. So i set the fan rotation % up to 10 points bigger than the temperature. It crashed again after 6 minutes at 75 degrees. The time is random I repeated the test 2 more times with some 5 minutes breaks between them. The second time it crashed after 1:20 minutes and the third time after 4 minutes. Both of them happened while the temperature of the gpu was between 70 and 80. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cF23H-PUHsY

MSI Afterburner also showed me the GPU load if I'm not wrong (it can be seen in the second video, small yellow font). It was all the time around 107-108 %, I don't know what this mean....

So, I brought this computer 1-2 months ago, it wasn't cheap, but I wanted Alienware because I didn't wanted headaches. It is crashing from the first day and now I really got tired of reinstalling drivers/windows and make tests every day...

Any kind of guess, tip, opinion is appreciated!

Thanks!

Hi, I just got my Alienware X51 R2 for  a few weeks.  I have the I7-4770/GTX 670 configuration and now I have the exact same problem.  I just did my system recovery.  Please let me know if you folks have figured out the cause/solution. Thx

I'll let ya know when the tech guy comes to replace my gtx 670 and I test it out awhile. Then ill post the results. If the problem is re-occuring. I would have to say this system has some kind of flaw it in that im not sure of. There has to be a reason the GPU cuts out/drivers fail and you get the black screen. It's a great computer most def, but theres just something wrong with the GPU in this system. I think you are the 2nd or 3rd person i've seen in this post about the same problem. So it makes you wonder....

Hey, I think the flaw could be in the GPU cooling system cause I only got black screens when I played those demanding video games.  I kept track on the temperature and I realized sometimes the GPU temp was peaked at 91c or even higher.  I suspect the GPU was automaticly shutdown when it reaches certain temp...If it's a design defect than getting the GPU replaced won't make any difference....I guess the only thing we can do is somehow ...find our own way to improve the cooling...

Well, I thought it was the cooling as well. Before I used a proper MSI Afterburner fan profile it would almost reach 90c. Now it will never go over  85c. Sometime when it goes black though, it will recover and I've checked the temps and it wasnt over 85c.... That's a good theroy but I just don't know. My alienware is about 5 ft from an air conditioning unit as well.... I also took out the CD drive to give the inside more space, i figured that would help. SInce hardly anyone still uses a cd drive theses days. But yea, if its not the temps... myself i would suspect something to do with the power it recieves. One time I opened MSI afterburner and it for the power % and GPU % usage it had a CRAZY amount. Like 32453452 for the power and 64532453 for the GPU usage. I'm guessing somehow it gets to much power and just shuts itself off...???... It's just driving me bonkers and I only have 4 months left to try and fix it or ill have to pay myself to get it fixed if it ever has any more problems. I kinda wish dell had better troubleshooting other than replacing parts. But I will keep this thread updated when i get the NEW GPU. They should be replacing it today.

Hey, I think the flaw could be in the GPU cooling system cause I only got black screens when I played those demanding video games.  I kept track on the temperature and I realized sometimes the GPU temp was peaked at 91c or even higher.  I suspect the GPU was automaticly shutdown when it reaches certain temp...If it's a design defect than getting the GPU replaced won't make any difference....I guess the only thing we can do is somehow ...find our own way to improve the cooling...

Hi maxzee,

Please send me a private message with your Service Tag and contact information so I can help you further.