This post is more than 5 years old
6 Posts
0
477506
Alienware M17X R3 black-screen problem caused by Graphic card(?)
My Alien have in the last weeks turn black-screen with good reason to believe it's the GPU.
Here's what I've done to try fixing it:
1: Cleaned CPU and reapply thermopaste due to overheating problems (while even using a cooling-pad). Fixed temperature, but not the black-screen.
2: Reset the pc back to fabric-setup, AND reinstalled Windows 7.
3: Discharging the battery.
4: Washing and cleaning inside the laptop for dust
5: Disconnect adapter and restart - works till it's no power left.
6: Uninstalling Graphic card. Works with adapter both connected and disconnected. But then, with a non-working graphic card, I can't do anything!
I haven't looked on the GPU itself since I lack knowledge and courage to check it for burnmarks or something. But if this can be fixed by other ways than buying a new graphic card, I would definetly prefer that, and any help would be MUCH appreciated and recieves with thanks.
Other information:
Pc bought 28.08.2011
Specs:
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 2820QM (2.30Ghz, 8MB, 4C)
2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M
16GB 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel (4X4GB)
750 GB (7200 rpm) SATA
Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64
DoubleGeeBar
30 Posts
1
December 31st, 2014 23:00
Soooo , as I sit here on my 13 year old Sony trying to resolve continuing issues with my 4,000.00 ALIENWARE --it astounds me HOW MANY PEOPLE with ALL BRANDS of Dell/Alienware are ALL HAVING Black Screen Problems FOR MANY YEARS -- many many many years . Major customer headaches and no real remedies accept HOURS of ENDLESS programming/reprogramming/parts swapping .... all led by Techs from Dell . Do the right thing and start buying these wothless computers back with credit toward PROPER FUNCTIONING UNITS . Unbelievable how many people spent top dollar to be soooo screwed-over for all these years . Sony lost my buisness and I tried Alienware ; SONY gets my next 5 grand and DELL gets bad-bad-bad- word of mouth . What a lousy product you produce . So B.S. and Happy New Year .
DoubleGeeBar
30 Posts
1
January 28th, 2015 12:00
Okaaaay Folks , cannot guarantee that you have other problems - BUT - for me it comes down to HEAT ISSUES -- and if your problem is with the GRAPHICS - Then TRY THIS !
-YOU DO THESE STEPS AT YOUR OWN RISK -
-
They Work great for Me .
-
1) Re-paste Graphics Heat sink and do the CPU as well .
2) Remove bottom of Laptop and leave it off .
3) Get a COOLING PAD
4) TURN COOLING PAD OVER and put about a 1-2" shims under it to allow for heat to be drawn AWAY from laptop and NOT PUSHED back up into it !
5) Position Heat Sinks over cooling pad fans and make sure the air is flowing AWAY(DOWN) from laptop .
6) This works for me and I've had NO BLACK SCREEN SINCE and my laptop-top is cool to the touch now
IT IS AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN A HEAT ISSUE .
-
Hope this works for yous as well , I now enjoy my Alienware again .
-
Chuck
tamermohseninc
2 Posts
1
April 25th, 2015 10:00
Hey man. It turned out my laptop would not come out of hibernation. I tried everything from installing windows again but nothing helped because somehow one of my hard drives stopped working. Talked to Tech had to send my laptop to dell for a new motherboard and hard drives. Also you should no i didn't need insurance because its there error.. All this happened because installed a system bios update that they recommended.
Alienware-L_Por
842 Posts
0
April 5th, 2013 09:00
You have done pretty much everything that there is to try. I would suggest that you look at your temperatures while running a test to see if it is actually overheating.
yngve90
6 Posts
0
April 5th, 2013 16:00
Thanks for answer.
The computer is currently on a cooling-pad and have been so for weeks (before this happened).
I have also dared myself to apply thermal-paste on the GPU, although it didn't make any difference, and checked for burn-marks on almost everything.
Recently cleaned fans, vents, holes and even the adapter for dust.
(I read the article and have done most of it)
Updated BIOS both trough deskop install and BIOS boot setup trough CD.
Disgnostic test with Alien Autopsy and Dell Online PC Diagnostics
3D Benchmarks and CPU test
I have not tried the CPUID Hardware Monitor check yet.
Will post for result.
yngve90
6 Posts
0
April 6th, 2013 08:00
Trying to check the temp using CPUID HW Monitor is pretty useless because I can't run a test on the GPU when the screen turns black during tests. I had it activated during the CPU test trough Alien-Autopsy, and even then, the screen turned black.
But the monitor said however that the temp on the GPU in idle state was 54-56 degrees. Is that alot?
Alienware-L_Por
842 Posts
0
April 8th, 2013 08:00
Try using a report log.
yngve90
6 Posts
0
April 8th, 2013 10:00
I have switched the PhysX-Processor in the Nvidia Control Panel from GTX 580m to "main processor". Now the problem is gone and I can play games and use my system as I used to without any differences on performance. I don't spot anything different at least, which made me pretty darn happy.
But it doesn't solve the GTX 580 problem, though...
But hope this works for anyone else who got a problem with black-screen :)
yngve90
6 Posts
0
April 8th, 2013 18:00
Oh well, after 1 day, the problem once again occurs. Even after 2 hours og playing Sniper Ghost Warrior 2 on max quality without problems, I started to play Dayz Mod - arma 2 and then the fans go beserk with intervals by 10 secons, add or take. Like it overheated, but how can that even be? Thermal paste have been reapplied on both CPU and GPU, the pc sits on a cooling pad and Days Mod doesn't even need that much of power to run on medium quality.
I did manage however to check the temperature during gameplay (because "just in case" cases), and it shows 62 degrees on the GPU and 71 on the i7 processor. But that isn't even high, is it?
I just don't know what to do anymore, and I'm REALLY tempted to get a hammer and let my frustration go out trough it on this crappy bullshit computer...
Deminion666
3 Posts
0
April 29th, 2013 23:00
So If my graphics card is failing could I get a new one and replace it at home? If so, where can I buy a card for Mx17 R3?
leungchuenyan
5 Posts
0
May 3rd, 2013 16:00
I have the exact same problem for the past 6 months.
It was crashing sparsely for a few months. Then it became more and more frequent. Sometimes >5 times a day. Usually when running something graphically intense.
I then updated the graphics card driver (from the dell website, not nVidia) and also a BIOS update from the dell website. After that my computer was crash-free for 2-3 weeks.
But now the crashes are back. Re-installing the drivers doesn't work. And it's extremely frustrating !!!!
PC bought 02.09.2011
Specs:
Alienware M17X R3
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 2720QM (2.20Ghz, 6MB, 4C)
2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M
16GB 1333MHz DDR3 Dual Channel (4X4GB)
750GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
Deminion666
3 Posts
0
May 3rd, 2013 19:00
How long did you use ur comp before you experienced this issue? I had myn for 14 months before. It happened pretty soon after my year warranty expired, now they want me to pay $430 to fix it. This seems to be a common issue with the nvidea 580m and a very annoying if u ask me. I dont think Ill be buying from Dell or Alienwere again, unless they somehow redeem themselves of this annoyance.
Deminion666
3 Posts
0
May 3rd, 2013 19:00
O!! U said u got it 02/09/2011. Sorry didn't see that at first.
leungchuenyan
5 Posts
0
May 4th, 2013 05:00
yes same. It happened exactly around the time they started calling me to renew my warranty.
luckily I renewed my warranty, so I'll definately be making use of it. still bloody annoying !
leungchuenyan
5 Posts
0
May 8th, 2013 07:00
So I called Dell support. Arranged an on-site visit next day, they swapped the graphics card for a new GTX580M. Has been working fine for ~2hours. Passed a 15min 1920-1080 Furmark test. Temp:~65C.
The engineer said the thermal paste on the card was a bit worn out.
Fingers crossed it keeps working for another year.