Dead GPU?

Hello!
I have a serious problem with my M17x-R1, single 260m and Q9000.

Few days ago, while running on my dedicated gtx 260m I started to get freezes, and the only way out of it was a hard reboot. It was happening while running anything gpu-intensive: Game, benchmark, movie and so on. It even happened while browsing the web once, this evening.

Yesterday I've been transporting my laptop for 8 hours, and it was quite shaky - I'm afraid this could have damaged something too, but the issues started a few days earlier.

When I tried to turn it on today, the keyboard lights were the only working thing(apart from the fans). My mouse didn't light up tho. The screen was black, I couldn't even see the start-up alienhead or get into the bios. I had hybrid SLI turned off in bios, with only the 260m activated.
I unplugged the CMOS battery and reset the bios and I was able to boot up(it took quite a long time before the alien head showed up), but even though hybrid sli was supposed to be on, I couldn't switch to the 260m through fn+f7, and GPU-Z was only showing the 9400m.
After few restarts I got the "AC adapter not recognised" error, but I suppose it was not related and went away after re-plugging my AC.
I remember getting a "Overlock function failed" error once during boot, I was not able to reproduce this tho.
I was the able to boot with the 260m activated (in hybrid SLI) two times in a row, but first time it freezed right after starting a CiV4 game (it was freezing my pc the most before), and the second time it freezed in google chrome, which has never happened before.
Now, I can't boot with the 260m activated anymore.
I ran the dell diagnostics, the only failed test was the CMOS battery test - is that because I had to reset the bios by unplugging it?
I doubt the diagnostics tested my 260m though, I was running in hybrid SLI but windows didn't see the 260m right before the test.

I'm running A04 bios and 197.84 drivers from Dell. I updated from the first beta ones that included the DPC latency fix as soon as the freezes started a few days ago.

One more thing: More or less one week ago I disassembled my M17x to remove the dust from the fans as it was heating quite a lot (in the area of the Num/Caps indicators). I followed the Moo's video to get to the GPU fan, I'm pretty sure I plugged everything back in the right order and didn't break anything, the PC was working fine a few days after this.

So here's my question: Is my GPU dying? Has anyone had this kind of issue before? Are there any Nvidia diagnostics I can run(benchmarks are freezing when I manage to turn my 260m on). I haven't called Dell yet, as I'm not even in the coutry I bought my laptop in.

David

 

Hi Kreda,
Have you been overclocking the computer? An overlock error suggests that overclocking is failing. Also, is there any distortion of video when your playing games (perhaps when it feezes). If not, your problem could be elsewhere. Freezes are typically related to motherboard, hard drive, and memory (and very rarely, the occasional bad driver). I would suggest running HWMonitor when you're playing one of your games. It will help you eliminate the possibility of an overheating video card. Also, it wouldn't hurt to use your resource cd and do a check on the hard drive as well as the memory. If I were to take a guess, there might be some damage to the motherboard, especially since your getting a CMOS error despite a good connection. There's always the chance of a dead CMOS battery, but that's highly unlikely considering the fact that the computer most likely isn't old enough to kill the battery.

Thanks,
Gabe

 

Hi kreda

Probably a good idea to back your data up in case you have a total failure. When my laptop GPU went I had artifacts, and blue screens. Your system is more complicated because of the hybrid graphics issue.

I wonderd about the CMOS battery as well. I read that you might get an error on boot up if the battery is low. 5 years was the average age of batteries with older systems. Newer systems they are not sure. I agree with GabeZ that it is far too soon for the battery to fail.

I think when you unplugged the CMOS battery you will lose some of the bios settings. Best to go into the bios and check your GPU settings.

Have attached a list of hybrid and sli settings for your reference.

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/t/19321442.aspx

 

Thanks for the answers.
My computer has indeed been overlocked through bios (FSB @ 1280) but when I unplugged the CMOS battery the processor went back to 2.0 Ghz instead of 2.4.

I did not notice any distortion when playing games lately, except a strange short flicker which happened sometimes before a freeze. It was something like a black frame appearing for a few miliseconds. It did not happen before every freeze.

I did a memory test and a hdd test from the dell diagnostics disc, no problems were found. It can't be a ram or hard drive issue as everything is working well when I'm on the 9400m.

Running HWMonitor while playing a game is not an option anymore, because if I even manage to boot with the 260m activated, I get a freeze right after starting a game. However, while it was still working, the computer was never running extremely hot, especially after I undusted the fans.

As for my bios settings, Hybrid SLI is enabled and the Integrated GPU is enabled but the option is greyed out.

I'll do a full backup(thanks for the tip ) and reinstall windows but I doubt it's a driver issue as I can't activate the 260m anymore.

EDIT: Small update: reverted back to A03 bios and managed to boot with the 260m activated. I logged into WoW and the strange flicker happened, then a serie of short freezes started. I could move my mouse for 1sec, then it was stuck in place for 1 sec and so on... It's getting really weird.

 

Hi kreda

I agree with GabeZ that you probably have some damage to your motherboard. Your wise to back up. There is a possibility that after your reinstallation you might not be able to regain control as the reinstallation may be affected by the damage if that were the case.

Don't forget to back up your email, address book, and contacts. If you have complicated email settings you can save time by printing off screen shots rather than writting all the settings down in case you need a new computer.

 

Well, thanks for help then! I'm currently doing a back up, fortunately I access my e-mails through the browser, so that's not a problem.
Next step would be to call dell and let them diagnose the problem. What should I expect? A motherboard replacement, computer replacement? My warranty is running out soon, I hope it won't be a problem...
Oh, and opening the machine doesn't void the warranty, right?

 

*Absolutely don't tell them you opened the machine. Yes it may.
*Ask if there have been similar problems or recalls.
*You may get a a refurbished computer as it is to costly to diagnose problems these days. Depending on your servcice they will ask you to ship to them or send a tech to you. Hopefully you will get a refurbished computer.

 

Hi!
I've got another question.
I've just been on phone with the dell support and they told me my warranty has ran out. Now, the machine has been delivered the 16th july, while the dell website shows the 18th june as the delivery date. The 18.06 was the day I ordered my machine. Do they really start the warranty the day you order? Seems really strange to me, the machine is not even built at that point.

 

I thought it was the date they ship the system. What country do you live in as the return policies vary. I just went online and checked my warranty. It began on the day the system was shipped. Google Dell Warranty. You should be able to see your system warranty on line if Dell has your call tag registered which you have probably done already. This tells you the day the warranty started and the day it ended.

If your system is out of warranty here is the out of warranty page:

http://support.dell.com/support/top...d_warranty?c=us&l=en&s=gen&servicetag=JYNZ4K1

 

It should be from the date you received it, do you still have the tracking info

Also you may want to call Del to see if you can extend the warranty, or try to extend it online

 

Thanks for the answers, I just wanted to confirm that it should start the day I recieve the system.

I ordered my M17x from Dell France.

The online page shows it's indeed expired, the day it started is the day I placed my order. I find this really strange.

However, I think I won't try to argue with them about this as I can still extend it - the support guy was nice enough to send me a warranty extension offer even though the machine is damaged.