Flickering pixels on screen while gaming

Hey everyone! Let me first begin by saying this community has always been my go-to place for any computer troubleshooting for the last 4 yrs. Thanks for everything. You guys rock.

I have an Alienware M17x R2 with 8 GB of DDR3 RAM, Core i7 1.6 Ghz 720 processor and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 GPU.

Recently I have noticed that while playing certain games like Borderlands 2 & Tomb Raider, there are random flickering black pixels on my screen.
Funny thing is they dont appear on the desktop screen or while watching videos and dont even occur in all the games. I tested Bioshock infinite and Street Fighter IV and no flickering pixels could be seen.

Also, in the games that do show them, it only happens when I'm playing at max resolution of 1920 x 1200 that the Alienware display supports. I've tried connecting to an external monitor also via HDMI and I still see these black pixels. I've tried reinstalling the GPU drivers for the 5870 from the Dell support website and that didnt solve the issue. I tried installing the latest drivers for my card from the AMD site and that didnt do it either. Moreover, a new problem started with the latest drivers. If I shut down my alienware it says shutting down and all and the screen goes black but the power doesnt go off. The alien logo head and keyboard remain lit and the GPU fan keeps running. This stays like that no matter how long I wait until I manually reset the laptop by keeping the alien power button pressed for 5-10 secs.

After I uninstalled the latest drivers from AMD and reinstalled the stock drivers from Dell, the shut down problem was resolved but the flickering pixels in some games are still there.

I read somewhere that this is an issue with VRAM on the GPU. My extended warranty is going to expire this month on July 19th, 2013 so if I have to get anything replaced now is the time.

Can somebody help me figure out what this problem is and how to resolve it? Would appreciate it.

 

Hi! gs_31, welcome to the community.
Do you have CrossFire on your PC or a single card?

 

Hi. Thanks for the reply. I have a single card.

 

No problem . Have you tried different driver versions from AMD?

 

Also, I'm noticing another problem now. If I close the lid on my notebook it just kind of hangs and the screen goes black while all the lights remain on. I have checked the settings in Windows that defines default actions when you close the lid or press power button or press the sleep button. I have not messed with any settings and everything is in order. What is this new issue now ??

 

Yes, I've tried different driver versions both from the AMD website as well as the Dell support site. Even tried uninstalling the Catalyst Control Centre software from AMD and used the stock display drivers on Windows 7. Problem still persists.

 

Guys, help out a fellow gamer, please!

 

It could be one of 2 things, your video card is dying or you need a fresh install of W7... I would try reinstalling Windows and if that doesn't help a video card replacement may be needed.
The new issue that you are getting is again related to the video drivers or hardware. You can select to do nothing when you close the lid.

 

Thanks a ton for your inputs. Funny thing is that in order to check for the pixellation issue I've tried playing about 6-7 different games on steam. And I notice this issue only on Tomb Raider and Borderlands 2. It wasnt there before in these 2 games either. I had a scheduled service from Dell to replace my Alienfx keyboard and the Blu-ray drive on my Alienware a few weeks ago. The technician also re-applied thermal paste on the CPU & GPU during the service. This problem has started only after that.

 

That may be an issue with those titles, have you tried running a full on DX11 thing like 3dmark, if you don't get flickering there it probably is more of a driver issue.

 

If you are running any sort of overclock/overvolt on your GPU return it to stock. Also make sure you are on the latest 5870M vBIOS from Dell.

When installing the AMD drivers are you performing any sort of clean up of the Dell video card drivers? Try to run the AMD Catalyst Un-install Utility at least before installing the AMD drivers. Drivers could be the cause of the issues in Windows.

It could also be that the Alienware technician did a poor job of re-pasting the cards. Check your temps by running GPU-Z in the background and run TR or Borderlands2 and play until you get the black spots then exit the game and check what your max temps are.

It does seem like a lot of video related issues though, hopefully its just software related and your card is still good.

 

I'm going to do that. Downloading 3DMark as I write this.

 

Have not overclocked the GPU or the CPU. Everything is stock. Have also uodated to the latest vBIOS for the 5870 from Dell. I did try the complete clean up on the CCC and the drivers. Uninstalled it completely. Even removed the component manually from device manager. Re-installed after complete removal. Have not tried uninstall utility you mentioned. Will try that. GPUz shows temps between the range of 55-65 and thats been always like that. Btw, the flickering pixels are there as soon as I start the game and not after a while or when the GPU heats up. They are just there as soon as I start the game.

This is really starting to worry me now and more than that its getting frustrating. I'm usually good at troubleshooting problems with the computer but this one has me stumped. Thanks for your input though. Keep it coming.

 

Tried the 3DMark 11 tests. The pixels show up in the second test called Cloud Gate. So its not just a problem with Borderlands 2 or TR.

 

Cloud Gate is actually from the newer 3Dmark. Your vRAM theory could be true since you say it only happens when you run 1200p. The card may be using more memory in TR, Borderlands and 3Dmark than other games and that's when the problem surfaces.

What version of AMD drivers are you running at the moment?

 

I'll check the driver version and get back to you on this. The latest update is that I called Dell support about this issue. They made me run around in circles for quite a while transferring my call from one guy to another but finally I found somebody ready to listen and now they've decided to replace the GPU for which they said the motherboard would need to be replaced as well.
Is this right? Does the entire mobo really need to be replaced in order to replace the 5870 on my alienware?

 

No, the cards on our machine are MXM 3.0b spec which means it complies with the mobile pci-express module standard. The cards can be replaced on their own like you would a desktop card. Dell usually likes to replace a bunch of parts to to cover all possible problem areas even when the issues are software related.

 

Here, this is what AMD CCC says:

Driver Packaging Version 12.104-130328a-156635C-ATI
Catalyst Version 13.4
Provider Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.
2D Driver Version 8.01.01.1295
2D Driver File Path /REGISTRY/MACHINE/SYSTEM/ControlSet002/Control/CLASS/{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}/0000
Direct3D Version 9.14.10.0969
OpenGL Version 6.14.10.12217
Catalyst Control Center Version 2013.0328.2218.38225

 

13.4 is the latest WHQL tested driver so that more or less rules out a driver issue if you were running an older driver.

Hopefully Dell replacing the card resolves the issue.

 

Hey guys, I really appreciate all the input I've been getting from everyone here. This is exactly why I really admire this community.

Anyhow, there have been some more developments recently (not good ones). This is a list of all the problems my Alienware's been having apart from the flickering pixels issue:

1. If I shutdown my windows the screen shows shutting down computer and the screen goes black but the power doesn't turn off. Windows is basically shut down yet all the lights on the keyboard and the CPU/GPU fans are constantly running. I have to keep the power button manually pressed for 5-10 secs to turn it off completely.

2. If my computer stays idle for some time, the power settings are configured in the way that the screen will switch off automatically after some time. This is normal. But what is not normal is that now once the screen switches off it refuses to come back on when I move the mouse or press any key on the keyboard. I have to reset the computer manually by once again pressing the power button for 5-10 secs. I have checked all power options in Windows including sleep, hibernation, etc settings.

3. When running on battery the computer doesnt even last more 30 minutes even if its on power saver mode. I understand the battery life is supposed to deteriorate over time but up until my last service on June 19, the battery would last atleast 60-90 mins. Now it drains extremely fast even on the lowest brightness, wifi switched off and the power saver mode.

4. It had been freezing and hanging very often at simple tasks which were never a problem earlier like mailing, using Word, surfing the web. And today, it completely refused to boot up. When I tried to boot up Windows it said "Starting Windows" and then froze after that with a black screen and just a mouse pointer. Nothing happens, Windows doesn't start at all. I see the mouse pointer on the black screen but it doesn't move or respond to any keyboard presses or mouse movement. I'm able to boot up Windows in safe mode but not normally. The only way to boot up Windows normally is if I don't have the power adapter plugged in for some reason.

5. This is starting to get really freaky now. I did a system restore after problem no. 4 happened to a restore point thats about 4-5 restore points ago. And now the only problem that remains is that if I close the lid of my computer so that screen shuts off and then when I open it up back again - Windows hangs. It completely stops responding and the screen stays as it was but its all static like it just froze. No mouse movement, no keyboard response...no activity on the screen at all.

6. Also, Windows keeps showing an error that the "AC adapter currently connected is not supported. The system will continue to run on battery power". Sometimes it continues to run on just the battery as if its not connected to the adapter even though it is plugged in and sometimes it shows that its plugged in but not charging and the battery level stays as it is.

What is happening here? This is driving me totally nuts! I'm unable to work, play, surf or do anything on my computer. Pls guys...help me out here.

Btw, I just remembered that these other problems besides the flickering pixels issue started RIGHT AFTER I updated to the latest vBIOS from the Dell website. And I just remembered that all of these issues have happened in the past as well whenever I've tried updating the vBIOS. The only solution I found in the past was to restore to a previous point in Windows which is what I have done now as well and the only problem that remains is if I close the lid and open it back up the the computer freezes.

Also, did I mention my mobo was replaced about 2 years ago as well? My system had stopped working completely, wouldn't even turn on so Dell replaced the mobo. Thats when I extended my warranty.

I need to ask you guys this very seriously - since Dell is already replacing my GPU and motherboard, are there any other components that MIGHT be faulty and need to be replaced as well? I'm only freaking out cos my warranty expires this month (19th July) and after that if something goes wrong...well you know...Alienware components are quite expensive and they won't let me extend my warranty any further.

 

When last did you do a fresh install of Windows? I would suggest doing one before Dell comes to see if any of it is software related.

The AC adapter probably needs replacing as well as that's what happens when the ID chip connection in the PSU is bad.

 

I'm really trying to avoid doing a fresh install because I have a LOT of applications that would I need to re-install on a fresh W7. But you're right. Its been a while since I did a fresh install of Windows so as soon as they replace my GPU and mobo, I'm gonna be doing just that. Btw, Is there any utility that could help me restore all my data and applications on to the fresh copy of W7? Anything at all to make my life a bit easier?

Also, more importantly - is the AC adapter covered under the warranty or do I need to pay for it?

 

I don't know of any tool apart from slipstreaming the applications into your Windows Image. But that is also very time consuming depending on the number of applications. That said, you would only have to do it once. Downside is that your Windows install will have the version of the application that was available at that point. I tend to do a clean Windows install and install the latest versions available afterward.

Yes the AC adapter is covered under the warranty.