Help! Black Screen adter Windows Logo, is my GPU dead?

I haven't had any issues and problems beforehand, but suddenly last night when i was playing dota2 the screen froze and hanged. I was forced to shut it down by holding the power button then when it restarted after the windows logo, black screen. I left it and for like 30mins, it was still hanged on that. I've been searching for possible causes but all I see is that it might be a GPU-related problem.

I tried going safe mode and things are okay, but when I start it normally, poof! Just black screen all the way. i also tried to use the "Use last working configuration (advance mode)" option int the F8-before-bios options, it works but the gpu is set to the integrated graphics. When I press FN+F7 and switch ti the discrete (6990m, btw), BLACK SCREEN!

Can this still be fix without having to replace my GPU? my warranty already expired and I don't live in a country with dell support (this was shipped to me by my auntie from US)

M17x R3, 1080P 60Hz, 6990M. 4GB ram.

 

I don't know if alienwares have any bizarre issues that this might be other than videocard (a lot of laptops you'll find out that model just does that because of X random reason) but in general it sounds like it's a videocard issue that may require replacement. Replacing the videocard on the M17X is really really easy to do yourself but there is the cost of buying a new card which for a 6990 is likely to be a couple hundred dollars.

 

Do you hear the windows logon sounds through the speakers? Another thing I would try is an external monitor if you have one available. Maybe something came loose.

 

i've tried connecting it via hdmi and when it started, the tv did not detect a signal.about the sounds, i think my headphones was connected all the time when i was restarting and restarting. will try now.

@ikisat, video replacement? T__T is there any other way to salvage this? here at my place, Philippines, that is, there's only one seller of ATI's and he sells 6990m for like $500 equiv. and the 7970m for $700, it's brand new though but it's a hefty some for me.

 

Sounds driver related to me.

Have you tried removing all drivers and going back to Dell stock drivers?

OR, download a unlocked BIOS, disable the IGPU completely and see what happens, if you get the beeps, your GPU is fried. (I would only attempt this if you are comfertable with blind flashing your laptop from a soft brick.)

 

can you remote connect to it (rdp)?

 

You are dealing with aliens so you must raise your aptitude to handle strange occurences which may even be terrifying.....I speak from experience...

If it GPU it wont be detected on ur bios nor would you be able to see the windows logo...This is my take..

Maybe driver or other software related.....trouble shoot that before jumping to hardware especially when the same happens with external monitor...Hop it helps...

 

i do think it's driver related, i never had problems when updating my drivers. back from 11.x up to now, (i think i have 13.1 on it as of the moment, not the beta version) it would always install seamless, i think there was a time where it bsod, once, it was an 11.xx driver, but after the restart, it reinstalled successfully. lately, i'm having this random errors, the small message box in the middle that says "xxx.xx is not responding, do you want to close, halt..etc..etc,," but after pressing ok, everything is fine. now, the night before this plague started, it said that ati drivers are not responding. so i went on, and pressed ok (that was the only option on the dialog box, other option says send error report) then went on, after a game, the screen just froze and then poof. see 1st post for continuation of story, hehe.

anyways, i haven't tried uninstall/install everything, what i did was reinstall my driver from safemode but it said no video adapted detected. oh, on the bios, it can still find my gpu. as well as when i use the "Use last running config.. (advanced mode..)" on the F8 startup, but, as i said, the computer will run with the integrated graphics on, whenever i use that mode. i tried reinstalling from that mode but it kinda failed yet succeed. what i mean is, the installation finished without any errors or whatsoever, but it did not install any on the log.

 

i was thinking of reformatting my the os before, since i'm having a lot of app errors lately, maybe the drivers and and apps got messed up, until this friggin' issue came, now i'm afraid to do anything. and btw, where can i find the pinned post for complete reformat on alienware laptops? it was pinned here before, now i can't find them? also, the pinned for upgrading gpus for r3s. just for future reference if ever.

btw, thanks guys for your answers. i can't tinker with it today and for the last couple of days because i'm preparing for my graduation rites, lol. it was all fun and all until this came. sigh.