M17x r2 freezes then turns black when I open games

Here's the context, until only yesterday my m17x was working fine, I could game with no problems. Then I took a flight back to my home country and when I tried running games, the above happened(freeze then black screen).

I tried games from multiple hard discs, so one from my main, from the 2nd hard disc as well as an external hard disc and my screen still froze and then turned black, no audio from the game could be heard as well.

So right now I'm thinking it could very well be a hardware problem as my friend's laptop bag (about 7kg) was put on top my mine (I am using the Orion backpack) for the entire 14 hours flight. So could something have happened to my GPU at that point?

Also I tried running Dota2 and it could run longer compared to SC2. (it took about a whole minute more before my screen froze and turned black, maybe this information is helpful)

Could it be something other than my GPU? (I haven't tried reinstalling my drivers because it doesn't make sense that my screen only freezes and turns black when I turn on games, if it were a driver problem, I wouldn't be able to even get into Windows, I have also made sure my driver is up to date)
I am using the ATI Mobility Radeon 5870 btw, and I have never ran into this problem until today. So right now, everything seems to be pointing to a problem with the GPU. But how can I verify this? (Did the standard Systems check, 'this device is working properly' =.=)

Fellow owners of m17x, please help me!

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/670175-m17x-r4-black-screen-crashes-ati-7970m.html

Check out this older thread, everyone is discussing this issue in it.

 

Ok two things just happened, it went straight to black screen as I finished posting this thread even though I had no games opened. And I was doing a defrag at that time. Now I am stuck at the 'Checking file system on C' as I scramble to restart my m17x...

 

Was your m17x on or in sleepmode during the flight?

 

Nope, it was a complete shutdown. I am back on but I dare not open anything except for firefox as I already hard shutdown it 4times. The temperatures seem fine (around 70~ for my GPU)

EDIT: Screen just froze up when I opened a video on WMP. Seems like I have to hard shutdown it again. Does this mean my GPU can't even support playing media files anymore?

 

70c!!!???? I dont have exp with the 5870 card but for 6970m and 7970m that is wayyy too hot at idle.. I think its way too hot for your card too.. Check for dust bunnies in the fans, blast it with some canned air.

But i think the crashes are due to heat. But thats just my uneducated blind opinion.

How long have you had the laptop? Perhaps a time for a repaste?

But first definately clean out the insides for dust bunnies, hair and other particles.

 

I actually did a thorough clean with compressed air before I left for my home country.

Just turned on the Air Conditioner and I just checked the temperature again, it is around 60 degrees celcius now.

Not doing anything atm except for firefox and Skype. No Black screen for now. What do? =/

 

Are you overclocked? I just did a search and am seing ridiculous numbers on the temperstures for these cards which i dont believe so i cant even tell you what you should be seing at idle... Sorry but thats all i have for now. Hopefully someone else can help

 

My 5870's idle at like ~50ish, I am using TRIXX to check my temps. You might have to repaste your GPU's. Did you try updating your drivers? I'm on 12.6 beta, no issues so far.

 

Ok I just ran HWInFO while on SC2 it went up to 100 degrees before freezing. Is that normal? I don't ever overclock and according to StZu even the newer ATI cards are around 70+ degrees. So it's probably an overheating issue? I'm not sure about my driver version but I tried updating it and it says i'm up to date.

If it is an overheating issue (seems the most plausible one), what's the next viable step? If possible, I would rather not spend money on a new GPU...

 

I guess your best option is to repaste your GPU and buy the cooler master u3 cooler.

I have a feeling its your paste as the computer has about 3 years on it...


But yeah 100c is rediculously hot...

 

You need a repaste, pure and simple. Plenty of threads here to tell you how. make sure you buy some good thermal paste and 0.5mm pads for the RAM. Then retest the temperatures. If they dont stay between 40-50 degrees C at idle then check that your fans are working correctly. At 60 you should start hearing some very loud fans, and jet engines at 80.

 

Hi ginen,

If the temperature is getting to 100C that means that the issue is in fact being caused by overheating. Put the computer sideways and check if you can hear the fans running (system and graphics card), the gpu fan should be on the upper left hand corner (with the system upside down), also check if you hear any weird noise coming from the fans (grinding or something stuck). If you want to check the fans thoroughly, you can remove the battery, ac adapter, center control cover and keyboard and the gpu is underneath the keyboard, so you have to remove the graphics card because the fan is underneath it. Check your manual for instructions.

With the system opened, clean the fans again with compressed air. Re-pasting is also a good idea.

Please let me know how it goes.

 

This reply might be a bit too late but here goes:

I first sought out the help of friends and thought it would be a breeze to get the repasting done (with the help of youtube of course) that was not the case and it ended up a dead end. Then I went to a lot of repair shops and asked if they could do it for me, they quoted ridiculous prices and required me to have the laptop left with them for a week. I found this very unreasonable and finally called Dell. The customer service guy, Robbie, told me frankly that to change the GPU would cost me just about the same as extending my warranty for another year, so it would be better to extend my warranty instead. I opted for the latter.

And this is where I became really impressed. I was never one to ever go beyond the free warranty that companies offer because time and again, I have been disappointed in so many ways. But Dell really has stepped up their game in this respect, after I extended my warranty, Dell promptly sent a technician to my place and promptly had my fans and gpu replaced. No questions asked. They were patient with my constant calls to make sure that I could have it done the next day (as I was leaving for the UK for another 9 months for my 3rd year in uni).

All in all, greatly satisfied by the support that Dell has to offer. I wish I had chosen the option sooner (I really had my doubts about Dell and customer service in general). Really, if you are as bad as me with computers, just stick to Dell, they'll get the job done.