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    hard freezes on M17xR1

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by chopter, Mar 15, 2011.

  1. chopter

    chopter Newbie

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    Every once in a while during prolonged semi-heavy gpu(Geforce GTX 260M) use my computer hard freezes. The screen goes black and i have to hit the power button on it to shut it off because it wont do anything. My troubles mysteriously started after I updated my video drivers (from 257.38(I think that is what i was running unless Dell updated their reccomended drivers on the site after i installed a win7) to 266.58). Before that is was working fine. It only freezes every once in a while, say after maybe 1.5 or 2 hours of play and i also noticed that my GPU was running really hot, topping out at 103 C with an avg of like mid 80s. So I tried a different display driver and then went back to 257.58 and i still had the problems. So i called up tech support and they replaced my GPU(I also had them put a second Geforce GTX 260M in at the time). The overheating is now gone but the it still freezes. I also noticed my CPU(Q9000) is averaging like mid 70C so they're replacing that tomorrow as well though i don't have much confidence that it will. So is my problem driver related and should i go back to even earlier drivers? Im running the A06 BIOS.

    edit: I see that A07 BIOS were released...will update that.
     
    chopter, Mar 15, 2011
    #1
  2. Codenamefa

    Codenamefa Notebook Evangelist

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    Personally i think its something to do with the thermal management that is causing this my best guess would be the problem all along is the cpu cause i had my cpu going out on me and it did that kind of thing to me when it would get real warm
     
    Codenamefa, Mar 16, 2011
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  3. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    For your freezing problem,that's driver related. Follow these steps:
    Go to BIOS( press F2 when you start the laptop)
    Go to Advanved > Graphic settings and turn PCIe Gen2 to disabled( it will force your cards to run @ 8x bandwidth and keep the new Verde drivers from pushing them higher)

    Now after making sure you properly uninstalled/installed your video drivers you'll be able to enjoy your laptop without any video driver related freezes.

    As for your temps. do a proper thermal repast (follow the guides). Dell techs tend to skip this important step so make sure it's done.

    Keep us updated
     
    katalin_2003, Mar 16, 2011
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  4. chopter

    chopter Newbie

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    i should be fine using the 266.58 drivers right? or can i just leave them at 257.38
     
    chopter, Mar 16, 2011
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  5. katalin_2003

    katalin_2003 NBR Spectre Super Moderator

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    Just follow what I said above and you should be fine using the latest nVIDIA Verde drivers,yes .
     
    katalin_2003, Mar 16, 2011
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