m17x R3 580m probs.

Hi there
The problem is (appeared few days ago, never happened before) black screen and systems freezes. That's happening in games. I can watch movies etc, but as soon as i am runing any game - black screen in a few seconds.
Been trying Alienware ePSA diagnostic - no errors, passed all tests. Been trying Furmark. At default settings on stability test seems working fine, shows 75 temp during the test. But when i am switching to a higher resolution - black screen in 5-10 seconds. Temp at that moment is around 66-68. I can here the sound, but it's bugged sound (if you know what i mean, repeats over and over).
Event viewer says nothing. No idea what logs could i check or what tests to run.
Any clues what's happening ? Graphic card gona "die" soon or everything is not that sad ?

P.S.
Sorry for my english.

 

Hi, these 580m's are failing at a tremendous rate right now. One every couple of days!

There is a bunch of things that might help but basically it's a card that dies frequently .

The sound issue is also video driver related and is known as a TDR problem where instructions get stuck in the windows interrupt buffer.

What driver version are you using?
have you ever cleaned out the dust bunnies?

Simply put, do not overclock this card, I've had 3 die on me!

Test with Heaven 4, do not use furmark, it will very quickly fry your card. UNIGINE’s Heaven Benchmark Releases Version 4.0 and Extended Editions | Unigine: real-time 3D engine (game, simulation, visualization and VR) Download Heaven Benchmark | Unigine: real-time 3D engine (game, simulation, visualization and VR)

Good luck.

 

Were using latest 340 driver. This things started right before i installed it. Then i just fully removed the driver and installed old one (not sure, 320 i guess). It worked brilliant for one day, then all over again. So i installed latest driver again.
No, never been cleaning dust. I am using it 3-4 times a week (few times around 8 hours, and one day almost 16 hours). Other days i am keeping it inside alienware backpack. Visualy (at the bottom) it's perfectly clean. I will check the dust later ofc.
Overclocking ? With 580m throttling ? =) Using nvidia inspector method (from this forum) for throttle fix. So not even thinking about overclocking
Is it possible, thet problem is software related ? What version of driver is the best one atm ?

 

I'm afraid the card is showing typical signs of failure. I, and many others had the same situation where rolling back the driver helps for a few days but then it starts playing up again!

The best driver for that card was 314.22 and is still recommended by many users of older cards. Avoid the 320 branch, this killed a lot of 580/675m's: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware/721878-nvidia-320-18-driver-warning.html

I'm now getting very suspicious of the latest driver - looks like I need to update that old thread.

Sorry man, you're going to need a bunch of cash to fix this - and that's not by getting another 580m

 

Wish i knew where to buy another one. A bit scary of buying used on ebay. But 300 eur for a new one is insane. Will try to roll back for 314.22.

 

It is a dice roll for used especially with this card. Just saw one guy that got two faulty ones from new! I picked up a used 680m off ebay for £270 but I knew it was a risk, fortunately it's been golden

The 680m in your R3 will require some work and might be just a little too much. You need an unlocked bios to switch off the intel GPU (not needed on the 3D 120hz model) AND you have to modify a driver file to get the install to work, but it's an awesome card! Search out 680m on R3 for specific details, loads of people going down this path.

Good luck.

 

Mine is 3D 120hz model. So i guess intel GPU is disabled already. Never seen it working. But thanks alot for the advise, think i will try that 680m path too. Still hope i can make this damn 580 work for a bit longer.

 

That's some good news at least. No optimus to mess around with things and the driver install simply needs one file replacing to see the card. You can get the file from here: LaptopVideo2Go: Drivers

ignore the search and scan options and win 8 is also vista and win 7. Just follow the links for the version you want to install and download the inf file. More details if you find a 680m . FYI, they come in 2 gb and 4 gb versions. Dell used the 2gb version but unless you're attempting to run multi monitors at super high resolutions the memory is not going to make much difference. So don't let a 2 gb version put you off. Mine is only 2gb (dell original) and is the best performing card I have had in years .

You do loose 3D unfortunately as dell have locked the machines to their specific cards sold with a model but 120hz works just fine. 3D works on the R4 as a 680m was an option from dell...

happy hunting .

 

Thanks alot =)
Btw, what should i buy to repaste ? Which one is good ? I think i am going to try and clean it, repaste, and replace those silicon (or whatever it is) things on the card (sry, no idea how do you call them in english )

 

They are referred to as 'thermal pads' and come in different thicknesses 1mm, 1.5mm, and 2mm I believe. You can double them up if needed.

As for paste, I just use whatever I can find since I'm not chasing that 'last degree or two'. A funny old article on paste tests: Thermal Compound Roundup - October 2011 | Hardware Secrets

haha

Good luck

 

Interesting thing. Black screen started even at desktop. First time it gave me 30 sec, then couldn't even log in to windows. Decided to reinstall Win 8. 30 mins atm, running fine. Installing updates etc. System shows 580m card (windows driver). Think I am going to try and stay at windows drivers. Who knows, mby it will work
Ohh yeah, thermal pads Always forgetting their "name"
Thanks a lot once again. I can update this topic if you want, in case graphic works fine on win drivers. Just let me know here.

 

That's how my last one went. The up time just got shorter and shorter, eventually only safe-mode would stay up and running. A driver change often (for some weird reason?) gave me hope, sometimes a day or two, but then it would go again.

You might find a driver that does not stress the card too much and get some more lifer out of it. Have you tried 314.22?

Fingers crossed and do please post results .

 

Ok. Reinstalled Win 8. Installed some updates, then updated to win 8.1. Installing Alienware drivers and progs atm. So far no black screen. Need to finish installing everything and try a few games. Will try World of Tanks and League of Legends.
Ohh, one more thing. Not going to set refresh rate to 100 or higher, 60 atm. Installed Nvidia driver provided by windows update. Nvidia control panel shows 331.65 version. Finger corssed too

 

Sounds promising, hope you have some fun with it .

That driver is one I have seen over in the NV forum as one that works best for some people so stick with it.

Have you tested Heaven 4 benchmark ( http://unigine.com/products/heaven/)? Not one of those 'killer' benchmarks, more aimed at gaming results . You can just leave it looping.

But, then again, if you can play your games then maybe best left alone until you can upgrade....

 

League of Legends went smooth. No black screen, no throttle.
WoT next. Once again, i think i am going to see final results in a few days. For now everything is cool.

WoT went smooth too. Will update in a few days on how's it going.


Ok. Day 2. No black screen, no throttle so far. Same LoL and WoT. Everything goes smooth. Am i lucky this time ?


Day 3. Got black screen couple of times in World of Tanks (not on max settings). Still League of Legends goes smooth w/o black screen or throttle. No black screen on desktop so far.
Some small glitches, or call them artifacts, appear in Firefox, but nothing serious yet.

 

Ok. Played LoL whole evening. No black screen. Usual temp is around 55-60. Using nvidia drivers recommended by dell. Version 269.03 from dell page.

 

Yep im surfing here too with my broken 580m actually lol
Still works only with Windows vga drivers. Nvidia drivers dont work anymore.
Began with the same random black freezes and soundloops even the temps are normal.

 

Ah, missed your last post! TBH I didn't hold out much hope for it

 

269,03 WHQL driver works fine for me (downloaded from dell web page, recommended by dell for my laptop). Try it.
Almost a week more alive than dead card.

 

Yup, the driver is not pushing the card at all, This is the updated driver from dell: NV Graphics Driver Update for Win 7 & Win 8 for Alienware M17xR3, M17xR4, M14x, M14xR2, M18x, M18xR2 Driver Details | Dell UK.

Start saving the pennies....

 

Just for any older 580m users watching, there is an updated vbios file, listed as 'Urgent' so could be worth a try.

nVidia GeForce GTX 580M, v.70.24.2B.00.06, A01 Driver Details | Dell UK

You do need to be able to burn a dvd though....

 

One more thing. Try to downclock your card like stated here https://community.callofduty.com/thread/200544340
520 clock (default 625) went ok. Even World of Tanks (where i am getting 100% black screen) passed. Ofc fps is lower than usual.
Going to try 560 today. Will report in this post later.

560, no black screen so far. Going to stick with it for a week or so.

 

I just bought my first aw M17 R3 for a steal it was selling as faulty (random black screen an reboots) once I got my hands on the system I soon noticed the laptop would work fine for an hour or so on battery or if I plugged in an old DELL power brick (not aw one) Id get a system error saying the lead wasn't powerful to run laptop an it would limit the system bla bla then the laptop would work ok again for an hour or so but be very limited (GPU running at 70mhz).
As soon as I plugged in the AW lead the system would black screen within 3 sec's which really confirmed for me a GPU problem as the laptop runs full power once on its AW lead.
My laptop had this 580 GTX I soon noticed all these posts all the same problem an same card now I couldn't aford to upgrade so I bought a secound hand GTX 560 which turned up today yay!! plugged it into laptop an BAM! problem solved an my AW M17 R3 i7-2760Q with 12gb ram an 1TB harddrive is now totally fixed (written off by DELL) it was a steal at £499.00 + £100.00 for the new GPU

Now im so happy!!
If your having this problem I 100% suggest you to change your graphics card!! 580 GTX cards are very bad!! get rid.

 

That's some great info for someone looking for a low cost solution. I know of at least one guy that was asking if this would work.

A Cheap and cheerful way to wait out the newer cards!

 

Ignore post..

 

Just for anyone reading this an is looking for a cheap 560 GTX the person I bought mine from (in the UK) is selling a second 560 GTX quite cheap on ebay
GTX 560m 1.5gb Laptop GPU | eBay