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    M15x with strange crashes

    Discussion in 'Alienware M15x' started by crasfonts, Jun 23, 2012.

  1. crasfonts

    crasfonts Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hi there, guys!

    I have had my M15X for about 2 years, and I have been facing lots of problems during these 2 years. The problem that worries me more is that while watching a video, surfing the web or playing a videogame, my computer would suddenly freeze and the monitor would turn red, blue or purple.

    These crashes use to be followed by a buzzing sound (like a chainsaw) and sometimes a BSOD appears after
    a few seconds (most of the times I'm forced to shutdown the computer by pressing the power button).

    Sadly enough, this is just the tip of the iceberg. I live in Mexico, and I have already contacted Dell several times trying to find a solution. For about one and half year, every time I call to Dell, the things end up in a similar fashion: they send a tech to my house, who replaces the hard drive, the graphics card, the fans, and the mother board. I am not lying: they have replaced these components about 4 times.

    Of course, I am completely tired of this situation. I am completely convinced that they have NO idea of what is wrong with my computer. Nevertheless, they do refuse to send a replacement machine (they insist that the warranty only covers the exchange of the spare parts) and recently they have decided that the problem may be software-related, forcing me to reinstall Windows 2 or 3 times and reinstall all the drivers.

    Of course, the problem has not disappeared and in fact, it is getting worse. These kind of crashes are happening way more frequently (truth be told, on a daily basis). Every now and then, the crash does not "complete": the computer freezes and then it works again after a few seconds, followed by a message saying that the video driver recovered itself from a problem.

    I would really appreciate if someone helped me with this problem. If someone wants me to provide more specific of technical information about this problem that has been haunting me for over a year, I will gladly provide it.

    Thank you in advance,
     
  2. Mute_X

    Mute_X Notebook Guru

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    Sounds like a defective GPU. I had the same problem with another laptop, and they replaced the system board, and that seems to have fixed the problem.

    Edit** Didn't see you full post.

    Hmm, maybe the monitor is faulty? Or the connection input on the system board is ed up? I don't have anu ideas other than those two.
     
  3. mstrmold

    mstrmold Notebook Enthusiast

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    With Motherboard/GPU and HDD replacements, has anyone bothered to swap out the external power brick? Any PSU that has power fluctuations will cause a "brown out" type situation, most notably during system load. It wouldn't hurt to swap the brick out.
    Also, are you plugging it straight into a wall jack, or, a power strip? I've seen power strips that cause all kinds of havoc, especially the cheapo ones from wally world. Just a thought.