Asus G73JH-A1 - Hard Shutdown While Gaming

Hi everyone,

My G73JH-A1 is apparently unable to run Mass Effect 2 for any length of time without completely and abruptly shutting my computer down while playing. I've been having trouble finding solutions online so I'll ask this forum for help. Does this sound like an RMA, or is this a problem others have encountered and solved?

The shutdown usually happens within 5-10 minutes of gaming. Oddly enough, I have been playing other games since May without this kind of shutdown, ones that I imagine stress the system as much if not more than Mass Effect 2 (i.e. Fallout3, Starcraft2, TeamFortress2).

(As a sidenote, has anyone else been experiencing trouble with Starcraft 2? I was getting GSODs until I rolled back my drivers from Catalyst. What the hell is wrong with this machine!?!?!? I've RMA'd it twice already!!!)

 

I'll mention what I did find (though no solutions) which was that it could be related to (a) the design of the game itself, (b) GPU overheating issues, or (c) power supply unit issues. Whatever the cause, I'm trying to figure out whether to RMA this mofo.

 

starcraft 2 requires 10.7a, reason your getting a shut down is because your machine is designed to turn itself off if it reaches the 115'C mark to prevent damage to itself. you may need a thermal repasting job of your GPU heatsink. You can find authorized ASUS service depot's around town, do a google search. Check your Idle temp on it as well, i idle around 50-52'c on fresh boot, 57-60'c after playing a game. I never exceed 76'C when playing any game on max settings, i have also never gotten a thermal repaste job as of yet as my temp are pretty decent considering i picked this up 2 weeks ago. i have the GSOD problem and it has resolved for me with 10.7. I can't play dragon age however, GSOD appears every 20 minutes. ASUS will be releasing a new updated vbios and 10.8 which will permanently resolve the GSOD issue. There is nothing wrong with this machine at all! Oh yea dont thermal repaste yourself unless you have experience with opening laptops. A lot of newbies tried and although they fixed the heating issues, they damaged their motherboards sound devices and other hardware capabilities in the process. I would not recommend screwing with a 1900 dollar laptop lol. But then thats my opinion.

 

I idle in low 60's (62c) and highest i've seen my gpu temp is 86c after Dirt 2. My ambient is between 76-78f

 

Interesting. How are you guys keeping track of your internal temperatures? If there are different temperatures for different components, is it the GPU temperature that's important? Does the Asus warranty cover getting thermal paste redone? Ugh. I love how a relaxing afternoon of gaming becomes completely the opposite with this notebook. It really makes you work for it.

And you know what's weird about Starcraft 2 on the G73? It told me when I installed it that my video card was not compatible. I read somewhere (sorry this was a while ago, don't have a link) that rolling back from Catalyst would solve the issue, and it did. Now you're telling me the way to get it to work is specifically to USE Catalyst.

Whaaat

 

You could send it back to the MFG but it will take longer and you never know if they would actually repaste it for you or just change the motherboard itself. I recommend a friend who knows it or a ASUS Service Center technician. Well i use a widget called "GPU Observer" which gives me somewhat a detail emphasis of the GPU's running and idle temp's as well as other CPU related temp's. I know people use Furmark, however i believe that is the extent of stressing your laptop therefore i do not use that approach. There are several freeware programs that detect and provide data in compliance to your GPU. 10.7a indeed was released for SC2 specifically and it has resolved issues for the majority of people who used it with Starcraft 2. Like i said until ASUS releases a new Vbios and 10.8, the GSOD problem will remain in some way. The stock drivers however have been reported to fix the GSOD issue with certain games. 10.7 has fixed a lot for me, i can play GTA IV, Bioshock 2, left4dead, borderlands, star wars the force unleashed all on max and no GSOD. I guess it vary's from system to system. My laptop has not had any problems since updating to 10.7

 

Well, I was playing SC2 earlier today with the 10.7 Ati Catalyst Mobility drivers and got a GSOD. So... I wonder if this might mean my computer is in deeper poop than yours, which is running the same drivers as mine. (I assume 10.7 and 10.7a are the same thing?)

I guess you're recommending that I sit tight for now and cross my fingers that the new 10.8 drivers and vBIOS (211?) solves these issues before RMA'ing?

 

The new Vbios and 10.8 will permanently resolve the GSOD issue, i can guarantee you that.

I dont play starcraft 2 so it does not matter to me if whether i can play it or not on 10.7 lol. 10.7a is the alpha version which i believe was not officially released. It is different from 10.7 as the 10.7a was specifically released to deal with the issues with starcraft 2. Give 10.7a a shot and let me know if starcraft 2 works or not. Oh yea, in order to make the drivers work properly, i recommend you use a program called drive sweeper to completely uninstall and remove all present ati drivers on your system, you will have to do this in safe mode as well, after a clean uninstallation and your resolution go back's to a lower pixel and no drivers are installed then do a clean 10.7a installation. Your computer will recognize that drivers are being installed for the first time and not something that its overlapping on a previous driver. If you overwrite while upgrade and downgrading, it will not fix the issues. Have to do complete clean uninstallation.

 

HOLY WHAT - I'm using your GPU temperature monitoring widget and it's telling me my current temperature is 81C. I'm just browsing on the internet. What the what! How do I pull that down to what you're getting (i.e. 50-60ish)!?

 

I am sitting at 59-60'C atm while browsing. I have not even done a thermal repaste but then again i guess my laptop was one of the good units sold with no issues. Like i said, to get it resolved, you can either send it back to MFG which will take a long time, or you can get it done by a friend who knows how or a ASUS Service Tech Depot technician - note: they will charge you money but getting your unit repasted is highly recommended. People are getting idles at 46-50 after a thermal repaste! I strongly suggest you do it and you will see a big change. Technically you should not go over 100'C when playing games, or even 110'C is fine. Get a cool master unit as well, it drops temp's from anywhere 1-3'c for me, i know its not much, but it still helps!

Keeping aside the thermal repasting over heat faults and the GSOD issues, this laptop is a hell of a gaming beast and its totally worth every penny you put on it. This is a machine that you will never regret owning after you resolve those problems. As for the GSOD issue, be patient and we will get our hand on those new drivers soon!

 

I believe you are over heating as well. Definitely a repaste would solve that problem. And since you are already over heating, u don't think u will be able to over clock it to work. So first things first, u have to settle your temperature. For me i idle at 62. But at 705/1100 i idle at around 64. My gaming temperature usually goes to around 95. I've also not done a repaste, still asking myself if its worth the trouble. If you are unable to get someone to help u out with the repaste, then looks like its rma. There's been quite a lot of success stories with the repaste. But some do screw up things like the keyboard, speakers. So its something you really have to be awake to do. All the best

 

Thanks everybody for the tips. I'll update once I've tried these options. The silver lining with buying this machine (which as I mentioned I've had to RMA already) is the crazy supportive community of other users. Kudos!