G73J Gaming Problems

I recently purchased the ASUS G73J laptop and i have been experiencing some problems with it recently. When i am playing a game, like Starcraft 2 for example, my video card like shuts down. Ill be playing the game all fine and then all of a sudden the screen will have these black lines about 5 pixels wide flashing and then the entire screen goes black, at which point i have to do a manual reboot . I even tried turning down all of the graphics settings to the lowest and i still had that problem. Does this mean my 5870 is failing, or is there an incompatibility issue with the game? Any advice is greatly appreciated

 

I get a black screen of death but not shutting down on its own. put a notebook cooler or tun on your air conditioner. yup, its the video card. almost all of us have heat issue that's why others are repasting their g73.

 

haha welcome....weeelllccoooomee

it is a GSOD. look around we all have this problem

 

If you updated your drivers, then thats the cause of it. If your on stock drivers and you have that, your probably out of luck.

 

So then is there to do about it? The odd thing is that i had it on a notebook cooler. An nice all aluminum one with two USB powered fans. Also, the ambient temperature was low.

 

Also, i havent flashed the BIOS and i am running ATI driver 10.7

 

There you have it... Its because you updated your vga drivers. One thing you can do is use AMD GPU CLOCK TOOL. Then overclock it to say 705/1100. And it should work out for you. Your next best option is to download the 10.1 drivers from ati. Clean out your current drivers and install those.

 

Ok thanks a lot you guys

 

So is the basic problem that the catalyst 10.7 cant manage the card properly and it overheats?

 

Also, when i tried the AMD GPU CLOCK TOOL it said no valid device was found

 

Is the one you have same as this?

AMD GPU Clock Tool v0.9.26.0 For HD 5870 download from Guru3D.com

I remember the tool had to state its for 5870

 

so i should put the engine to like 705? what is the difference between that and the current setting of 699.99? and the memory to 1100?

 

700/1000 - GSOD
705/1100 - You get to play your game.

How much to overclock is subjective. You can slowly adjust to what works best for your system. Why it works no one really can answer you. But give it a try. Mine overclocks to 705/1100 when i want to play games or when i need the gpu power. And underclocks to 100/300 when i'm doing general stuff.

 

So i have been testing out starcraft 2 and it plays like a charm on ultra settings now with no GSOD. Thanks so much smile_gerard...you are lifesaver

 

I don't play starcraft. But this happens to most games in general. We're still hoping for a vbios fix from asus to solve this problem. I hope it works out for you.

 

It doesnt overheat. The timings or clock settings in those drivers are either incompatible with the Asus 5870 vBios or the hardware itself (the vRAM) so you get crashes - GSODs. If you monitored temperatures youd see its not overheating. If you overheated the laptop would just shutdown, there wouldnt be any strange screens like the GSOD, just the laptop turning off.

 

The Ati reference drivers do not go too well with Asus's proprietory (read. cheap) modifications on the GPU, hence overheating and frequent Grey Screens of Deaths (GSODS) are all too common for some users (i.e. there are a few users who are able to run the reference drivers from ATI without GSODs). So if you are having GSODs on the 10.7a, then do the following:

1.Go to Ausus's Download site and download the ATI 10.1's from G73's download page.

2. Uninstall the current version of CCC and Install manager.

3. Reboot in Safe mode (F8).

4.Run Driver Sweeper and CC Cleaner (to clean out remaining ATI files and registry entries)

5. Reboot to Windows and Install the 10.1s

We've been told by Asus that they are currently working on resolving the issue, so all we can do now is wait.

There are other ways you can try and fix this issue, but none without there risks. Hence, the best thing to do right now would be to be patient and stick to the 10.1s.

Goodluck.

Edit: If I were you, I'd get something like HWmonitor to keep an eye on my DispIO and MemIO temps. The 10.7s with stock thermal compounds are known to raise temps significantly, add to that the fact that you are actually OC-ing your Memory, you should be cautious of your Temps. And if your machine starts shutting down while you're in the middle of a game, that means your temps have reached something around 110C, and the laptop shuts down as a precautionary measure.

 

@flatsix911 I did this last night and my notebook is working like a dream now even flashpoint that only loaded to shutdown the notebook immediately again is working without a problem.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/508621-tired-gsod-look-here.html

 

See 3rd sig link for all the info you need on the GSOD issue

 

The temperatures on the stock and the newer reference divers are pretty much the same (varied 1C at most at my stress tests). The newer drivers will cause GSODs becouse of some incompatiblities (hardware, vBios), like what the OP is expiriencing, he clearly describes his problem as the GSOD, and says he has to do a manual reboot, so its clear he is NOT overheating, since the laptop would shut down on its own if it did instead of showing the described GSOD screens and locking up leaving him with no other option as manually rebooting. If he overheated on the newer drivers, he would also overheat on the stock ones. But youre right that installing 10.1 drivers will solve the issue, since hes GSODing, not overheating.

 

He did say he is playing starcraft2, so i would say he will want to use the 10.7 or 10.7a drivers.

 

That all makes sense, but my only question is wont turning back to an older ATI driver make some new games not function properly?

 

Well it does work better on the 10.7a drivers, but it also still works on the old ones (10.1), just not so good, so if i had to choose between better performance and GSODs on 10.7a and worse performance and stability on 10.1 id choose the latter.

 

Yes, it will. But you have to choose. All games working but you get GSODs or choose the older drivers and have most games working stably, but with lower fps and will have problems in some games or wont even be able to run something.

 

Wow ok so this is really a bad thing... what exatcly makes the GSOD come about?

So I was able to play SC2 on all ultra setting for an hour straight with my GPU reaching 90% load and 90 degrees . I reckon that since it was able to sustain those conditions for an hour, it should be fixed. Is that correct?

 

Its not 100% certain which one it is, but its either one or both;
- Asus uses different (cheaper) parts (most important in my oppinion the vRAM) to make their GPUs, which could be the cause of this (newer drivers have some clock changes).
- The vBios is somehow faulty, since users report that using a MSI/Clevo vBios solves the GSODs, but it leaves you without HDMI and VGA, so its not a good solution for most of us who need these ports to work.

Cant tell from an hour of gameplay, since the GSODs arent consistant, but your definetely not overheating if you peak at 90C.

 

Use what works best is most comfortable for you until asus releases a fix. Your temperatures are fine. Sadly i bought a cooler master notebook cooler and it doesn't seem to be helping at all. Looks like my last option for lower temps is a repaste.

 

Do we have any kind of idea as to when or if a fix for this is coming out?

 

Also, would getting a new one via RMA make any difference or is everyone affected by this problem?

 

It would probably come back being the same or even worst. Might as well wait for a fix.

 

I have been doing some external research and at one point i called the support hotline and i talked to a guy and he said that flashing to the new BIOS 211 would fix the GSOD. He linked me to the download page and it showed a new BIOS revision posted 2 days ago. Is this legit?

 

The bios is legit but the fixing of GSOD is bull

 

The BIOS has nothing to do with it. Only the vBios, drivers and the GPU (vRAM).
Still GSOD on both 209 and 211 with newer drivers. 10.1 work, but cant run some things on those.
The only change in 211 is the fans profile which make the laptop louder with no real effect. Waste of time to flash it especially considering its always a risk flashing the bios.

 

I know that post is a little old and this might seem like a stupid question but are you manually under clocking the gpu to 100/300 or is it doing it all by its self?

 

hey, i am new here and just registered because i am having the exact same problem with HD5870 on an ASUS G73jh, my driver is 10.8 from ATI website. can anyone advise me where i can get the mentioned 10.1 driver? also, i am using the laptop for 3D modelling, rendering and animation instead of gaming - is there anything i should take into account regarding the driver choice? and the clock settings of 705/1100? should i use the same settings as you guys do for gaming, or something else?

 

Hey there. Have you tried this? YouTube - G73JH GSOD FIX