G73sw Grey Screen problem

Model: Refurbished G73SW-BST6
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit
BIOS ver: 205
Nvidia drivers: 301.42 WHQL

I bought my laptop here:
Newegg.com - Refurbished: ASUS G73 Gaming Series G73SW-BST6 Refurbished Notebook Intel Core i7 2630QM(2.00GHz) 17.3" 8GB Memory 750GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M

For the first week it was fine then I reinstalled with a fresh new OS and one day the screen suddenly turned black, the keyboard LED lights flashed a couple of times then finally, a grey screen with 3 horizontal lines appears.

Took me a couple of restarts just to get to the desktop and the problem still persists. Is this a hardware issue? I like to know if there are ways to fix this before I decide to return it to them thanks.

edit: So far the grey screen problem never kicks in during my gaming sessions only when browsing or letting it sit idly.

 

Uninstall your display drivers, cleaning them with Driver Sweeper afterwards. Then reinstall them. See if the crashes persist.

Also, use your computer in Safe Mode for a bit and see if the problem still manifests.

It's interesting that this doesn't happen during gaming, so it's probably not a temperature issue - but post your idle/load temperatures anyway.

 

I just did the first two steps but on my way of reinstalling the drivers the whole thing freezes. I went to safe mode but there were some freezing during the booting-the-files process but once I got to safe mode the same thing happened....

Initially I thought it was an OS issue(since things before I started reinstalling the OS were perfectly fine, no freezing and OS-related issues) but since the freezing appears outside the OS I guess there are hardware issues?

CPU idle temp: 44-49 C
GPU idle temp: 44-48 C

edit: Ok I got to reinstall the drivers in safe mode but I get a black screen upon booting to the OS so I restarted, got inside, look at core temps then a couple of minutes later the OS restarted by itself and I got the black screen again. GPU idle temp got up around 60 C before restarting...

Should I reinstall the OS?

 

Do you see any Errors or Warnings in the System or Application Event Logs that may point to a troubleshooting direction?

301.42 is brand new and a relatively unkown quantity. If I were in your situation, I'd probably boot into Safe Mode and do a clean install (choose "Custom Install" and check the "clean install" checkbox) of NVIDIA 285.62 WHQL for troubleshooting purposes. OR use Windows System Restore to restore back to your last stable NVIDIA driver.

In fact, I'd try Windows System Restore first since you report lockups attempting to install the video driver.

 

As this occurs even when in safe mode, that's a distinct possibility.

Definitely try dstrakele's ideas. I'm still a bit confused as to why this doesn't happen while playing games. After downgrading your display drivers, could you run a benchmark for a while and watch for any abnormalities?

 

I did check the system/application event logs but there's no entry that is connected to the issue so far.. also, as you instructed, after I clean installed the Nvidia 285.62 drivers I get a pink screen with messed up graphics during the restart -> booting process.

I decided to reinstall the OS(format C and everything), install drivers and stuff but after installing the video card drivers (ver. 301.42) I get the same Windows 7 boot -> black screen -> grey screen + 3 horizontal bars.

Is it safe to assume that this is a GPU hardware issue? I used system restore to go back to the state before I installed the video drivers and it's working perfectly fine so far(but obviously I can't play games at this state).

edit:
@alaric_t: Yeah it's rather strange but I didn't get to try running a game after the grey screens kicked in it could happen at that point.

 

Did you encounter any problems during the Windows 7 Ultimate re-install? If so, it probably would be best to start over with a new Windows 7 installation. The OS is the foundation of your system. You want everything to go smoothly during OS installation.

Otherwise, connect your laptop to an LCD TV. If the video displayed on the laptop display is corrupt, but clean on the TV, it is likely a bad LVDS cable connection, bad cable, bad laptop display, or some electrical short causing your issue.

If both laptop and TV displays are corrupt, it is the GPU or the video driver, or some electrical short.

I've read of cases where the user touches the LVDS cable or the GPU heatsink and the corrupt or black display clears, or they move the laptop display and corruption changes or disappears, or they lift the laptop by one corner and the video behavior changes, or they accidentally slammed the display closed when nearly dropping the laptop and the video corruption disappears. So get out your hammer and have at it... j'est kiddin' ;>{)>

I'm not saying you will have the same results. In fact, a pink screen on a clean install of 285.62 would probably be more indicative of a LVDS cable issue or a dying GPU, rather than some software issue.

 

None I never encountered any problems during the installation and I'm currently waiting for the problem to kick in while it's being connected to the LCD TV.

I like to mention one thing, the laptop got a grey screen while letting it sit idly.. I didn't install the nvidia video card driver that time.

After restarting I got a "Windows has recovered from an unexpected shutdown" message, more details:

------------------------

Problem signature:
Problem Event Name: BlueScreen
OS Version: 6.1.7601.2.1.0.256.1
Locale ID: 1033

Additional information about the problem:
BCCode: 116
BCP1: FFFFFA800DA67010
BCP2: FFFFF8800FCA9AA4
BCP3: FFFFFFFFC000009A
BCP4: 0000000000000004
OS Version: 6_1_7601
Service Pack: 1_0
Product: 256_1

Files that help describe the problem:
C:\Windows\Minidump\052312-18345-01.dmp
C:\Users\DK\AppData\Local\Temp\WER-47642-0.sysdata.xml

Read our privacy statement online:
Windows 7 Privacy Statement - Microsoft Windows

If the online privacy statement is not available, please read our privacy statement offline:
C:\Windows\system32\en-US\erofflps.txt

---------------

I'm hoping it's just a loose/bad LVDS cable, warranty won't be broken if I attempt to fix/replace it right?

edit: I ran through 3-4 3DMark11 Basic benchmark sessions and no GSOD happened so far. GPU temp. went around 65 C

 

Since you just got this laptop, I'd recommend contacting Newegg for an exchange or refund. Even a Refurbished laptop should not have problems right out of the box. I would not recommend an RMA for warranty repair as the laptop, with all it's problems is then YOURS, and Newegg is off the hook.

The BSOD you received was a VIDEO_TDR_ERROR. It occurs when the video times out for 2 seconds. Windows attempts to reset the video card and if this fails, it stops out with a 0x116 Bug Check Code. It's a concern you got this on Windows Plug-n-Play VGA driver.

 

That definitely sounds like a serious issue I'll contact Newegg about it and have it exchanged/refunded, thanks! Good thing I didn't migrate most of my files there.