Games freezing on G73SW

So my G73SW that I've had for nearly a year has decided to start freezing on just about any game that works the graphics card relatively heavy. The games run fine for a minute or two and then freeze with unpleasant sounds coming from the speakers. I've tried multiple driver versions to no avail.

I'm preparing to do a fresh install to see how that turns out, but before I do, is this most likely a hardware problem?

EDIT:

Well, I did the fresh install and still no dice. Computer completely locks up when I run an even semi-demanding game. Guess I'll resort to customer support.

 

1) Do the Errors and Warnings (asidel from the Kernel-Power EventID 41 that indicates abnormal shutdown) point to a troubleshooting direction?

2) What are your CPU and GPU temperatures at idle and when the laptop locks up? Configure the temperature monitoring software to log temps and get the maximum reading on lockup from the log.

3) What Antivirus, AntiMalware, Firewall, or Remote Access software did you install to you new Windows installation?

 

1. No warning messages come up.

2. The CPU and GPU temperatures while idle and gaming are normal. The CPU was at 55 C and the GPU was at 66 C when it froze.

3. MSE.

EDIT:

So I was playing a game in windowed mode to monitor the temperature when it froze in the same manner for about half a second and I get the message "Display driver has stopped responding and has recovered." Tried again in full screen and it did the full freeze again.

 

Errors and Warnings from the System and Application Event Logs don't pop up. You gotta launch Event Viewer and hunt 'em down like a detective.

Sounds like you experienced a Timeout Delay Recovery (TDR) error. This occurs when the video driver fails to respond for 2 seconds. Windows then resets the video adapter and reports the error you observed, rather than throwing a BSOD. These TDR errors can result from many causes.

If I were in your situation, I'd do the following:

1) Use DPC Latency Checker to confirm you don't have latency issues on your system. These can lead to delays in your video driver resulting in TDR errors.

2) Uninstall your current video driver from Control Panel. Reboot into Safe Mode and use Driver Sweeper to remove any video driver remnants. Consider using CCleaner to clean up the registry. Then install the video driver that came stock with your system or the most stable WHQL video driver for your laptop model. I fecommend installing it from Safe Mode to disable any running drivers that may potentially interfere with your video driver installation.

If these fail to resolve your issue, you'll have to put your Sherlock Holmes hat on and dig in the Event Logs, diagnose your memory with memtest86+, and possibly troubleshoot your power supply.

You could also skip the above and just RMA your laptop. If the issue is easy to reproduce, they might replace the motherboard, which may or may not resolve your problem. Or they might not be able to repro the lockup and just send it back to you.

 

I have looked into Event Viewer, though not entirely thoroughly. What I can find around the time it crashes is the error resulting from me having to use the power button, Session "Microsoft Security Client OOBE" stopped due to the following error: 0xC000000D, and
ACPI thermal zone ACPI\ThermalZone\THRM has been enumerated.
_PSV = 378K
_TC1 = 2
_TC2 = 10
_TSP = 10000ms
_AC0 = 0K
_AC1 = 0K
_AC2 = 0K
_AC3 = 0K
_AC4 = 0K
_AC5 = 0K
_AC6 = 0K
_AC7 = 0K
_AC8 = 0K
_AC9 = 0K
_CRT = 376K
_HOT = 0K
_PSL - see event data.

I'll try the clean driver installation tomorrow and see how that works.

As for the DCP, I ran it while running a game and there were no major latency spikes; it was consistently around 100-200us when it crashed. I've been running it for around 45 minutes now and it stays consistently green with a few spikes (not gaming), the highest being a whopping 11,0000 (not sure when that happened).

 

Are these freezes permanent? If they are the "periodically freeze for 3 seconds then resume like nothing bad happened" kind of freezes, then simply defrag your harddrive and the problem should be resolved. By defrag I mean a real defrag, not the windows defrag. "O&O Defrag" is a good one.

EDIT: Oh.. you reinstalled.. well then I guess the problem runs much deeper..

 

"Display driver has stopped responding and has recovered." vga or ram error.

 

If you wanna be a good detective, you gotta look further back in the Event Logs than at the instant the issue occurs. You're looking for ANYTHING that could point to a troubleshooting direction.

If you unplug and remove your battery, does the laptop startup successfully on just the power adapter and run stable?

I remember a thread where a user had his laptop plugged into a circuit that also ran a space heater. When the heater turned on (or off - can't remember), it created a surge (or drawdown) which caused his laptop to lock up. Once he plugged into a different circuit, his lockup issue was resolved. True story...

 

Yes, the laptop starts successfully with just the adapter.

I uninstalled the driver, ran Driver Sweeper and CCleaner, and installed the driver from Asus's website, and just tested it out. Still received another "Display driver has stopped responding and recovered" message with no freezing. I'll assume it is still possible for the my computer to freeze completely as I test more games. In the meantime, I'll try memtest but so far it is looking like it might be a bigger problem.

 

Run the memtest86+ on single or memory stick pairs with 3 passes each. If you can identify problematic RAM, it may save you an RMA.

 

My G73sw also had this problem and they had to RMA. They would only tell me that they had to reinstall to factory setting. I did that before I sent it in with a clean install and it was still locking up. They sent it back in September and I am OC to 840/1680 and running Win8 with no issues.

Good luck