Worried owner of a G73Jh, please help me out.

I have a G73Jh with Intel Core i5 CPU M 450 @ 2.40GHz 2.40 GHz (no idea why this is written twice on the system info)
4,00 GB RAM and ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 1024MB GDDR5 RAM
And I think my screen is a 17"-something with (1600x900 resolution and I like it)

But here is the things that concern me:
I have had some problems when playing games that my screen would get frozen or shutdown, sometimes weird stripes across the screen.
But I solved this with using a AirCan because I realize the hair from my dog can get everywhere! So I guess that turned out fine.
It stopped happening but if did happen one time not so long ago but I just used my AirCan again and it was fine. It's probably overheating because of the hair or dust that block the ventilation inside (maybe?)

But other things that worries me is I feel that I see like tiny-tiny-tiny snow static on my screen, like when I play Witcher 2 and there is like white color or bright, I see them easily. Almost like dots you have on old TVs...
I have no idea what that is about, maybe it's just me? Ko-ko.

Also I wonder if I will be able to upgrade my current G73Jh? Without buying entire new laptop. Just want to ask about that because I hope to enjoy The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on this baby but with Witcher 2 I can only run on low settings and it's not that cool.

I still have warranty.

Also I welcome any tips for keeping my G73Jh in good shape with hardware/software, etc. But I don't want any tips that need me to open my laptop because I'm not the right guy for that.

Oh and thanks for taking your time to read this and keep in mind english isn't my native language.. so sorry for any confusion in my post, just ask me and I'll try to make it clearer.

 

I'm guessing you have the AUO panel on a bestbuy model. That screen has some static/crosshatch/"screen-door" effect on the screen if you view it at the right angle up close. It is most noticeable on grays and midtones.

 

BestBuy model? I bought my laptop from a norwegian hardware shop. Kinda disappointing quality when I payed 1446 euro for G73Jh, what do you think?

 

Oh. It could be the same AUO panel though. It is normal for that screen as long as you can only notice it up very close.

As for upgrading it, there have been some unsuccessful attempts at swapping the video card out with a different GPU. You can add more RAM, which may not help at all, you can upgrade the CPU, which won't affect games so much, or you can add an SSD which will not really do much for gaming besides *maybe* reducing load times. There are a lot of complaints about the witcher 2 so it isn't just your system.

Having to clean the fans/vents is common - that is probably a good thing to do every month or two.

 

Oh that's good to hear, I was afraid it was my system.
I really hope to enjoy The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim you know, big fan of those games. But they have not yet released the system requirements.

So you say you don't think I really need to upgrade my RAM to play games like that?

 

I don't see why you'd need more than 4GB RAM for almost any game... every one is different but your machine should be able to play almost any game if not on maximum, then at least "good" settings.

The most important part for your G73Jh is making sure your BIOS and VBIOS have been updated, and to stay with a relatively recent ATI catalyst driver.

Beyond that, don't run crazy software in the background when you're gaming, like antivirus or antispyware, p2p software, etc.

 

Thanks ALLurGroceries, hehe.

Just one last question if you are still around and got time.
Is there a way to find out like specific details about my screen?
When I payed 1446 euro for this, I should get a good quality screen right?
Maybe I have a demo product that been sold as not a demo product?
I don't know.

 

There are a lot of threads about the various screens used in the g73jh screen section of the sticky.

It is basically luck of the draw, there are different screens in the same G73JH model.

There is a higher resolution ("full HD") 1920x1080 screen but it was on more expensive G73JH sub-models like the G73JH-A1.

 

Thanks, I'll dig into the sticky soon.

But I found some details about my screen here, MONITOR\LGD01DD? Does that tell you anything?

 

Well I'm wrong about your screen it's the LG not the AUO.

I don't know how to explain the static/fuzzy stuff, maybe it is pixelation from a compressed video in a cutscene, or used as an effect? But I haven't seen that screen in person to know if it's got that same static as the AUO LCD.

 

I'm really bad at explaining, let me try again.

If you take your face close as you can get to your screen, you will see EXTREMELY tiny "empty blocks (uhm, not empty, or I wouldn't see anything on the screen ofc)" as in EXTREMELY thin lines go from up to down and side to side making tiny boxes, is that normal?

 

Yes that is normal for that resolution, it's just a fact of the pixel density.

It means you can make out individual pixels on the screen with your eye. The only solution to that is to get a higher resolution screen (smaller pixels).

 

Oh, now I understand! *facepalm*
Well that's fine If I would have any higher resolution screen I would not have so great time watching the screen because of my bad vision, he he. As everything get so tiny.

 

Yeah pixel density is what the big fuss was over the iphone 4 retina display. They claim you can't make out the individual pixels at the normal length you would hold it from your face.

You can enlarge the DPI setting in windows to get bigger text on a higher resolution display but gaming is a different story. At least you know why your screen looks the way it does now.

 

Thank you thank you, most helpful! I like this forum <3

 

What youre facing with the weird dots in the grey tones is probably dithering..
Try turning down the brightness to about 95-96 in the Panel Properties of CCC, i've found that the affect is accentuated when the panel brightness is set a bit higher

Make sure you do it in the built in display>display colour, not the desktop management>colour..

Also use this page to test for dithering..
Black level - Lagom LCD test

you really have to put your nose upto the screen if its subtle to notice it..

PS: these findings are based on my hannstar display but i hope it works for your AUO too