U41SV Freezing in every game

Just got my U41sv. It's a lovely laptop. But the bloatwares were too much annoyance (Made me feel like the laptop was 2nd hand). So i did a clean install of Win7 64bit Home Prem with the serial underneath.

*Problem: Everything else is find. Surfing net, words, videos, etc. But when i launch games (Mafia II, Portal), both medium settings with decent FPS, my screen freezes in 1-5min. It looks like this:

That's during Portal, on medium settings.

During the freeze:
No Looping of sound
Unable to navigate mouse or alt+tab or ctrl+alt+dlt
Requires forcing shutdown
No BSOD or any error report under Events Log

Ran MemTest86, clean. Tried using the provided Nvidia driver (v466) on U41sv asus page, froze. Tried the latest one (v471) on Nvidia page but was unable to install due to - Hardware not detected. Tried (v468) available on u31sd that uses GT 520m, mine is GT 540m.

I've tried playing the games and alt+tab out occassionally. Also stared at CoreTemp while running Portal in windows mode. CPU & GPU temp were good. i cant rmb exactly, but i think GPU max was 80celcius.

Anamoly: When i played Portal in windows mode (not fullscreen), it didn't hang at all. The instance i went back in, i froze within a minute.

*not to sure wad other info i can provide. please help.

 

It looks like a driver issue. Have you tried completely removing the nvidia driver and then reinstalling using the ASUS driver? Also you did install the intel platform drivers and atk drivers, correct?

 

yeap i did a rollback of Intel HD graphic i updated it by right-clicking it at device manager. And i did a clean uninstall and install of nvidia driver, but back to the U31 version (v468). I shall go revert it to the provided one (v466) just to be sure.

Intel platform drivers being Intel Rapid Storage, Management engine and turbo boost right? yeap i did.

I just read on the this forum that ATK driver could be buggy. i will try downloading from the website and reinstall.

While i'm at it, u think dis could be the Bios? or Registry? or optimus problem?

 

I meant the intel INF update utility, if you don't have any unknown devices in device manager then you're OK.

There are some issues with some systems using the intel RST driver but I don't know if that would cause your screen to garble, I think that just leads to lockups.

I think it's a graphics driver problem, but I have never owned an optimus system to give you any good advice there.

 

I haven't seen an issue like this related to the optimus technology. While I do also suspect it is a driver problem since it still runs for a while before this issue occurs, with a look like that there is a possibility that the card itself is going bad. I have seen plenty of cases like that with a faulty card.

 

I have done a clean reinstall of nvidia driver, chipset, and ATK. no avail.

Maybe i should try using an old driver.

 

Did you try it out of the box on the stock windows install with those games?

If your hardware isn't known-good then maybe you should try a factory restore just to rule that out.

 

With the help of a guide ( Fix Latest nVidia Mobility Driver to Fit Your Notebook) i managed to update my Nvidia driver.

but it still froze -_-

oh and also, cant go back to factory settings. I stubbornly didn't create a recovery disc >.<

Edit:
I just tried playing Portal with the intel HD graphic. Could sustain longer, but it still froze.

 

Does it freeze before you did clean install? if you haven't try why don't you restore back to factory setting and try play the games again, that'll we'll know if it's drivers related or hardware.

 

Alright a concluding update for you guys:

Did a FULL reformat, installed the minimal driers - It froze, but longer.

Let me remind u,MemTest86 ran clean.
However, i opened the RAM. tuned out Harvey Norman gave 1333Mhz (2gb) while stock was 1066Mhz (2gb).
Took out 1333Mhz, worked flawless. Took out 1066Mhz, ran much longer, but still froze.

So, i went to Asus service centre. They changed the 1333Mhz to 1066Mhz, and so far so good.
I also bumped into a supplier. He told me that many of his other customers having the same problem.
Asus service centre guy was really nice and patient. Explained that dis U41sv problem is occurring alot, mainly due to resellers giving wrong rams. Even though the spec list online said it's 1333Mhz, the recommended is 1066Mhz.

As for those of u who are wanting to upgrade on ur own. He recommended getting Kingston 1066Mhz, 16 Cells (not 8 cells) - 8 black square on each side.

But one thing i dun understand. I thought RAM frequencies are specific? i'm currently running on 2x2gb 1066Mhz.