Black Screen Crashes + Speaker Problems on 1520

So I've been trying to play Fable:TLC and Guild Wars on my Inspiron 1520 with the 8600 GT card but the games randomly goes into a black screen (with audio is still there). At this point none of my keys work (for ctrl+alt+del, windows menu, etc.) so I'm forced to hold down the power button for a forced shut down. I was just wondering if anyone else has had this problem and/or have any solutions for this? Thanks.

Twice I've gotten a blue screen stating some video card problems, and then after i check for solutions upon restart it says the problem is being researched. What's this all about?

Also, does anyone know why the speakers in the front sometimes give grainy audio? Are there any solutions for this also? (I chose the Creative HD Audio software option.)

I know it's alot of questions at once, but I've burnt so much time researching these problems that I really need help now, so I appreciate any help you guys can offer T-T


~TKNG

EDIT: All my drivers are up to date (it's a new machine )

 

Regarding your random crashes, you sure you arent trying to run the games in a resolution that you cant handle??

I know you said also that your drivers are up to date... but still drivers on nvidia's site could still be newer than dell's preinstalled stuff. Try getting or even reinstalling them. So that you can rule that out as a cause. If all else fails you should try dropping the ingame settings to low, very low settings just in case it cant handle something..etc

Btw, heat could be a source of the problem, when the GPU switches to 3d mode clockspeeds. Does this ONLY happen in these games, or are these the only ones you've tried playin so far??

 

Try updating to the newest WHQL drivers on LaptopVideo2Go.com, and if that doesn't solve the problem, try reformatting and doing a clean reinstall of the O.S., without any of Dell's bloatware.

 

Well I'm running them at native resolution (1600x1050), which is what people recommend as far as I know. Right now these two are the only games I've tried so far, could you tell me more about that heat thing?

I'll go with ur advice on the driver and lowering settings, and let you know how it goes. Thanks very much for the feedback


And odin, what are those WHQL drivers?

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WHQL_Testing

Use the latest driver for your Operating System that has the WHQL checkmark:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/drivers

 

o i c, well now I'm a bit confused... The driver on the nVidia website is version 162.22 and released July 26th, but the WHQL one is 163.15 but released July 25th, so which one should I be going for? @.@

 

The one on the LaptopVideo2Go site.

 

Alritey I've installed the driver, wish me luck ^^

EDIT: I think the driver update fixed it, kept my graphics settings the same. Thanks very much for your help guys!

 

I too am getting a black screen everytime i get to a certain point yet I can still hear the sound. I have a dell Latitude D620, with an Nvidia quadro nvs 110m video card when i go to upgrade the driver though I am not sure what to do on that website. Any help with that website or any other advice would be much appreciated.

 

I have the same lappy, as you can see in my sig. Go to this page, select your Operating System from the menu on the left, then select the highest drivers that have a WHQL checkmark next to them. Then follow the instructions on this page, under the "Installing the Driver" section.

 

thanks man. the driver helped and it works now.