7811FX Problems

When I play games for an extended period of time (Cod WaW, Napoleon TW, DA:O) I will often get a crash, not to desktop, but where the display shuts off and the audio goes crazy. Anybody know why and possibly have a solution?

 

First guess is heat?

 

That's usually the case, try monitoring your temperatures with hwmonitor and if you start seeing it above 90 it's probably a heat issue. If that's the case you can try blowing it out with compressed air because dust is usually the problem, but since it's actually to the point of shutting down you may have to take apart the laptop to get the dust out. While you're in there you may consider applying some ICD7 to further reduce temperatures as well as undervolting if you feel live it. I'd say anything between 0.97~1.02V should cool it down a few degrees and be stable even with overclocking. If you don't overclock you can go a little below that but not too far. Maybe 0.92~0.96V? Anyway dust should be the first thing to worry about especially if you don't blow it out periodically.

 

Here's a fix if that doesn't work:

1. Download the latest version of RivaTuner here: RivaTuner

2. Install RivaTuner and Run the program.

3. In the Main tab, click on the arrow next to Customize under Driver Settings to bring up more options then click System Settings (the first Icon)

4. In the Overclocking tab, where it says "Force constant performance level" select performance 3D.

5. Click apply, and reboot the system when prompted.

If for some reason the "Force constant performance level" drop-down is grayed out you will need to go to the "Power users" tab in the initial RivaTuner window. Then click on the "+" next to "RivaTuner \ NVIDIA \ Overclocking". Look for "EnablePerfLevelForcing" and under Value type 1. Click apply, this should allow you to modify "Force constant performance level." Finally, follow steps 3-5 above.

 

I'm not sure if it's heat because it happens when I play Portal and the computer is not particularly hot.

 

Okay I'm pretty sure it is heat, how would I gain access to my GPU to clean the dust out, I managed to clean the dust (which was substantial) out of my CPU, but I have no idea how to access the GPU.

 

Getting full access to the gpu requires disassembling the laptop. You can however get a can of compressed air and blow air into the air inlet on the bottom of the laptop.

Did you end up monitoring your temps? What were they? I would also recommend you grab a laptop cooler, which should help keep temps down during heavy gaming sessions.

 

Would the compressed air be effective at all?

 

Very. That's pretty much the standard for cleaning out vents in a computer. However, if you have massive buildups of dusts, you may still need to tear the laptop down and do a full cleaning. Start with the easiest solution first, use a tear down as a worst case scenario.

 

And you're sure about this? The vents on the 7811 don't seem to be particularly large so that compressed air would be so effective.

 

Get yourself a can of compressed air, one with the little red straws on them, and try it. If it does not help, what do you have to lose?

Just remember, blow air into the inlets, not the exhaust. Blowing air into the exhaust will simply pust dust back into the fans.

 

ermmm which one is the inlet?

 

The air inlets for the cooling fans are on the bottom of the laptop. The exhaust outlets are on the side of the laptop, and the back right corner of the laptop.

 

Yeah I wouldn't recommend spending money on a laptop cooler. I spent 40 bucks for a USB one from Rosewill which is only something like .5 volts and isn't enough to effectively cool a laptop like the 7811. Plus the air vents on the laptop don't accommodate the fans on a cooler unless it adjusts according to the vents on the 7811.

I would say you're better off propping the battery side of the laptop up with a book to allow for more air flow. Cleaning out the inside with a duster should help but if you know how to disassemble the laptop and put Arctic Silver 5 on the GPU then you should be fine, also try the fix I posted. It's all software and you don't have to take apart the laptop.

 

I use this laptop cooler when I first got my 7811, it keeps everything cool.

Newegg.com - NZXT SILVER Aluminum Notebook cooler w/ 3 120mm adjustable fans Model CRYO LX

 

if its really a problem you need to apply TIM. my 7811fx was shutting itself down from overheating after about 25 minutes in COD 4 and then I applied some artic silver and it hasn't overheated once since i did that. my computer was in really bad shape though, it was idling at the desktop at 64 degrees celcius, i don't know if yours is as bad

 

So i used the compressed air and got the dust out, and now it runs cooler, but the damn thing still shuts itself down when it's not even very hot. What do I do?