Gateway P7805U FX goes "black" while gaming

My P7805 works just fine when I am not gaming. But, when gaming, e.g. Oblivion, Skyrim, Trine2, etc, the computer will play for a few minutes; and then, it will just quit and go "black screen" with no video nor audio. It also gives a noise like a 60 Hertz buzz. I have to restart the computer to get it to work again, only to have the black screen happen again.

Any suggestions? The computer worked just fine for two years. . .then this. I'm thinking that this effect only occurs when there is a very large load on the video card. Could that be the problem area? Help!

 

It does this under all gaming?

Edit; if so then it could be a variety of issues from heat to drivers to the power supply to the CAP's on the main board have just had it............

 

Have you ever taken time to take apart your laptop, clean it and reapply the thermal paste on GPU/CPU? Monitor your temps and see if that's the problem, you can use GPUZ for easy monitoring and save the results to a txt file.

 

I have same problem too. If I'm playing GPU intensive game (Battlefield Bad Company 2, Skyrim, MW2) after a few minutes, depending on the settings of the game, it goes black with a sound lag. Any ideas?

 

Same problem, no solution found thus far. I recommend you sell it. Or buy a cheap shotgun and use it for target practice.

 

So many guys here have same problems and no solutions and ideas?

 

Gateway has had this problem with a lot of their p-78 models. I have a p-7811 fx and the situation your describing happened with me a year or more ago.

Fix: My adventure with Gateway: Gateway p7811-fx hang-ups fix using Rivatuner

The above fixed my computer for a while until it completely died and the only way I can play now is by forcing my 3D to Low in rivatuner using the above method and just choosing that option instead.

All in all.. unfortunately.. I eventually had to buy a new Motherboard/GPU stock replacement to fix the problem.

Hope this helps..

 

If the above doesn't work here's a guide I wrote a while back that fixed all my black screen errors: Definite solution to the nvlddmkm video crash on the P-7805u!

...the problem lies in some awkwardly coded clock settings that are written on the Vbios.

Following my guide will fix that if you have a 9800m gts 1gb.

 

eghhh...i used this method, but in my opinion it simply lowers clocks, so that GPU doesn't overheat or black screening. These method works perfect for web-surfing-only users, but not gamers. By lowering clocks, fps in game dramatically falls.
Thanks for help anyway. If there is any ideas? Maybe GPU flash will solve this problem?

 

I can't flash bios by your method. I'm getting EEPROM ID unknown error. I've searched a lot, but found nothing about this error. It really makes me sad.

 

Yep. Sometimes.. parts break or don't work as intended after a while. Just like the tires on your car. You can rotate them .. but you can't stop them from wearing down. You may just have to invest in a new mobo/gpu. Although its unfortunate.. it happens.

 

nobody mentioned power mizer? It fixed some of my problems, but most remain. I can play newer games seemingly forever, but most older games will probably black screen and force me to reboot after 5, or 20 minutes. I haven't gotten any real explanation as to why I could play skyrim for six hours and halo custom edition for 5 minutes.

I still recommend you shoot it. As soon as I can afford a real gaming laptop that's what I intend to do with this piece of junk.

 

I've installed powermizer already and set it to off. It gave me a boost in fps, but i'm still get black screen error. Sometimes i could play Skyrim for an hour or more without this error, and sometimes i couldn't play even 5 minutes, it almost instantly gives me error, i have no idea why it happens... Thanks for replay anyway

 

Well mine is deteriorating. It no longer plays any games more then 15 minutes without crashing. I recommend no one buy this computer, it is a piece of junk. Plain and simple. I've never had problems with any computer I ever bought except this thing. It's worthless, barely functional.

 

You purchased it with it broken already and the keyboard issue. Apparently the person who sold it to you was having issues as well. As with the purchase of any used computre there could be trouble. You nkew there were issues from the get go.

But I'll agree no one buy this (your) computer. Anyone searching out a P7805 is looking for a machine that has been probably run had gaming for the last three years too, so the buyer should always beware..........................

 

I agree with TanWare that happened to me with an Alien ware, I find out later that my GPU was failing, so I decided to sell the machine. So if you want buy a new MOBO with a new GPU, then sell it on Craigslist.

 

Gateways are not piece of junk. I got mine from Craigslist and this machine has done wonders, I have not gotten any problems. So next time be careful how you buy the computer.

 

why does everybody suggest you buying a new mb? can't you just buy video chip only and have it soldered? wouldn't it be a much more affordable solution?

 

Everyone doesn't. The problem could be one of many but if it is the GPU then it is easier to do a new main board unless you have those skills required to do a new GPU.

Now the old GPU could have issues from constant over heating or from being alowed to crash from PSU power spikes. If the brick is that bad you had best replace it before issues arise again.

I attribute my non issues with the P7805 that is now a P79xx from using a oversized brick. I can say with the stock brick just upgrading to a second drive and the T9600 it started displaying some flaky behaviour, the Targus 180w cured that in short notice.

What happens is you over strain the PSU and get power spikes that either over or under load the chips. This will easilly cause premature death of a chip. The problem here is the damage is not reversable so if you do nothing about it right away you are too late once it becomes a prevelant issue.

Even without upgrading the system these original PSU bricks are an issue. As time goes on they provide less and less clean power. Eventually the issues will start to show up and by then you have a bad system too.

Notice there are no P78xx or P79xx systems that were using the higher end bricks from the get go showing up as dead or with other issues. You, the individual user, has to decide if this says something. But remember I have been saying this for over three years...................

 

Interesting. My Gateway FX has been fantastic since I bought it brand new but the power supply has always been suspiciously incompetent. It would make a sizzling noise whenever I played a system intensive game. I would see some fps drops for no reason even though I was using a high end Zalman NC-2000 notebook cooler.

I replaced stock settings with an X9100, applied ICD7 to the CPU and GPU and overclocked the X9100 and 9800m GTS. So far, I haven't had any noticeable issues except the power adapter gets uncomfortably hot and makes a sizzling noise.

Do you recommend replacing the PSU? If so, can you provide a link to a good one?

 

If you get the sizzle noise yes, this is noise also being generated in the power supply to your system. Like every component some made are better than others. I personally would not trust it.

As far as links I can't help you there, been out of the market for a while now. I know the Targus 180w and there was a Targus 220w for a while are good bets but since out of production either may be hard to find. I think there are some gaming system OEM replacements that will do but not sure which systems qualify..................

Edit; I should note I originally was using the stock brick and once the T9600 went in I was getting the "video driver has recovered" error. Went to the 180w brick I had and bang, no more errors. Never looked back since then................

 

I believe the stock brick is rated at 120W. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I think I'll pass on buying a replacement for the current AC adapter since I plan on selling mine later this year. Thanks for the info, Tanware.

 

I don't remember off hand, The first one I got out of the box was a DOA. I had the targus and used that till the replacement came in. It worked ok till I started upgrading. It became apparent it was not going to be of use so I relegateed it to a mobile addapter if I took the system out and used the 180w at home.

I took the system out about 6 times and used the stock brick for short periods. Loaned it to my now son-n-law and that was then end of that brick. It was torn up being tripped over, same reason for his original bricks death.

Soon this P79xx will be retired, I want a NP7290 Sager...................

 

P-68*, P-78* and 79* all have 120w stock adapters

 

Turns out I have this same problem with my old P7811FX.

Black screen randomly while gaming requiring a hard reset, video driver stopped working occasionally, etc. So thanks for the thread giving me some clue what is going on.

Luckily I no longer need to use the FX for gaming, but I'd still like to fix this problem. I'll read back through the thread to find any advice how to do just that.

But also, can anyone point me towards a good power brick replacement? I did have a targus 180, but it somehow sprouted legs and walked away!

Thanks!

 

So, there is no fix for "black" screen issue? And no fix for my EEPROM not found problem?
Is there is a way to reduce voltage with software? Nvidia drivers can rewrite voltage, so is there is an Nvidia drivers, which voltage is always 0.9 including 3D Performance? Or Dox or something i don't know... I will buy soon new x9100 CPU and I can't play with black screening... Please help...

 

Check my thread and see if it helps: http://forum.notebookreview.com/gat...ny-7811fx-user-who-has-black-sod-problem.html I've been living with this for years...

 

Ehrg, i hate this laptop, my brother gave it to me for about 2 monthes ago with broken screen. I've bought and installed new screen and it seems to be working... but in games there were black screens, not BSOD, just black screen appear and nothing happens, loop sound and unresponsive laptop, only hard reset.

BUT, my brother hadn't had this problem at all, no BSOD, no black screen, why it now appears to me? Because of new screen? (note: my new screen now is 1440-900 (matte), and old one was emm, 1920-1080 (glare) i think). Or can my brother damaged GPU? (he disassemble it for a few times and he get extra screws at all times, my webcam and microphone does not work because of this I think).

I have another situation, I can even overclock my memory (to 880) and no black screen, but when i use stock or overclock core and shaders it gives me black screen. What does that mean?

I hate rivertuner way, it just simply downclock my GPU...

Thanks for reply anyway, i'll try to downclock memory, maybe it helps...

 

Can someone with the Targus 180w Universal tell me the tip you have? I found some on eBay but they only come with 1 tip of the 3 available and I can tell from the looks or "supported" list, which one will work...

Thanks! Dont want a black screen!

 

this same s*hit also happens to me, I can play dota 2 for 12 hours, but I can not play anno 1404 or age of empires 3 for 30 min without screen goes black, but the sound still running in background.

 

Did Anno 3 about a week ago... was testing the whole DRM change thing for a friend (was trying it on different systems to see when it locks)... I got about 2 hours of it before I quit... no black screens... didnt try AoE3, dont own it...