DV7-3165dx goes to a black screen and locksup when playing games

My laptop runs just fine until I try to play any game other than the card games that came with windows. When I try to play any games other than that, within a few minutes, the screen will go black and the laptop locksup without any error codes. Sometimes it is a black screen with white vertical lines. Once it does, I have to hold the power button to do a hard reboot. It runs fine when doing anything else such as surfing the internet or watching dvd/bluray movies.

It only does it when it is plugged in. If I run it directly off the battery, I can play any of my games until the battery gets too low, then I have to exit from the game and let it recharge fully before getting back into a game. Even with all of my power management options for running off of the batteries to match the options when operating when the adapter is plugged in. Everything runs fine when on batteries.

I have the latest bios on it, and updated video drivers. I have noticed too, that the fan speed seems to stay constant, or increase a little when launching the game. I thought the fan speed increased more in the past, when I did not have the problem. I just did a clean factory restore a few days ago (minimal restore, actually only has the OS and drivers!) and re-installed a couple games, and tried it. Same issue.

DV7-3165dx, Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit. Standard factory setup, nothing changed or upgraded. Thanks!

Factory specs are here:

Product Number WA794UA#ABA Microprocessor 2.5GHz VISION Technology Premium from AMD with AMD Turion II Ultra Dual-Core Mobile Processor M620 Microprocessor Cache 2MB L2 Cache Memory 4GB Memory Max 8192MB Video Graphics ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200 Graphics Video Memory 128MB Display Cache Memory Hard Drive 500GB (7200RPM) Multimedia Drive LightScribe Blu-ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD±R/RW Double Layer Support Display 17.3” Diagonal HD+ LED HP BrightView Widescreen Display (1600 x 900) Network Card Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN Wireless Connectivity

• 802.11b/g/n WLAN

Sound

• Altec Lansing with SRS Premium Sound

Keyboard 101-key compatible with full-size keyboard with integrated numeric keypad Pointing Device Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical scroll Up/Down pad PC Card Slots 1 ExpressCard/54 Slot (also supports ExpressCard/34) External Ports

• 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards
• 4 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0, 4th port shared with eSATA
• 2 Headphone out
• 1 microphone-in
• 1 HDMI
• 1 VGA (15-pin)
• 1 eSATA + USB 2.0
• 1 RJ -45 (LAN)
• 1 notebook expansion port 3
• 1 Consumer IR (Remote Receiver)

Other Devices

• HP Webcam with integrated digital microphone

Dimensions 16.2" (W) x 10.9" (D) x 1.37" (min H)/1.70" (max H) Weight 7.69 Ibs Security

• Kensington MicroSaver lock slot
• Power-on password
• Accepts 3rd party security lock devices

Power

• 65W AC Adapter
• 8-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery

 

Hello all. I have the EXACT same laptop and am having the EXACT same issue as above...to the letter. I have ordered a new power supply cord with 90W instead of 65W. The new cord should arrive by Wednesday. I will keep you posted as to whether this resolves the issue. I've already done some research and I think this should fix it. I hope.

 

That would be great it that fixed it! Let me know if the new power supply fixes it. Where did you get that from?

 

Just wondering if the new power supply fixed it? I haven't used this laptop for much recently.

 

65W? My dv6z has nearly identical hardware and has a 120W power supply.

 

I wonder if a new power supply would help? It did not do this for the first year or so, then it just started doing this. I tried plugged in without battery, and same issue.

 

Yes! I'm so sorry for the delay, but absolutely...the new power supply resolved the issue perfectly for weeks now, not one single shut down! I got it on amazon here Amazon.com: Ac Adapter Battery Charger For Hp Pavilion Dv7-3063cl Dv7-3067nr Dv7-3069wm Dv7-3128ca Dv7-3148ca Dv7-3162nr Dv7-3163cl Dv7-3165dx Dv7t-1000: Electronics. Before I got the power supply, I went into the "Power Options" by clicking the battery icon in the taskbar in the bottom right and I chose some of the custom power saver options and adjusted screen brightness and this lifted enough of the load off of the substandard power supply, enough to keep it from shutting down nearly as often until I got the new power supply.

-Lindsay

 

Well, that's good to know, though I already replaced the laptop...with a more compact one.
Now, what to do with the HP?? And why did it work fine for a year?
$4.99 only?? Seems almost too good to be true.