Blade QHD+ 2015 - kernel driver crash & not detecting graphics card

Hi all,

I have the 2015 Razer Blade QHD+. Everything was working well till one day I decided to update my graphics driver (time machine anyone?). I then started getting the win10 alert that that nvidia kernel driver has stopped responding and recovered (recovered my ass). I followed recommendations and rolled back to previous versions, going so far as using the Razer recovery USB to do a complete format and fresh install. No luck. 2 minutes of WoW and it crashes again. I then used DDU uninstaller again to try another roll back and now I can't install the Nvidia driver I pulled off the Razer Blade 2015 support site because it does not detect compatible hardware.

Please help...I'm at a loss as what to do next. Anyone have a similar experience and, hopefully, a solution?

 

Hello,

Sorry to hear about the problems with your Razer Blade, I would suggest contacting our system support team to see if they can further assist or troubleshoot your problems. You can create a case with our support team by going to www.razersupport.com/product.

If you already have a case with us or contacted us previously let me know the case number or the email address you used and I can assist you further from there.


We apologize again for the inconvenience

Best Regards,

Razer Customer Support

 

Sounds like a dead BGA GPU to me. Hope it's still under warranty.

 

I took it to the Microsoft Store in NYC and they're having a look. After updating all the drivers it still doesn't work so they're keeping it for another couple days. They may contact you too.

 

I should be so lucky... Purchased March 2015. Any idea what they would do if I sent it to Razer or how much it would cost?

 

It's BGA chip which means that it's attached to the motherboard. They'll swap the motherboard and charge you probably 300-400 USD + shipping if it's out of warranty.

 

Thanks, at least I know what to expect now. Cheaper than getting a new laptop I guess...

 

But still a fault on their side. But yeah the thermals in razers are terrible. If you are unlucky it will kill your chip. Their support sucks too.

 

After a couple days at the Microsoft store they called me to tell me it was fixed. I asked how they managed and they told me all they did was update the drivers and Windows. I'm like oh really wow, thinking gee, why didn't I try that (sarcastically). I get to the store, start up WoW (after waiting 15 mins for an update) and at first it seems to be working well. Suddenly, the laptop turns off. Oops, probably the battery since it wasn't plugged in. Plugged it in, back on, battery shows 27% and charging. Yay a new issue. I try WoW again, still works so I figure hey, let's crank up the graphics settings to what they're usually at. Few seconds later bam, blue screen of death, something about "process has locked pages," also a new issue (my initial issue was the kernel driver crashing message). Restart laptop and the GPU has vanished again and all that the device manager shows is the integrated chip. Now they're keeping it for another couple days and if all else fails they'll help me send it to Razer. At least the Microsoft store offers solid and friendly support and it's free too, at least for now.

I'm not too optimistic about this getting fixed easily...

 

It sounds from your story like the solder inside the chip is broken. When it heats up it loses connection. THere are a lot of similar cases with other laptops that become too hot. Apple Macbook retina pro's had a similar batch of issues.

 

Good to know I'm not alone in my troubles haha. I guess with a GPU inside them the Razer laptops are more prone to issues like that too. I guess the solution is still to swap out the motherboard?

I wonder if a stealth + core set up would make issues like that less likely. (Not that I'm considering getting one, since if I had to buy a new one I'd stick with the blade because I like gaming on the go)

 

If they improved the cooling it wouldnt be that much of a problem. Not sure how many Blades are affected by this. But for the macbook retina's they had to start a replacement program.

 

I picked up the laptop again after the 2nd check in at the store. All they did was re-install windows and drivers again. Warcraft worked at first, but after about 10 mins on high settings, the laptop shut off and won't turn back on. I have now taken back my laptop and sent Razer support a ticket so that you can help me resolve this and probably send the laptop to you.

 

Well for those curious, Razer says replacing the motherboard costs $945, plus $130 labor. Not entirely sure it's worth it.....

Question is do I do it? Buy the newer blade model? Besides the fact that this has left a bad taste with regard to razer....(he writes while the chroma peripherals flash and glow beneath him....) UGH! Feel free to share thoughts, opinions or options! Any suggestions would be appreciated.

 

I'm done with Razer, and I would recommend you not throw good money after bad. The part cost of motherboard/GPU is probably 300 USD, as I know a 960m/6700-HQ is about $240 USD. They are ****ing you.

 

Damn... All the invoice said was that the 945 was for the cost of swapping out the motherboard so for now I just asked them for more details and info. I'll be sure to bring up the actual cost of the motherboard, thanks.

 

I mean you can literally buy someone else's razer blade 2015 off ebay for $1000-1200. Don't throw good money after bad.

 

End of story: the credit card I purchased the laptop with has extended warranty protection and is covering the cost of the repairs. Not ideal because it makes it seem like its ok for Razer to charge that much but I didn't have much of an option...and i'm just glad I can get it fixed and hopefully it'll stay fixed.

Thanks for the tips and support! Especially Eason!

 

Nice! What card was that, by the way? Seems like a very handy thing...

 

Haha yeah definitely helpful, lucky I remembered. It's the Chase Sapphire card but I heard Amex has it too. There are probably other cards out there with it too. They have purchase protection for all loss within 3 months or so and then also separately, extended warranty protection which adds a year to the manufacturers warranty.

 

Good that your creditcard company could fix it but this is scandalous that they would force you to pay that much money for a laptop they designed poorly with underperforming thermals and cooling. It is not like you broke your motherboard by spilling anything on it or by modifying it. A laptop should last longer than at least 2 years.

These cases will prevent me from ever buying Razer products again and I do spend a lot of money on computer stuff. Other companies will receive that money now.

 

If it had lasted more than 2 years I would have had to pay it myself! Good thing it broke earlier

Seriously though, I agree. Besides the fact that they charge me at all because the GPU got fried on its own, they charge me as much as they did. That being said, dealing with support was not as bad as I expected it to be based on what I'd read here and on reddit. Responses came quickly and they were friendly. They also shipped it back to me with next day delivery so I should have it by tomorrow. Now I just hope its actually fixed and stays that way.

My only complaint is that they didn't explain the issues in detail at all. All I got was: "GPU failed, motherboard needs to be replaced as it is all in one." By then I knew about my extended warranty protection so I didn't bother asking for more detail.

I also have to say I love the laptop way too much to say I'm done with Razer. I just love the build, size and power of it. The only thing that will change is that I will most definitely get all available warranty and extended warranty protection I can get if/when I buy another system from them. (for example, the Microsoft store also offered another year on top of the standard manufacturer's protection for about $99 though I'd need to check if the credit cards warranty would add to that as well.)

 

I'd be very polite to someone I was stealing $1000 from as well.

 

Well I got my laptop back and at least it turns on now! A bit scared to try games though....

What I am doing first (and should have done day 1) is reading about ThrottleStop and undervolting and all that. And I just realized that the article I was reading came from you Eason! Very helpful stuff! I'm still looking but I don't suppose you wrote something about settings that apply specifically to the RB 2015?

 

Used your ultrabookreview guide in the end, seemed to work well! I didn't get to the overclocking part since I don't really want to push my luck just yet!

 

Well, I do mention at the start that I used those settings on my RB 2015 (before I sold it)

 

It was a very helpful post! While everything is working mostly fine, I have gotten 2 BSODs while playing....though I played a lot and doesn't seem to always happen so not sure what causes it.

One thing I didn't see in your guide was what to set the "set multiplier" to in Profile 2 of Throttle Stop. I had it on 23, and profile 3 has it on 20. Profile 1 is set to 26, which is the default. Could that be the issue? I unchecked it on profile 2 to see if that makes a difference. I'm not even sure if the temp got high enough for it to switch to profile 2 on its own but thats just one of my guesses for now.

Google searches say the BSOD is due to a CPU error so hey, at least its a new issue haha. It says to do a system restore but I wanted to see if I messed up throttlestop somehow first. Other than that the other solutions are just the usual update all drivers and windows updates, which i'll check now.

 

If you're BSODing then it's that the undervolt is too high. Lower it by 10mv (i.e. go from -130mv to -120) and see if it's more stable.

 

I recently started having so many problems with undervoltig... I'm currently playing Aion which is HEAVY, CPU wise, and I had been having CPU related BSOD's too often, no matter the -voltage...

Never experienced a problem with Titanfall, Crysis 2, Star Wars, Kerbal and so on.. Looks like CPU intensive games won't let the notebook hold up the undervolt tho.

 

It might not be the UV. Undervolting tends to make the machine less stable at light tastes if there's an issue, not heavy. Try undoing the UV and see if it still happens.

 

I did that and I got not a single BSOD anymore since then; been a week or so now.

 

Sounds like you got unlucky with your chip! Sorry! I think my 4720hq couldn't do more than -45 or so all around.

 

You can always set the cpu max state to 99% in the advanced power settings to keep it from boosting to lower temps. I don't notice any performance issues during gaming.

Sent from a 128th Legion Stormtrooper 6P

 

ThrottleStop lets you just turn off Turbo Boost, what we are talking about it votlage reduction; the clock reduction works fine.

Thanks tho.

 

Yeah I know, just offering an alternative if you are experiencing instability undervolting.

Sent from a 128th Legion Stormtrooper 6P