Display Driver/Clevo M570TU

So I've got what seems to be a 'common' problem. I searched google for solutions and none worked but a lot of those pointed here so I figured this would be a good place to start posting.

"Display driver has stopped responding and has recovered"
"Display driver NVIDIA Windows Kernel Mode Driver, version 280.26 stopped responding and has successfully recovered."

Clevo M570TU
Windows 7 64 bit
GeForce GTX 280M
Intel Core 2 Extreme X9100

I've been trying to solve this problem for MONTHS and have tried multiple solutions and contacted the vendor I got it from (cyberpowerpc.com). I'll walk you through what I have been doing and hopefully someone can help me out.

-Any time I was playing any 3d game, after a bit I would get the error I outlined above. Would run good for a while at first, then I would get the first error and it would get more frequent until I just stopped playing.

It started happening under warranty, so I would get a RMA, send it off to cyberpowerpc for about 2 weeks and they would send it back 'fixed.' It would work for months before starting up again. This happened twice under warranty.

Unfortunately it is no longer under warranty so I contacted their tech support to ask what they did to it when I sent it back. I never really got a direct answer but they did say it sounds like a heat problem and when I sent it back they would have cleaned it out.

-I opened it up and cleaned out the dust with an air duster.
No luck.
-Then they said well the only other thing I could try is open it up and reapply thermal paste. So I got some Arctic Silver 5 and reapplied the paste.
Didn't work.

the temperature monitoring tools (using RealTempGT)say the GPU is at about 55C before it starts doing this repeatedly. From what I understand 55C isn't exactly overheating. So while it acts like it is overheating and throttling back, it seems like it is doing it far too soon.

Any help would be appreciated, here is a list of other solutions I tried. None of these seemed to have a positive effect.
-rolling back Realtek driver (possible driver conflict)
-Trying MANY GPU drivers, at least 15. I'll try any specific drivers if someone suggests one
-the 'TdrLevel' registry trick, changed the value to both 0, 10 and 20, no change
-Cleaning out with air duster
-reapplying thermal paste
-notebook cooler (i've had a ZALMAN cooler ever since I got the notebook)
-unplugging extra devices (only the power cord plugged in)
-made sure I was using the proper performance profile

I'm sure I tried some other fixes, just not recalling them right now.

Again, any help would be appreciated.

 

Did you ever get a report saying what was replaced/fixed when you RMA'd it? You seem to have ruled out most of the standard software related issues that can cause that. Did you make sure that when you installed new drivers you did a clean sweep to clear out the old ones?

In a more extreme measure, have you tried reinstalling windows?

Barring that, it could be a failing graphics card (or more unlikely, failing RAM/HDD) that's causing it to crash. The temps look about right though, so it's probably not overheating as you surmised.

 

An RMA report was exactly what I was trying to get when I contacted them, they just gave me some vague procedures they would do in this situation but nothing specific to how they repaired it before. I know it wasn't the RAM though, since the aftermarket RAM i put in there was still there and they didn't do anything with it.

I did a clean install of drivers, at least with the one available in the nvidia drivers themselves. If there is a way to try a 'cleaner' sweep I can try that as well.

This problem existed with the original install it came with, running windows Vista. I have since gone to windows 7 (fresh install, not an upgrade)with no improvement in this problem. I am open to reinstalling windows though since this particular problem makes this gaming laptop no more than a glorified netbook.

It acts as if the maximum temperature its allowed to work at before throttling or resetting was turned down really low and I'm wondering if there is any way to increase it or, at the very least, check it.

 

i found the best driver so far for me was 186.81 > NVIDIA DRIVERS 186.81 WHQL
55c gpu temps is fine and nothing to worry about. is this temp while just brousing or after gaming?

 

During gaming. Specifically been just using EverQuest 2 on crazy low settings. If I keep playing through the resets it has gotten up to about 57-58c but that's about it.

 

these danger temps were posted when the 570 was top dog so this is when you need to start worrying.

 

That's about what I figured.

My problem though is that it is acting as if it is overheating by resetting when it is no where near those temperatures. I haven't found anything like this but I was hoping I could find some way to regulate when it tries to throttle down.

 

Well I managed to get an installation of windows XP and had pretty much the same exact problem. Just instead of blacking out it froze with graphic artifacts and no error message.

 

can you post a picture of the graphic artifacts and then we can advise.
if its lines like the attached then your graphics card is dying or dead.

 

Well it only happens in Windows XP not my normal Windows 7 but yeah I can try and gets some shots of it. It's nothing like that BTW.

I go this program called FurMark to work perfectly though, got it past 60c with no problems.

 

I got PCMark Vantage as well. Did the 'Gaming Suite' and got a score 6216 with no hiccups. I can't imagine the video card is dead or dying if these benchmark programs have no problem but not really knowledgeable in those areas.

 

Seems I might need to find a replacement GPU. I haven't even played games for a while on it and it started getting 'line' artifacts on the screen just in windows.

How would I go about finding a replacement GPU for a m570tu anyway? I saw people suggest ebay but not sure what I should be searching exactly.

 

are the lines like my previous post.
if so its on its way. i had no artifacts, it just froze in game and on reboot the whole screen was covered.
there is the baking method which works but only for months/weeks but at least it will keep you going.
not sure about the newer cards but the options are i think 260/280GTX

 

No it wasn't that extreme. Like for example you could really notice some lines on the blue border of windows. I could still make everything out and it wasn't frozen.

I did search around for a replacement 280m but I'm not willing to plunk down $500~ for a fix when it may not work, and even if it does may not work for long.

 

Well I'm getting kind of aggravated now.

I got this laptop from cyberpower. It's been 3 days since I sent an e-mail to tech support. So I call them. One number is 'busted', i say i ordered directly from them and the intro message and options to say where i got it just repeats. Hit '1' three times before I just to hell with it.

Then I call the second number they provide, after hearing hold music for about 45 seconds the phone just rang all by itself alone somewhere for about 2 minutes.

Was going to see if cyberpower would help me out since the video card went bad TWICE in one year while under warranty, and this time all they would tell me is clean out the laptop or reapply thermal paste, all of which did nothing. Now they just give away 3 year warranties which my notebook would still be under if they did that when I ordered.

Anyway, i looked into that 'baking' method. The thing doesn't work for crap right now so I guess I wouldn't have anything to lose if it got worse. I was going to see if cyberpower would help me out but that is looking more unlikely as the days go by.

 

I have the exact same laptop like you . With exact same issue. Sager told me the issue could be either Gpu or motherboard.. I had it sent back to them. Do you get your error when the ac adapter is not plugged in? Also does the laptop freeze when the ac comes off ?

 

never tried anything with the AC adapter, so can't confirm any of that.

 

Well I looked up the baking method and tried it, no change.