M17x R4 - dying GPU?

For a while I've been getting video card (7970M) crashes where the monitor would suddenly shut off or turn a solid color (sometimes with vertical stripes) while gaming, sound is unaffected. It doesn't happen frequently, about once a few months or so. When it happens, the only way I could recover from it was to reset the computer.

As of recently however, when I reset due to this I would get a black screen on startup. No beeps or anything, CPU fan spins and keyboard lights are on. Tried booting into diagnostic mode with D + power or F + power, didn't work. However, it would start up again normally after an hour or two of me trying to figure out what's wrong with it.

I've tried removing the card and having it boot from the integrated card, that works.

Temperatures are fine, driver version is 14.9.

So far this is the second time this happened. Is this a sign that my GPU is dying or simply a driver issue? I've had the black screen issue over multiple driver versions but it's only with 14.9 that it would persist on reboot. Should I look for a replacement card? If so, which compatible replacement would give me the best performance for its price? Anything I should watch out for as far as installation and drivers go?

Thanks for the help.

 

Hey Altair4,

Looks like cold solder joint on the 7970m.
I would recommend baking it otherwise a new 7970m will be required.
Follow the guide here.

Good luck.

 

Baking my graphics card? Sounds like a last ditch solution... It still works fine most of the time, won't a solder failure mean it's completely dead?

 

No, it would not. The same thing happens for northbridges on older laptops, even xbox 360. They can all be temporary fixed by heating the solder on the board so it would melt down for a few seconds. This essentially restores proper contact between the chip and the board it's on.

 

Well, it just happened again. Middle of Guild Wars 2, sudden black screen, sound still running in the background. Tried restarting, black screen on boot. Gonna buy some thermal paste and try the baking method I guess... Has anyone done it before with this particular model / card and is there anything I should watch out for?

 

The 7970m's unfortunately have been dropping likes flies. I am all for AMD but they really need to step up their game in terms of reliability and competitiveness in the mobile market.

 

Watch this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/m17x-r3-amd7970m-strange-issue-loosing-display.774240/

After another day of testing, I will be prepared to offer a possible solution. My machine has not crashed in 24 hours, but more testing is needed.

 

Thanks jiaco, I'll keep an eye out.

Also, I'm not sure how relevant this is, but when I let it boot with the 7970 and let it sit there for a while, I notice that the fans (both) initially turn on at boot and shut off after a second or so. After leaving it on the black screen for half an hour or so, the GPU gets extremely hot (so it's obviously doing something) and the processor only warms up somewhat. Not really sure what this means.

Anyway, I've ordered some thermal paste and will try baking it when it arrives, and just run it off the integrated card for now.

Edit: so after I let the GPU cool slightly after the above, I tried booting it and it worked again. Does it mean that the heat (temporarily) fixed the solder issue? Another reason to try baking if that's the case...

 

Hey, I updated my thread as my machine seems stable. You might check it out and give it a try. What BIOS are you on?

 

Hm, interesting, I might give that a try. I'm currently on the stock A02 BIOS.

Edit: updated bios and drivers, will update if anything bad happens.

 

Just experienced it again now, playing GTA5. Guess I should probably look for a new card...

 

Sorry to hear that. My Dell rep that was remotely inside my machine is on vacation atm, but i have asked him what he thinks he did that fixed it, as I cannot be utterly sure.

But of course, we might have different problems and just similar symptoms...I did replace the 7970m though and the problem persisted. If you are not under warranty and buying the card, I would hate to see you still have the problem with a new card.

 

I don't know how your thread ended up over here, but just wanted you to know, I had another crash. Totally destitute now.