MSI 1761 shutting off problem

My 1.5 yr old msi 1761 w/ 570m is starting to instantly shut off very frequently. The shut off is similar to as if you pull the power with no battery attached. It happens even with a fully charged battery. Usually happens when I launch or run a graphic intensive program. Sometimes it happens when booting into windows.

When on battery only, I experienced this happen once. When I uninstallednvidia drivers, I don't experience the problem. I have reverted back to old drivers, and did a clean driver sweep, and still experience when mainly on AC power.

I have ran cpu intensive stuff like prime 95 or cinebench, and that does not trip up the notebook. Notebook reaches 100w consumption when running these. I have managed to run furmark with nvidia drivers installed and on AC power, but usually this will cause a shut off. When running furmark, it went up to 180W consumption.

Should I suspect it be a gpu problem? My gpu has been running overclocked to 700/1800 for the last 1.5yrs, but not overvolted. Is there a way I can get it to run on full 3d clocks on battery, so I can try to rule out the gpu?

 

How about temps? Monitor them and if needed cleanup your cooler. No you can`t run full clock 3d on battery.

 

Like majster msi said check the temps and clean up the vents and fan, something like this will cause system to overheat and shuts off.

 

I cleaned out the dust on the heatsink fins about a month ago. The temps are ok, gpu hits 80C max. Its ic diamond as paste, but I haven't repasted since installation.

I thought it may be the ac adapter. One time after a shut down, it took about 10 secs to turn on, even though I pressed the power button like 5 times before it finally turned on. It seem like I can run furmark fine after running something like prime 95 first. It seemed to me that when the ac adapter is cold, the problems happen. But I just tried it again after I unplugged ac for ~ 1hr, and it ran furmark fine.

 

running Furmark does shuts off system on some of the 180W adapter.

 

It may very well be the adapter then - that or there is a problem with the DC jack or corresponding circuitry. First step would probably be to replace the adapter and test.

 

I ran furmark from a cold boot this morning and it ran fine. Can't reproduce the problem consistently. If I get a new adapter, I'm thinking about getting a 220w one. Do any of the alienware or clevo adapters come with the same barrel plug?

 

I don't think any Clevo OEM adapters would be compatible, but I'm not as familiar with the 1761 model. Many Clevo units use a barrel tip but I don't know if the 1761 uses the type with the wire or if it's the narrower type with no wire. But in any case I think the dimensions are different.

 

Half the time it turns back on automatically after a shut-down. But sometimes when I don't have the battery attached, it wont. Pressing the power button won't turn it on. I have to unplug and replug the 3 prong power cable to ac adapter, and then pressing the power button will turn it on.

Does this sound like an ac adapter problem then? I opened up the ac adapter and did not notice any burnt or damaged components.

 

I tried out the new ac adapter today. Everything was looking good. Power consumption according to kill-a-watt looked much more stable than with the original ac adapter. Even processor was staying on turbo speeds much longer. Was running games / 3dmark without shutting down.

Then I ran furmark... I have ran furmark for lengthy periods without issue many times, before the shutting down problem started happening.

30 seconds in, laptop shut off. This time its dead for good. Won't turn on at all, fans dont spin, nothing at all. Battery no longer charges (led doesn't turn on). I unplugged and replugged everything. Tried only with battery, doesn't work. I even cleared cmos battery. Tried out different memory dimms.

I disassembled the whole thing and I don't see any burned out components on mainboard, gpu, cpu, etc... I don't think its the cpu or gpu, because battery should still charge (battery was less than 70%) when laptop is off.

Looks like the embedded controller or some other component is dead on mainboard.

What should I do now? Warranty is expired. Can MSI offer service for a fee? A replacement mainboard will probably cost ~$400. Any suggestions? Much appreciated.

 

maybe gpu is dead ?

 

After some more fiddling, I found out that when there is no gpu plugged in, the system can turn on, battery can charge, hd activity light flashes. So it seems to work fine with no gpu, but since I have no display (non-optimus laptop) I can't see the extent of whats working.

But when I have the gpu attached, its completely dead. Won't turn on, battery doesnt charge. The led light on my ac adapter turns off.

I don't know whether its the gpu or voltage regulator/control chip on mainboard. I have a new gpu coming in next week to test out. It shouldn't be the ac adapter because they both work on my other laptops.

Anyone have thoughts on this? Much appreciated. Thanks.

 

If the replacement GPU doesn't get you up and running, then to answer one of your previous posts: yes, MSI can service it for a fee. Chances are you'll need to pay for at least the shipping and part - you might be able to get free labor, depending on what needs to be done (per their assessment). But no promises on that.