Hi everyone,
I’m having a recurring issue with my ROG Strix G18 (2023) – i9-13980HX / RTX 4080 that seems related to the system firmware or EC behavior, and I’d like to know if anyone else has experienced something similar — or if ASUS staff can provide insight.
Issue summary
At random times, most frecuently when turning off or restarting the laptop, my NVIDIA RTX 4080 (dGPU) disappears completely from Device Manager and Armoury Crate/GHelper. When this happens:
The laptop boots normally but the dGPU isn’t detected at all, only shows as a hidden device.
Only the Intel iGPU shows up, and any external monitor connected to HDMI/USB-C outputs no signal.
The strange part is that the GPU comes back to life only after a specific sequence involving sleep → hibernation → reboot.
Behavior details
When the issue occurs, cold boots show no sign of the dGPU.
If I put the system to sleep and let it automatically enter hibernation (after ~10 min), then wake it up:
The system briefly shows a Windows error screen mentioning a “VIDEO_…” error (possibly VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE or similar) and restarts.
After that reboot, the external monitor turns on and the RTX 4080 is suddenly detected and works normally again.
This exact sequence has repeated several times — always the same pattern.
What’s been tried so far
Full EC/power reset (unplug charger + hold power 40 sec).
DDU clean driver reinstalls (Intel first, NVIDIA second).
Reinstalled GHelper and disabled “Fast Boot.”
Verified BIOS is up-to-date (latest from ASUS site).
Tried both MSHybrid and Discrete GPU modes in BIOS.
ASUS support previously reinstalled official GPU drivers, and the issue went away temporarily, but returned days later.
Observations
The GPU always returns after a hibernation or crash-reboot event.
The problem often appears after a full battery drain or firmware reset.
The keyboard lights up and system behaves normally otherwise.
Feels like the EC or BIOS fails to enumerate the PCIe device (dGPU) during cold boot, then reinitializes it after a power state transition.
- Keep in mind that while the dGPU is detected I can game without issues for hours.
What I’d like to know
Has anyone else with a 2023 G814JZ / G834JZ experienced this behavior?
Could this be related to the MUX / EC firmware?
Is there a way to reflash or reset the EC firmware manually?
Any official word from ASUS on potential BIOS or EC updates addressing this?
Thanks in advance to anyone who reads or replies — I’d appreciate any insights from both users and ASUS staff. I really like this machine, but this intermittent dGPU issue has been quite frustrating.
