G73JW keeps locking up

[DJSirMatthew]

Hey all,

Been having this problem for a while and have been lurking for a while too, trying out the possible solutions handed by members. Basically my G73JW started locking up at completely random moments, sometimes while playing Football Manager (steam controlled game) or just when surfing the net with Google Chrome.

I did clean install, full driver update (especially the chipset one), and have throttlestop 4.00 running with C1E disabled and with other C-states at C1. But still the locks keep coming and going. Sometimes after restarting I get a message saying Windows recovered from a serious error and if I want to check online for a solution (in vain). Administrative events are riddled with the WHEA logger Event ID:17 Express PCI Root Port which seems to indicate a problem with the chipset right?

Anyone having similar issues but with a novel solution? I prefer not to RMA it.

O, the only hardware change is swapping one of the HDD (I have the non-SSD ones) with an SSD of Corsair Series 3 (Sandforce).

[dstrakele]

It wouldn't hurt at least to get the information for your options.

[DJSirMatthew]

Ok, got confirmation from ASUS I have 2 year warranty (even says on bottom of laptop Warranty: 24M (yes facepalm for myself)).

Anyways, after the WHEA logger events went away, I still had some lockups. And just now I had something new: a complete automatic power off. 1 second I'm playing Football Manager, the next I'm staring at a black screen, wondering if the electricity shut down... but the light kept on shining...

Oh well, I'll just wait untill I get my Zenbook and then I send this little puppy for a RMA. I hope they swap the mobo&GPU... it defo has to do with GPU getting too warm (was running at 80 degrees all day) and the PCI express root port between CPU and GPU...

[dstrakele]

The automatic power off is likely due to your GPU or CPU reaching critical temperature. They are designed to shut down when that happens in an attempt to prevent damage. It is indicating the severity of your overheating issue.

[DJSirMatthew]

I thought so, but when the automatic power off happened, the fans weren't spinning (or at low speed) and the laptop wasn't hot... I didn't check the temperatures at that time (should have done that). I just got up (European time zone here) and the computer's been on for about 1 hour and the GPU is running at 41-43 degrees. I'll leave GPU-z open now and have it log everything...

[DJSirMatthew]

Update: 7 hours later laptop still running fine, GPU still around 40-45 degrees (maximum reading in last 8 hours is 52 degrees) so all looks really good. The only thing happened between then & now is installation of an Update when I shut down the laptop last night. Yet in update history of Windows Update there is no record on any update done... but whatever happened, it worked?

Also the WHEA logger even ID 17 events are gone...

[DJSirMatthew]

OK, I'm at a complete loss. While yesterday was super duper fine, this morning when I wanted to start up the laptop, it did nothing. All lights went on but that was it. 4 seconds later the right fan started speeding up to full speed. But only black screen, nothing else. So I turned it off, and back on. Same thing. Disconnected USb 3.0 external HDD but no difference, disconnected power and mouse, no difference. Took out battery and conencted AC plug and then I got a normaal boot up again. But the GPU temp was again 67 degrees and has stayed for that for the 40 minutes the laptop has been running.

In meantime, my Action Center gave some messages about a solution for my computer problem, basically stating it's a hardware problem but they cna't say which part. Oh, and they gave me a link to HP support for a PCI Express problem?!

[DJSirMatthew]

Yeah, could it be that during the failed start-ups the GPU didn't get cooling and cooked itself? And that suddenly some switch made the fan go on full speed because of the heat? That would explain why the GPU was running at 67-70 degrees when the laptop finally did boot. Temperatures have since been dropping slowly to 60-63 degrees zone.

If that's the case, then what could be the cause? GPU itself? Or rather something on the mobo which makes the GPU cook itself on failed startups? OR the external USB3.0 HDD which demands too much voltage and therefor screws with the boot process? In the end, still too many variables. Anyway, I've decided to RMA it once I get my Zenbook (should be somewhere around 6 february). Only I have to decide which Zenbook to get: UX31E RY008V or UX31E RY010V (difference is 65 euros and i5 2557 or i7 2677 (which is a difference of 0.1 Ghz base freq and 4 instead of 3 Mb L3 cache)... any advice welcome

[BrodyBoy]

DJSirMatthew wrote:
Yeah, could it be that during the failed start-ups the GPU didn't get cooling and cooked itself? And that suddenly some switch made the fan go on full speed because of the heat? That would explain why the GPU was running at 67-70 degrees when the laptop finally did boot. Temperatures have since been dropping slowly to 60-63 degrees zone.

Yeah.....that's exactly what I was thinking when I read your description, and why I mentioned the video card specifically.

If that's the case, then what could be the cause? GPU itself? Or rather something on the mobo which makes the GPU cook itself on failed startups? OR the external USB3.0 HDD which demands too much voltage and therefor screws with the boot process? In the end, still too many variables. Anyway, I've decided to RMA it once I get my Zenbook

I doubt if it's related to your USB drive at all. Video cards just fail. 😞 In fact, the last three laptop "retirements" in my household occurred when their video cards gave up the ghost. I had an HP that was really quite a workhorse (little things would break here and three, but nothing crippling), until one week it started exhibiting some video irregularities. The next week, I got a failed boot or two. Then the next week, the video card died for good.

I just think they are one of the more "delicate" components, and it's not uncommon for them to fail eventually.

[DJSirMatthew]

Another side-note: I remebered seeing a post of Chastity (apparently on notebookreview.com) about USb 3.0 HDD being out of spec:


The USB 3.0 port is spec'd to output 5v @ .5A

Some external HDDs (WD USB 1TB for example) need .7A this is why some drives have issue. On the G74SX, it has the USB AI Charger option. This bumps the amps up to 0.9A.

I've opened my external HDD casing to see what's inside (Brand Medion) and it's a WD Caviar Green 1.5TB which indeed asks 0.7A on 5VDC. Could this guy have been the cause of all problems? First lockups did start several months after I got this external HDD so it might have been a problem that has built itself up during time? Does it matter that the external HDD has it's own power supply?

[DJSirMatthew]

ok, turned off laptop for lunch hoping that when I restart him, the GPU would run at 40 degrees. But off course he didn't want to boot. Decoupled everything, even 2nd HDD and Blu-ray but to no avail. Cleaned GPU fan with compressed air, no difference. Then with another failed boot, I heard both fans speeding up, so turned it off, cleaned CPU fan with compressed air, no much came out but after that the laptop started up. GPU at 78 degrees and dropping, 2 minutes later lock-up, few seconds later reboot and now GPU back at 60 degrees.

As long as he doesn't lockup (wishful thinking) I won't turn him off either...

Also started using Throttlestop again and my first 2 cores of the 8 are running at 70 degrees celsius while the rest is running at 60 degrees???