Question Gaming Laptop Freezes with Solid Colored Screen and Restarts while Gaming

[TypeCm]

So first things first here is my specs:

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-9700K 3.6 Ghz Factory OC
16 GB DDR4 2666MHz Ram
Nvidia GTX1070 8GB GDDR5 Factory OC
256 GB M.2 + 1TB SATA SSD's
Windows 10 Professional 64 bit


Things started like a month ago, while playing some games my laptop freezes then screen turns into a solid color with buzzing coming from speakers, and restarts itself. No BSOD, no error messages, no nothing

I searched a lot on different pages. Usually problems like these are attributed to a faulty/dying hardware, especially GPU or PSU so I did:

Checked for malware
Checked for any error in windows
Checked for overheating. Replaced thermal paste multiple times. Even went to a repair shop to get heatsinks, fans cleaned & thermal paste reapplied by them so it least they should know what they are doing right?
All my drives are up to date.
Run memtest86 for a faulty RAM: No problem found
Tried Furmark stress test/Heaven Benchmarks: No freezes or crashes happened. I ran heaven for 30 mins with temperatures staying around 70-75 C with 80 fps average. No problem whatsoever. Furmark went above 80 C but still no crashes or freezes.

So I'm just scratching my head and i dont know what to do.

Could it be that my motherboard is dying/damaged?

So I just want to ask you people before I head down to repair shop for troubleshooting.

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

Nvidia GTX1070 4GB Factory OC

Yeah the 1070 doesn't come in 4GB and the 1070 was never put in a laptop with the 9700k

you got scammed.

The reason it's crashing is probably because it's trying to use the other 4gb the 1070 is supposed to have but can't because it's only got 4gb (supposedly)

download GPUZ and CPU Z and post screenshots of them here

 

[TypeCm]

Aw hell, I was tired and made a typo. I'm so sorry about that. VRAM is 8 GB GDDR5

Also, I'm not living in the US and some brands like Clevo do put them with 9700k on their notebooks.

GPU-Z and CPU-Z

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

Aw hell, I was tired and made a typo. I'm so sorry about that. VRAM is 8 GB GDDR5

Glad to hear it.

Your issue does sound related to the GPU though. Download HWInfo and monitor VRAM temperatures (the memory chips) while gaming, if the memory gets too hot it will crash the system.

 

[TypeCm]

Yeah I monitored temperatures with both Clevo's Control Center and HWInfo

Temperature's around at 70-75C max while gaming and 80-85 max at hotspots
In last few weeks I was just playing Path of Exile which is not much of a demanding game and rarely got crashes but after yesterday it started to crash 5mins into game. This time screen freezed with a different , flickering effect.
Guess my gpu is dying

Edit: One More thing
I checked out dmp file and it appears I have a VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (116) error with nvlddmkm.sys is the culprit.
I'll try to use DDU to reinstall drivers.

Spoiler: Here is the debug message WinDbg

Bugcheck Analysis *
* *
***

VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (116)
Attempt to reset the display driver and recover from timeout failed.
Arguments:
Arg1: ffffb0029f315460, Optional pointer to internal TDR recovery context (TDR_RECOVERY_CONTEXT).
Arg2: fffff8029b611b20, The pointer into responsible device driver module (e.g. owner tag).
Arg3: ffffffffc000009a, Optional error code (NTSTATUS) of the last failed operation.
Arg4: 0000000000000004, Optional internal context dependent data.

Debugging Details:
------------------

Unable to load image \SystemRoot\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\nvcvi.inf_amd64_c3a533b712ab51e8\nvlddmkm.sys, Win32 error 0n2
*** WARNING: Unable to verify timestamp for nvlddmkm.sys
*** WARNING: Unable to verify checksum for win32k.sys

KEY_VALUES_STRING: 1

Key : Analysis.CPU.mSec
Value: 3812

Key : Analysis.DebugAnalysisManager
Value: Create

Key : Analysis.Elapsed.mSec
Value: 29822

Key : Analysis.Init.CPU.mSec
Value: 296

Key : Analysis.Init.Elapsed.mSec
Value: 12138

Key : Analysis.Memory.CommitPeak.Mb
Value: 101

Key : Bugcheck.Code.DumpHeader
Value: 0x116

Key : Bugcheck.Code.Register
Value: 0x116

Key : WER.OS.Branch
Value: vb_release

Key : WER.OS.Timestamp
Value: 2019-12-06T14:06:00Z

Key : WER.OS.Version
Value: 10.0.19041.1


FILE_IN_CAB: 082622-8000-01.dmp

BUGCHECK_CODE: 116

BUGCHECK_P1: ffffb0029f315460

BUGCHECK_P2: fffff8029b611b20

BUGCHECK_P3: ffffffffc000009a

BUGCHECK_P4: 4

VIDEO_TDR_CONTEXT: dt dxgkrnl!_TDR_RECOVERY_CONTEXT ffffb0029f315460
Symbol dxgkrnl!_TDR_RECOVERY_CONTEXT not found.

PROCESS_OBJECT: 0000000000000004

CUSTOMER_CRASH_COUNT: 1

PROCESS_NAME: System

STACK_TEXT:
ffffae0c019cf918 fffff80291b5638e : 0000000000000116 ffffb0029f315460 fffff8029b611b20 ffffffffc000009a : nt!KeBugCheckEx
ffffae0c019cf920 fffff80291b06b04 : fffff8029b611b20 ffffb002956df010 0000000000002000 ffffb002956df0d0 : dxgkrnl!TdrBugcheckOnTimeout+0xfe
ffffae0c019cf960 fffff80291aff63c : ffffb00295710000 0000000001000000 0000000000000004 0000000000000004 : dxgkrnl!ADAPTER_RENDER::Reset+0x174
ffffae0c019cf990 fffff80291b55ab5 : 0000000000000100 ffffb00295710a70 00000000955b9c90 fffff802794c692c : dxgkrnl!DXGADAPTER::Reset+0x4dc
ffffae0c019cfa10 fffff80291b55c27 : fffff80279f25440 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 0000000000000300 : dxgkrnl!TdrResetFromTimeout+0x15
ffffae0c019cfa40 fffff80279486265 : ffffb002983f2040 fffff80291b55c00 ffffb00289a95cd0 ffffb00200000000 : dxgkrnl!TdrResetFromTimeoutWorkItem+0x27
ffffae0c019cfa70 fffff80279558235 : ffffb002983f2040 0000000000000080 ffffb00289b02080 fffff80279601490 : nt!ExpWorkerThread+0x105
ffffae0c019cfb10 fffff802795fff48 : ffff9800e1a80180 ffffb002983f2040 fffff802795581e0 0020006e006f0069 : nt!PspSystemThreadStartup+0x55
ffffae0c019cfb60 0000000000000000 : ffffae0c019d0000 ffffae0c019c9000 0000000000000000 0000000000000000 : nt!KiStartSystemThread+0x28


SYMBOL_NAME: nvlddmkm+eb1b20

MODULE_NAME: nvlddmkm

IMAGE_NAME: nvlddmkm.sys

STACK_COMMAND: .cxr; .ecxr ; kb

FAILURE_BUCKET_ID: 0x116_IMAGE_nvlddmkm.sys

OS_VERSION: 10.0.19041.1

BUILDLAB_STR: vb_release

OSPLATFORM_TYPE: x64

OSNAME: Windows 10

FAILURE_ID_HASH: {c89bfe8c-ed39-f658-ef27-f2898997fdbd}

Followup: MachineOwner

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

70-75C max

On the core or the memory?

And what kind of flickering, can you describe it?

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

nvlddmkm.sys is the culprit

And yes that is a driver crash

 

[TypeCm]

On the core or the memory?

And what kind of flickering, can you describe it?

On the core. Somehow, I can't measure VRAM temperature with HWinfo. It simply doesn't show up. Even with "GPU I2C Support Force" Enabled on settings.
It happened fast so i couldnt take a pic with my phone but I can describe. On a white background with rainbow like colored static flickered for a few seconds and laptop restarted.

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

On a white background with rainbow like colored static flickered for a few seconds and laptop restarted.

That doesn't seem like artifacting to me, update your driver and then run a test or two again

Was it anything like this?

 

[TypeCm]

I'll try to use ddu and reinstall drivers tomorrow and notify if the problem persists
And no it wasn't artifacting. Screen flickered like this image (Not mine just a pic I found on google) :

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

I'll try to use ddu and reinstall drivers tomorrow and notify if the problem persists
And no it wasn't artifacting. Screen flickered like this image (Not mine just a pic I found on google) :

Hmm, that could be drivers but it could be something else. I have no idea at this point LOL

We'll see how the driver update goes

 

[TypeCm]

Ok new update.

Used ddu and reinstalled an older version (457.20).
Not only my benchmark score in Heaven increased from 2300ish to 3400ish average fps in benchmark increased from 80fps to 120 fps (settings were the same)
I haven't played a game for a long time yet but it seems the problem was driver all along.
If problem persists im just going to take my laptop to a repair shop.
Edit: Sadly it does. Guess I have no choice but to take it to the repair shop

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

I haven't played a game for a long time yet but it seems the problem was driver all along.

Glad to hear it wasn't driver failure, do remember to update us

 

[TypeCm]

Ugh no no no it crashes again .

Sometimes having a crash dump with VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE (116) error with nvlddmkm.sys despite reinstalling drivers thrice with DDU. I tried both, older and the newest drivers.
Sometimes there is no dump but only kernel power 41-63 in windows event log.
I used another program, OCCT to stress test various parts. CPU, GPU , GPU VRAM, Power, you name it. Had no crashes
And no matter how many stress test programs I run, my laptop only crashes on games.
At this point I'm just going to take it to the repair shop. I can't deal with this anymore

 

[Etrius vanRandr]

And no matter how many stress test programs I run, my laptop only crashes on games.

Download Intel XTU and set the power limit to 30W and try gaming again.

Also download MSI Afterburner and underclock your GPU.

The VIDEO_TDR_FAILURE bug check has a value of 0x00000116. This indicates that an attempt to reset the display driver and recover from a timeout failed.

Timeouts happen when a device freezes. This can happen with CPUs, GPUs, RAM, etc. It happens more frequently with CPUs, but I am remembering now that I had an RTX 2070 with the same problem.

I found this. Not sure what Java has to do with it, but some people say it worked.

View: https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=yKx891wweCM