==========================================
THE PROBLEM-----
My laptop BlackSOD's when gaming at 1080p regardless of graphical settings. It happens only during gaming at 1080p.
SOLUTION:
The issue is fully resolved for all 45 of my games when I'm gaming at 720p regardless of graphical settings.
REASON FOR THIS POST:
This post is about trying to figure out why 1080p is causing a BlackSOD
QUESTION: Why would gaming at 720p result in no BlackSODs with graphical settings that are reducing my FPS to 10-15, yet when my laptop is achieving a steady 80+ FPS in games at 1080p the BlackSOD still occurs over and over and over? Forced power down is required.
==========================================
QUIRK: My games range from 1998 to 2014
QUIRK: Watching Movies, stress testing and video editing at 1080p does not cause a BlackSOD. Prime95 and OCCT 4.1 CPU/GPU stress testing at 1080p does not cause BlackSOD.
QUIRK: All games at 1080p are running creamy-smooth with few-to-no FPS dips/spikes often achieving steady 80 FPS still BlackSOD.
==================
TROUBLESHOOTING:
==================
--My GPU supports 1080p and beyond, as well as 120Hz and 144Hz refresh rates, which was the first thing I wondered about with the strange crashing only at 1080p.
--External displays at 720p do not cause the BlackSOD. All monitors I've used at 1080p cause a BlackSOD.
-
-Updating all system drivers has no effect (CPU, chipset, DRAM controllers, etc...).
-Used special driver cleaners for AMD graphics uninstallation without effect.
-Rolled back many drivers without effect.
-Updated games without effect.
-HDD reformat multiple times followed by fresh install of Windows 7 without updates had no effect.
-HDD reformat multiple times followed by fresh install of Windows 7 SP1 with no effect.
--Dissected drivers in AMD CCC followed by manual installation with no effect.
--Disabling Windows firewall and adjusting Norton firewall had no effect
--Cleaned HDMI port with alcohol, no effect on the issue
--HDMI "handshake" solutions have no effect with multiple cables and monitors
===================================
HARDWARE TESTING DONE
===================================
--TEMPS:
All normal.
-GPU under 85⁰C (90⁰C is normal for stock ATI/AMD)
-CPU under 75⁰C during Prime95 and much less under normal conditions.
-Protective shutdown from overheating would not occur til over 100⁰C for both GPUs and the CPU.
-I used Multiple hardware monitors including CPUID's HWMonitor are showing normal temps for my CPU, GPU's, Motherboard, RAM, and HDD.
--Tested for CPU throttling (none found) that may result it sudden lockup during games
--ERROR TESTING:
the CPU/GPUs/RAM/HDD had no errors/corruptions, no bad sectors or corruptions for HDD
--MEMORY TESTING:
I ran multiple memory tests for CPU, RAM and GPU including OCCT 4.1, Windows 7 Memory Diagnostic and AIDA64 with zero errors
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
=================================
My laptop specs
Alienware Area-51 M17-R1 Specifications
=================================
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz
-------Details: Codename "Penryn," FSB 1066 (Socket P/ PM45/ SLB 478)
RAM: 8GB Corsair DDR3 Dual Channel 1333MHz
-------Timings: 7-7-7-20 at 1066MHz
HDD#1: 750GB Seagate Momentus XT HYBRID 7200RPM SATA III 32MB cache 8MB SSD Cache
HDD#2: 160GB Seagate Momentus 7200RPM SATA III 16MB Buffer as backup
GPU: Dual 512MB (1GB) AMD 3870x2 in Crossfire X
-------TECH SPECS: 256bits wide, 800MHz, Shader Model 4.1, GDDR3, Direct X 10.1
-------W841 Crossfire cable, Master/slave config., x8/x16 links
BIOS B13, latest. Previous B10 BIOS
OPTICAL: Panasonic UJ-230 Slim Blu-ray player/reader w/ 6MB Cache & DVD Burner
-------READ: 24x CD / 8x DVD / 4x BD
-------WRITE: 24x CD / 8x DVD±R / 4x DVD±R DL
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit SP1
MONITOR: 17" 720p (1440x900; WXGA+)
EXTERNAL DISPLAY #1: Optoma HD141X 1080p Full 3D Projector
EXTERNAL DISPLAY #2: LG 42" LN520-UA 1080p LCD
THE PROBLEM-----
My laptop BlackSOD's when gaming at 1080p regardless of graphical settings. It happens only during gaming at 1080p.
SOLUTION:
The issue is fully resolved for all 45 of my games when I'm gaming at 720p regardless of graphical settings.
REASON FOR THIS POST:
This post is about trying to figure out why 1080p is causing a BlackSOD
QUESTION: Why would gaming at 720p result in no BlackSODs with graphical settings that are reducing my FPS to 10-15, yet when my laptop is achieving a steady 80+ FPS in games at 1080p the BlackSOD still occurs over and over and over? Forced power down is required.
==========================================
QUIRK: My games range from 1998 to 2014
QUIRK: Watching Movies, stress testing and video editing at 1080p does not cause a BlackSOD. Prime95 and OCCT 4.1 CPU/GPU stress testing at 1080p does not cause BlackSOD.
QUIRK: All games at 1080p are running creamy-smooth with few-to-no FPS dips/spikes often achieving steady 80 FPS still BlackSOD.
==================
TROUBLESHOOTING:
==================
--My GPU supports 1080p and beyond, as well as 120Hz and 144Hz refresh rates, which was the first thing I wondered about with the strange crashing only at 1080p.
--External displays at 720p do not cause the BlackSOD. All monitors I've used at 1080p cause a BlackSOD.
-
-Updating all system drivers has no effect (CPU, chipset, DRAM controllers, etc...).
-Used special driver cleaners for AMD graphics uninstallation without effect.
-Rolled back many drivers without effect.
-Updated games without effect.
-HDD reformat multiple times followed by fresh install of Windows 7 without updates had no effect.
-HDD reformat multiple times followed by fresh install of Windows 7 SP1 with no effect.
--Dissected drivers in AMD CCC followed by manual installation with no effect.
--Disabling Windows firewall and adjusting Norton firewall had no effect
--Cleaned HDMI port with alcohol, no effect on the issue
--HDMI "handshake" solutions have no effect with multiple cables and monitors
===================================
HARDWARE TESTING DONE
===================================
--TEMPS:
All normal.
-GPU under 85⁰C (90⁰C is normal for stock ATI/AMD)
-CPU under 75⁰C during Prime95 and much less under normal conditions.
-Protective shutdown from overheating would not occur til over 100⁰C for both GPUs and the CPU.
-I used Multiple hardware monitors including CPUID's HWMonitor are showing normal temps for my CPU, GPU's, Motherboard, RAM, and HDD.
--Tested for CPU throttling (none found) that may result it sudden lockup during games
--ERROR TESTING:
the CPU/GPUs/RAM/HDD had no errors/corruptions, no bad sectors or corruptions for HDD
--MEMORY TESTING:
I ran multiple memory tests for CPU, RAM and GPU including OCCT 4.1, Windows 7 Memory Diagnostic and AIDA64 with zero errors
WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ONNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
=================================
My laptop specs
Alienware Area-51 M17-R1 Specifications
=================================
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz
-------Details: Codename "Penryn," FSB 1066 (Socket P/ PM45/ SLB 478)
RAM: 8GB Corsair DDR3 Dual Channel 1333MHz
-------Timings: 7-7-7-20 at 1066MHz
HDD#1: 750GB Seagate Momentus XT HYBRID 7200RPM SATA III 32MB cache 8MB SSD Cache
HDD#2: 160GB Seagate Momentus 7200RPM SATA III 16MB Buffer as backup
GPU: Dual 512MB (1GB) AMD 3870x2 in Crossfire X
-------TECH SPECS: 256bits wide, 800MHz, Shader Model 4.1, GDDR3, Direct X 10.1
-------W841 Crossfire cable, Master/slave config., x8/x16 links
BIOS B13, latest. Previous B10 BIOS
OPTICAL: Panasonic UJ-230 Slim Blu-ray player/reader w/ 6MB Cache & DVD Burner
-------READ: 24x CD / 8x DVD / 4x BD
-------WRITE: 24x CD / 8x DVD±R / 4x DVD±R DL
OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit SP1
MONITOR: 17" 720p (1440x900; WXGA+)
EXTERNAL DISPLAY #1: Optoma HD141X 1080p Full 3D Projector
EXTERNAL DISPLAY #2: LG 42" LN520-UA 1080p LCD