Screen Goes Black While Playing Games [ Edited ]

[Gyles]

Every time I start up a game, such as Spore and The Sims 3, my screen turns completely black within thirty minutes of playing. The back light stays on but the screen is blank and the sound stops too. The computer completely freezes and I have to hold down the power button to turn it off and back on. (control+alt+delete doesn't respond)

The weird thing is, is that the games ran fine right when I got them. I could play them for hours until a few weeks ago. It started with the screen going black after a couple hours and now I'm finding that it goes black within five minutes! I've updated my BIOS and also my driver graphics. Nothing helped.

System information:

    Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, build 7600)

    System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard

    System Model: Hp Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC

    BIOS: Default System BIOS

    Processor: AMD Turion(tm) II Dual-Core Mobile M500 (2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz

    Memory: 4096MB RAM

    Page file: 1526MB used, 6144MB available

    DirectX Version: DirectX 11

I would greatly appreciate some help if anybody knows how to solve this problem. o:

[Gyles]

Edit: Only goes black when the laptop is plugged in.

Runs fine on battery life.

[DarkSother]

Hi!

I have a HP Pavilion dv6-2088dx Entertainment Notebook PC with the same problem that you described. The system information is the same like yours and i did the same like you and nothing too.

System information:

Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit (6.1, build 7600)

System Manufacturer: Hewlett-Packard

System Model: Hp Pavilion dv6 Notebook PC

BIOS: Default System BIOS

Processor: AMD Turion(tm) II Dual-Core Mobile M500 (2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz

Memory: 4096MB RAM

Page file: 1526MB used, 6144MB available

DirectX Version: DirectX 11

Please someone help us!

Thanks for all.

DarkSother

[jjknz]

When your laptop is in battery mode,

the GPU may be set to use less power in sacrifice for performance to increase battery life.

Thus when plugged in, your GPU can max out in performance but may overheat your laptop.

It MIGHT be your notebook is overheating.

Get a cpu temperature reading utility such as Core Temp.

Core Temp will show you the maximum temperature your cpu can go up to.

Mine says Tj. Max 100 degrees celcius.

While running a game, maybe 2-3 minutes into playing,

check the temperature with the utility.

If its anywhere near the maximum, maybe 80 degrees or more consider buying a laptop cooler.

Or try vacuuming any dust that may have blocked up any exhaust or air intake.

- John

[kryander]

Hello, 

I too am having this problem on my pavilion dv6-2066dx; I have noticed that the only way for me to play games while plugged in is to switch my gpu energy settings to maximize battery life, which allows me to play games, but at a very low fps.

On the other hand, I can play games while the laptop is not plugged in with the gpu energy settings set to maximize performance without any problems.

So, I only get the black screen if my computer is plugged in and the gpu energy settings are set to maximize performance... is there any way to fix this?

[Gyles]

Sadly, I don't think this is the problem. My screen is still going black at 66C. :/

[FatRocket]

Did you try updating to latest drivers for your graphics card?

[Gyles]

Yes, I have, and still no help. :/

[Copyright1983]

Does this happen only after you play on battery and then plug it in while the game is still running ?

You should try to switch the GPU to high performance GPU before opening the game. When you have it on battery, it will usually be set to choose the low performance GPU. And usually it will be set to switch to the high performance GPU when plugged in. But when it does this without prompting, the game isn't able to put everything from the one GPU to the other and so it crashes.

Not sure if that's it, but I didn't see anyone mention the exact moment of switching GPUs so I thought I'd mention it.

You should be able to change all those automatic settings. You could make a power plan that exactly fits your gaming needs. I always make sure I switch to high performance before playing any game and that the game's settings are slightly lowered when playing on battery. And should I forget to do so, I would always save and close the game before switching GPUs.

[Lacrymosa1791]

This same thing happens with my hp pavilion dm4-1265dx...=/