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**[TC]►Nick◄** · (This post was last modified: 2013-09-26 14:47 by Nick.)

Hi guys,

I was playing LFS (I'd only been on around 15 minutes) when the fps dropped and the sound went funny. The actual in-game fps counter showed no deviation from the normal fps, however it was visibly lower, almost spiky, and the sound also made a "spiking" sound. I also started to lag out, however I could still drive, as the game had not locked up. Once I lagged out, however, LFS seemed to jam, and CTRL + ALT + DEL was the only way to get out the black screen, however I could not shut down LFS, so I forced my laptop to shut down.

Upon startup, this was what had happened to my background:

Spoiler (Click to View)

The photo should continue down into the taskbar, however it cuts short into grey, with a rainbow to the right of the screen. A quick restart has "solved" that symptom, but as this is the second time this has happened, I thought I should seek some advice.

I tried Googling it, but there were so many varied answers that I thought it might be better to ask directly, so no cheeky LMGTFY links please.

Any help would be appreciated, and if it's something terminal, you can expect a "Help me build a new PC" thread sooner than I planned.

Cheers,
Nick

**[TC]»Pete«** · (This post was last modified: 2013-09-26 16:20 by Pete.)

Almost certainly a graphics card error.

When it crashed, did anything strange happen on-screen like randomly coloured pixels?

Pipa · 2013-09-26, 16:31

The rainbow bit looks a bit like artifacts that indeed happen when a graphics card is slowly dying.
My last card that died started with similar issues, which sometimes could be fixed with a restart.

RedJohn · (This post was last modified: 2013-09-26 16:50 by RedJohn.)

The graphics card can cause that weird sound ?

**[TC]»Pete«** · (This post was last modified: 2013-09-26 16:55 by Pete.)

(2013-09-26 16:50)RedJ Wrote: The graphics card can cause that weird sound ?

If the graphics card locks up. It can sometimes lock other things up including sound. LFS's sound goes weird when you tab in and out, let alone when your graphics card takes a dump.

**[TC]►Bez◄** · 2013-09-26, 18:46

I've had my 680 Lock the screen up with crazy rainbow colours like twice in the past 8 months but hasn't done it recently. I just put it down to a driver error. But if yours keeps happening then possibly invest in a new GPU Nick.

**SO•Sebas** · 2013-09-26, 18:54

Since your computer is a Laptop, i would take into account some simple overheating issues. Take a couple of minutes to double-check any ventilation issues (ducts on the side, fans on the bottom). I've fixed many laptops with similar behavior by simply dusting them a little bit.

**[TC]►Nick◄** · 2013-09-26, 19:26

(2013-09-26 16:19)Lampshade Wrote: Almost certainly a graphics card error.

When it crashed, did anything strange happen on-screen like randomly coloured pixels?

There were no random pixels, in fact the task bar still showed up, so the screen hadn't completely frozen, it was just lfs.exe would not shut down and therefore I couldn't access the desktop or any windows that showed up.

(2013-09-26 18:46)Bez Wrote: I've had my 680 Lock the screen up with crazy rainbow colours like twice in the past 8 months but hasn't done it recently. I just put it down to a driver error. But if yours keeps happening then possibly invest in a new GPU Nick.

There haven't been any driver updates that I can see, which is what makes me think that might not be the case. Correct me if I'm wrong, but drivers aren't likely to just start spazzing out like that, are they? Could be wrong, if I knew I wouldn't be posting here at all Tongue

It would be more cost effective to start fresh and build a new PC that would last for a lot longer than throw money at this old pile of pish. It's not exactly fresh or fast. It would be a bit like throwing money into a fire, it might keep the flame burning a little longer but it's still going to extinguish itself shortly.

(2013-09-26 18:54)Sebas Wrote: Since your computer is a Laptop, i would take into account some simple overheating issues. Take a couple of minutes to double-check any ventilation issues (ducts on the side, fans on the bottom). I've fixed many laptops with similar behavior by simply dusting them a little bit.

I should have explained - it's a HP. A few people will already know my cooling woes (it started hitting 80~90 a few weeks from new) and it's already raised at the back by my ingenious engineering talent. Anyways, I cleared the worst of the dust, but due to the brilliant designers at HP, it's a bit of a lost cause.

If it is a graphics issue, which seems likely, should I start saving to build a new PC sooner rather than later?

Jimmy · 2013-09-26, 19:31

when i used my laptop last Days its did get to laggy and i was gonna reformat it and hdd dies, have you open and cleaned your fan to graphic card or?

**[TC]»Pete«** · 2013-09-26, 20:14

The artifact at the bottom of your wallpaper pointed straight to the graphics card.

Do yourself a favour, use your laptop for university work and build yourself a PC for everything else.

**[TC]►Nick◄** · (This post was last modified: 2013-09-26 21:02 by Nick.)

I don't think I'd trust it for Uni work, it's not even portable anymore.

Right, thanks for the help guys, a new PC it is. Once I've worked out how much I can afford to spend, I'll be bothering you all again for help choosing PC parts.

fWANKy · 2013-09-26, 23:26

(2013-09-26 20:41)Nick Wrote: I don't think I'd trust it for Uni work, it's not even portable anymore.

Right, thanks for the help guys, a new PC it is. Once I've worked out how much I can afford to spend, I'll be bothering you all again for help choosing PC parts.

AND A MIC

AND A WHEEL

**[TC]►Bez◄** · 2013-09-27, 00:03

(2013-09-26 23:26)Franky Wrote:
(2013-09-26 20:41)Nick Wrote: I don't think I'd trust it for Uni work, it's not even portable anymore.

Right, thanks for the help guys, a new PC it is. Once I've worked out how much I can afford to spend, I'll be bothering you all again for help choosing PC parts.

AND A MIC

He has a mic me and Lamp witnessed him fart down it.

**SO•Sebas** · 2013-09-27, 01:41

(2013-09-27 00:03)Bez Wrote:
(2013-09-26 23:26)Franky Wrote:
(2013-09-26 20:41)Nick Wrote: I don't think I'd trust it for Uni work, it's not even portable anymore.

Right, thanks for the help guys, a new PC it is. Once I've worked out how much I can afford to spend, I'll be bothering you all again for help choosing PC parts.

AND A MIC

He has a mic me and Lamp witnessed him fart down it.

I Witnessed Lamp Witnessing Nick farting on the mic. Lets just not get Offtrack there Tongue

**[TC]»Pete«** · 2013-09-27, 15:36

It was one deep, rumbling fart...

Juntu · 2013-09-27, 16:04

Please tell us more about the fart! I am interested now.

Pipa · 2013-09-27, 16:21

Meanwhile nick is sitting sobbing in his room while his pc dies and nobody helps him, poor guy.

**[TC]►Bez◄** · 2013-09-27, 19:23

(2013-09-27 15:36)Lampshade Wrote: It was one deep, rumbling fart...

It really was deep, he was holding it just for us.

(2013-09-27 16:04)Juntu Wrote: Please tell us more about the fart! I am interested now.

It sounded like a sheep getting sat on but DEEP really DEEP

(2013-09-27 16:21)Pipa Wrote: Meanwhile nick is sitting sobbing in his room while his pc dies and nobody helps him, poor guy.

Or maybe he's getting ready holding another fart in ready for TeamSpeak Wink

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