Weird thing just happened! (Fixed itself)

Akl500P

Hello simmers,
This may have nothing to do with sims, but a minute ago I opened my laptop and half of it was fuzzy and the other half was black. The screen was blinking and acting crazy. Turning it off completely fixed the problem, but I am panicked now. I am not sure what the cause was but research suggests video card overheating.

A couple things to note about this. I just started playing the sims 4 heavily in the past few days, so maybe I should be taking it in smaller intervals or something like I did previously so I do not completely wear out my video card. I also happened to update my video card driver today, so another possibility for the cause. Core Temp when I play has not gotten close to max temp, its around 60-70F and the fan does not run hard at all. Hotter than normal sure, but not deadly since it usually runs about 55 anyway. Today was also light play compared to the last three days so I am not sure why this would all the sudden be a problem. Driver update is what I am thinking, but I am not sure and I am no tech expert.

I am however very scared to play now. I just need a little reassurance (depending on your opinion) with this issue. My laptop was closed in sleep mode for over an hour before I opened it and this happened. I had played before that, but was doing some internet browsing before I actually shut it. My specs are posted below. I run the game on medium settings with 0 lag despite the video card not being the greatest. I also do not have laptop mode on because again there is no lag in my game that suggests its necessary. I also did just install MCCC story progression today just a random thing that probably has nothing to do with anything, but I'll put it out there just in case. This may have been a fluke thing, but it freaked me out a lot. I rely on my laptop for a lot more than sims. Any advice or tips or ideas would be great. Thanks guys!


Machine name: DESKTOP-F6BSDH8
Machine Id: {B56A9F6D-9413-4455-B056-9C8219078419}
Operating System: Windows 10 Home 64-bit (10.0, Build 16299) (16299.rs3_release.170928-1534)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Dell Inc.
System Model: Inspiron 15-7569
BIOS: 01.01.00
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5-6200U CPU @ 2.30GHz (4 CPUs), ~2.4GHz
Memory: 8192MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 8052MB RAM
Page File: 4068MB used, 5902MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 12
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: 120 DPI (125 percent)
System DPI Setting: 120 DPI (125 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: UnKnown
Miracast: Available, with HDCP
Microsoft Graphics Hybrid: Not Supported
DxDiag Version: 10.00.16299.0015 64bit Unicode


Card name: Intel(R) HD Graphics 520
Manufacturer: Intel Corporation
Chip type: Intel(R) HD Graphics Family
DAC type: Internal
Device Type: Full Device
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_8086&DEV_1916&SUBSYS_073E1028&REV_07
Device Status: 0180200A [DN_DRIVER_LOADED|DN_STARTED|DN_DISABLEABLE|DN_NT_ENUMERATOR|DN_NT_DRIVER]
Device Problem Code: No Problem
Driver Problem Code: Unknown
Display Memory: 4153 MB
Dedicated Memory: 128 MB
Shared Memory: 4025 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (60Hz)
HDR Support: Not Supported
Display Topology: Internal
Display Color Space: DXGI_COLOR_SPACE_RGB_FULL_G22_NONE_P709
Color Primaries: Red(0.640148,0.330578), Green(0.300305,0.600109), Blue(0.149914,0.060070), White Point(0.313000,0.329602)
Display Luminance: Min Luminance = 0.500000, Max Luminance = 270.000000, MaxFullFrameLuminance = 270.000000
Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Model: unknown
Monitor Id: AUO10ED
Native Mode: 1920 x 1080(p) (60.056Hz)
Output Type: Internal

Akl500P

I also just ran a hardware stress check on my computer which purposely put stress on video card and I could hear my fan. Says everything passed and has no problems.

DeKay

Your graphics card is not good for the game so maybe it got a little damaged from the overheating.

When the screen is acting weird, were you currently doing a driver update? Cuz that usually happens. If not, then it could be a hardware thing.

You probably should have played the game with laptop mode on to put less stress on the card.

Akl500P

DeKay wrote: »

Your graphics card is not good for the game so maybe it got a little damaged from the overheating.

When the screen is acting weird, were you currently doing a driver update? Cuz that usually happens. If not, then it could be a hardware thing.

You probably should have played the game with laptop mode on to put less stress on the card.

Thank you! I went ahead and turn it back on. I would rather graphics not be as good than have a fried video card.

Akl500P

Put my laptop back in sleep mode and it did it again. I’m not sure what’s wrong apparently the hardware is all running fine. Help!

Akl500P

And it was not doing this at all before I updated the driver. It’s like the first time I put it to sleep after this started happening.

Akl500P

I’m running a full 40 minute diagnostics test on anything it could be. Hoping for some answers or something to tell me what’s wrong.

Akl500P

Okay new research update (sorry for so many posts) a few places said it’s the display that causes that issue. Could that be the problem and if so how do I fix it? Sorry I know that’s not really sim related if that is the issue.

DeKay

Have you tried going back to an old version of the driver?

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000008628/graphics-drivers.html

Akl500P

DeKay wrote: »

Have you tried going back to an old version of the driver?

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000008628/graphics-drivers.html

It won't let me do that. Rollback driver is unclickable because its saying the device is fine. Thanks for the suggestion though.

Akl500P

Put it to sleep and hibernation mode today. Came back on fine. Updated the firmware last night maybe that fixed it. Fingers crossed it does not happen again that was terrifying. My laptop looked possessed. Guess it was a sim issue after all thanks for the help anyway. I will continue to play in laptop mode and if I continue to play often I'll look into a cooling pad. This laptop has a SSD and has not needed a cooling pad ever, but I'll be cautious from now on. That was a very scary wake up call.