Acer VN7-792G crash/freeze

Hello. I have a lot of issues with my Acer VN7-792G for a long time.

First time I received the laptop, I had several issues with the Nvidia drivers while playing games, the GPU would overheat and freeze the laptop completely, along with a very unpleasant noise. It does that even on Very Low settings.

I could finally find the answer to my issue when someone on Nvidia's forum told me to never update Nvidia drivers on laptops. (I was always updating to the latest driver through GeForce Experience)

I followed his advice and got back to the driver provided by the manufacturer's website (which is 359.xx), since then no issue occured, I could play games on High/Ultra 120fps without freezing/crashing.

I reinstalled Windows recently through the ISO provided by Microsoft's website. I disabled Windows Update to update the drivers, and I installed all the drivers provided by Acer's website for my computer, using my serial number.

But after few minutes of playing, I still experience freeze/crash, and by that I mean the laptop completely freezes and the only thing I can do is to force shut down, holding power button for few seconds. The laptop is very hot at this point. Highest temp I could record for the GPU was around 70-80°c before it freeze/crash.

So I'm starting to think that the problem isn't from the Nvidia driver anymore, since the moment I reinstalled Windows 10 (64bits).

Also, apart from the GPU really overheating, now the HDD seems to heat a lot too. I performed a complete CHKDSK /f /r which took all night long to complete, nothing wrong came back.

There are several BIOS updates available on Acer's website for my device, but I didn't install it, since i'm not sure if it's a good thing to do or not.

BIOS	Acer	Updates MCU code.	1.09	5.9 MB	2016/06/14	Télécharger
BIOS	Acer	1. Update ME version 2. Update VBIOS	1.08	5.9 MB	2016/05/10	Télécharger
BIOS	Acer	Update Microcode and revise DVMT pre-allocated VRAM.	1.06	5.7 MB	2016/03/14	Télécharger
BIOS	Acer	Updates Intel FRC code and VBIOS version.	1.05	5.9 MB	2016/01/14	Télécharger
BIOS	Acer	Optimized PCIE SSD performance.	1.02	5.7 MB	2015/12/07	Télécharger

I found this thread : http://community.acer.com/t5/V-and-VN-Series-Laptops/Aspire-Nitro-VN7-591g-54WZ-in-game-freezes/td-p/327998 which seemed pretty helpful, the options given are to :

Download a BIOS update (Improve system performance) provided by Acer-Cory, but is it a good idea to do it with my specific laptop ?
Second option is to underclock with Intel XTU which would apparently decrease about 11°c, but isn't it going to break the warranty ?
Third option is to set CPU's max to 99%, I haven't tried that yet.

I've read a lot of threads about this, my only purpose of creating another VNitro crash thread is to ask help, on wether I should do the steps above on my laptop, since every laptops are not all the same (not the same components on every VNitro I mean), I'm asking for help for mine.

Laptop : Acer V Nitro VN7-792G-50A3 (complete specs at the end of the page)
CPU : i5-6300HQ @ 2.30GHz
RAM : 8Go
GPU : Nvidia GeForce GTX 960M
OS : Windows 10 64bits

Or is it just that something in my laptop overheated too much and is kind of broken ? I'm kind of lost.

Accepted answers

All comments

sharky25k

Hi and wellcome,

First update BIOS, if you don't have the latest updates. It is highly recommended since as you can see some update the VBIOS, which has a link with the video. Also it updates the management engine which monitors various parameters (eg temperature) on the notebook.

Second be sure you have installed the intel management engine drivers from the acer drivers download page.

XTU will not break the warranty, but be careful because it can cause system instability if you undevolt too much.

Since you have a 792G, which is bigger than any 59XG notebooks I don't think you should have any issues with thermal throttling. So I would not set the CPU to 99%. It would limit the system performance.

eyforesama

Following a previou thread I did few weeks ago (I couldn't find it back), I still have random crashes after reinstalling Windows, during 3D use such as games. Image and sound are blocked. The only possible thing is to force shutdown the laptop with power button.

I performed a clean install of Windows 10 using Microsoft's iso, I reinstalled all the drivers (and did not update them) provided by Acer's website using the serial number of the laptop. The components seem clean as well, temperatures are variable but still correct, even when using High definitions in games.

I updated the BIOS to the latest version, still on Acer's website.

The laptop has airflow (ie. not ontop of a table), it's not so hot outside. Always on High performance mode.

I tried setting max CPU's usage to 99% : crash, 100% : crash.

Coolboost on: crash, Coolboost off : crash.

HDD test came clear, same for RAM.

Full spec :

SLI désactivé = SLI disabled

Nvidia driver : 359.37

BIOS version : 1.09

Looking at Windows logs events just after a crash, it seems a pattern keeps repeating, it is generally :

Warning 19/08/2016 17:00:25 Kernel-Processor-Power (Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Processor-Power) 37 (7)
Warning 19/08/2016 17:00:25 Kernel-Processor-Power (Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Processor-Power) 37 (7)
Warning 19/08/2016 17:00:25 Kernel-Processor-Power (Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Processor-Power) 37 (7)
Warning 19/08/2016 17:00:25 Kernel-Processor-Power (Microsoft-Windows-Kernel-Processor-Power) 37 (7)

(Details on warnings : The speed of processor X in group X is being limited by system firmware. The processor has been in this reduced performance state for X seconds since the last report.)

then

Error 19/08/2016 17:24:15 EventLog 6008 None

then

Critical 19/08/2016 17:24:08 Kernel-Power 41 (63)

(Details on critical : The system has rebooted without cleanly shutting down first. This error could be caused if the system stopped responding, crashed, or lost power unexpectedly.)

I USED to play games on Very High def. few months ago, and now it is barely playable on Medium.

Games tested are Dota 2 (crash on High), GTA V (crash on Low). I used to play both games at max settings.

I could provide any information if it could make someone have a clue about this. I'm starting to get desperate..

crash1.jpg

Kathy-1

eyforesama wrote:
Following a previou thread I did few weeks ago (I couldn't find it back),

hi eyforesama, I've found your previous thread and merged your new one with the previous so all your information can be in one place. I hope this helps you and others replying!

sharky25k

Hi,

What's the CPU speed? does it run at full speed or it is reduced to 0.78 GHZ?

You can try to install intel XTU, and then reset the settings for the CPU to default as sugested by the XTU configuration.

Somebody else had a similar problem that the CPU was throttling all the time after certain update, and it solved it by reinstalling windows. But i see that in your case it didn't help.

Did you install the amt driver?

AMT

Intel

Intel AMT Driver

11.0.0.1166

63.0 MB

2016/06/08

Download

eyforesama

Hello, I'm not sure about the CPU speed, I see it running at 2.90-3GHz right now.

I think I had installed the AMT drivers, I tried uninstalling them and I did. Now I'm trying to install it again but I can't, an error occurs during installation.

Error says something like : Error irrecoverable during installation.

Here is the log : http://pastebin.com/di9tTYia

sharky25k

Hi,

It can be that windows installed some new drivers for you via windows update while you removed the AMT drivers. But I am not sure.

SInce the error in windows log, I would try to monitor the CPU power during some stress test to see if it will be drastically reduced. I assume that the system gets somehow high usage, then suddenly the cpu is throttling, and because is unable to keep up it will eventually crash. If not this is the case, I would recommend to send it back to service, since I don't know what you can try to do in order to solve the issue.

I assume that you have all the drivers installed from the acer webpage:

http://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers

eyforesama

Hello and thank you for your time, I dont think WUpdate installed anything, there were only few seconds between the moment I uninstalled and tried to reinstall the driver. Also I disabled WUpdate.

I have read similar issues with CPU throttling, what would you advise in order to test the CPU's speed ? (for example I played Dota all night on Ultra, nothing happened, 5mins on GTA V low settings, and it crashed, it does not make sense as it seems really random)

Also I couldnt perform a Memory check, using both Windows tool and memtest86 on USB, could the issue come from this as well ? It always stucks at about ~80%

And yes I have all drivers installed.

eyforesama

After few days of no crash at all on Ultra graphics on every game, crash happened yesterday on Low graphics game... (it simply makes no sense)

So I performed a clean install of Windows (again) to start from scratch. I downloaded Intel AMT driver first, and the result is the same, I simply cannot install it, showing the same error as above. It's the one provided by Acer's website for my laptop.

Why can't this specific driver be installed ? Is there something wrong wit the driver provided by Acer ?

sharky25k

Hi,

Yes the driver provided by me is the same as on the acer's webpage. You can check here: http://www.acer.com/ac/en/US/content/drivers just write in the model of the notebook.

I don't know why you cannot install the drivers, it should be some sort of problem with the installation itself.

eyforesama

I guess there was something wrong in the previous installation, causing the driver to not install correctly.

Anyway, I did a clean install again using differents Iso etc (just in case), just got all my drivers one by one, rebooting laptop at each installation. Everything is correct.

I start my game in all conditions (all drivers, high perf mode, airflow below laptop).. and surprise, it crashed.

Definitely the last time I buy an Acer product, paid almost $1.000 to only be able to play on Low settings, this is ridiculous.

Jose-Acer

Hi eyforesama,

I'm sorry that you've ran into these issues with your VN7-792G. Have you tried reinstalling the OS with the factory image and then updating the drivers?

Quick Links

Top Members

Weekly

Puraw 280

Jack22 160

RenanVilela 95

Diya1811 90

GAMING6698 75

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™