Buzzing sound on laptop with a slight 2/3 second freeze Aspire A515 55g

Afdhal

As the title says,Whenever Im using my Acer Aspire A515 55g either by listening to music or watching something,Whenevr the pc is idle[meaning I dont input any info,im just watching videos not touching anything]I noticed whenever I press the start button a buzzing sound comes along with the pc freezing along with the start menu.Although its just for a few seconds its still worrying me.IS this normal or should I be concerned?It has always happened while im watching youtube,vlc or spotify.Hope my question makes sense..Thanks

Thread was edited to add model name to the title

JackE

>>> I press the start button>>>

Do you mean the physical start power button or the Windows icon start  menu button on the screen? If the latter, the discrete nvidia GPU is probably fully engaged while wateching movies. And the integrated  Intel GPU is in a resting state. If you click on the Windows start menu or desktop, you interrupt the movie and discrete GPU and the integrated GPU takes over again. This doesn't happen instantly. Jack E/NJ

Easwar

Hi Afdhal,

Did this ever happens while you accessing the unit.

Afdhal

JackE said:

>>> I press the start button>>>

Do you mean the physical start power button or the Windows icon start  menu button on the screen? If the latter, the discrete nvidia GPU is probably fully engaged while wateching movies. And the integrated  Intel GPU is in a resting state. If you click on the Windows start menu or desktop, you interrupt the movie and discrete GPU and the integrated GPU takes over again. This doesn't happen instantly. Jack E/NJ

Hi JackE,

Im sorry,I meant the physical windows button inbetween the fn key and Alt

Afdhal

Easwar said:

Hi Afdhal,

Did this ever happens while you accessing the unit.

Easwar said:

Hi Afdhal,

Did this ever happens while you accessing the unit.

Yes while Im using my laptop

JackE

>>>Im sorry,I meant the physical windows button inbetween the fn key and Alt >>>

Same as the Windows start icon. So the reason is the same. The nvidia GPU is fully active while wateching movies. And the integrated  Intel GPU is inactive. By pressing the WinKey you interrupt the & nvidia GPU. The integrated Intel GPU is then active. This doesn't happen instantly hence the slight delay. Jack E/NJ

Easwar

Hi Afdhal,

# Power drain,

1.Unplug the AC power adapter.

2. Shutdown the unit.

3. Search for a pinhole on the backside of your laptop, insert a small paperclip in the battery reset pinhole, press and hold it down for 25 seconds. Then release the paperclip and try to turn on the unit and check.​
​Check this T/S and post the result. 

Afdhal

JackE said:

>>>Im sorry,I meant the physical windows button inbetween the fn key and Alt >>>

Same as the Windows start icon. So the reason is the same. The nvidia GPU is fully active while wateching movies. And the integrated  Intel GPU is inactive. By pressing the WinKey you interrupt the & nvidia GPU. The integrated Intel GPU is then active. This doesn't happen instantly hence the slight delay. Jack E/NJ

I see,But Its not only with movies,Its with chrome and spotify as well...Maybe its the almost similar I guess when I interrupt the system??So is there anything I can do to maybe stop it?Based on your reply Ill assume its not a concerning issue perhaps I hope at least..

Afdhal

Easwar said:

Hi Afdhal,

# Power drain,

1.Unplug the AC power adapter.

2. Shutdown the unit.

3. Search for a pinhole on the backside of your laptop, insert a small paperclip in the battery reset pinhole, press and hold it down for 25 seconds. Then release the paperclip and try to turn on the unit and check.​
​Check this T/S and post the result. 

I see..Thanks for the help.If I try it Ill let you know.peace

Afdhal

Afdhal said:

JackE said:

>>>Im sorry,I meant the physical windows button inbetween the fn key and Alt >>>

Same as the Windows start icon. So the reason is the same. The nvidia GPU is fully active while wateching movies. And the integrated  Intel GPU is inactive. By pressing the WinKey you interrupt the & nvidia GPU. The integrated Intel GPU is then active. This doesn't happen instantly hence the slight delay. Jack E/NJ

I see,But Its not only with movies,Its with chrome and spotify as well...Maybe its the almost similar I guess when I interrupt the system??So is there anything I can do to maybe stop it?Based on your reply Ill assume its not a concerning issue perhaps I hope at least..

By chrome I mean youtube.

JackE

>>>But Its not only with movies,Its with chrome and spotify as well.>>>

Yes, I understand. These apps/videos are also automatically using the nvidia GPU just like when you're watching movies. So the same explanation holds when you switch to the integrated Intel GPU by pressing the Win key. It does not switch GPUs instantaneously. If it was my machine, I would not worry too much about this buzzing delay. Jack E/NJ

Afdhal

JackE said:

>>>But Its not only with movies,Its with chrome and spotify as well.>>>

Yes, I understand. These apps/videos are also automatically using the nvidia GPU just like when you're watching movies. So the same explanation holds when you switch to the integrated Intel GPU by pressing the Win key. It does not switch GPUs instantaneously. If it was my machine, I would not worry too much about this buzzing delay. Jack E/NJ

Ah I get it now.However the task manager shows the intel gpu being used instead of nvidia unless im in geforce experience so idk really.Thanks for the help though,it  gives me a bit of comfort knowing its not too big of an issue..  

JackE

>>>However the task manager shows the intel gpu being used instead of nvidia>>>

Did you check this when youtube is also running on chrome or spotify but GE Force NOT running?  I'd expect a buzzing delay when you checked TaskManager since it auto switches to the integrated GPU again unless of course GE force is also running.. Jack E/NJ

Afdhal

JackE said:

>>>However the task manager shows the intel gpu being used instead of nvidia>>>

Did you check this when youtube is also running on chrome or spotify but GE Force NOT running?  I'd expect a buzzing delay when you checked TaskManager since it auto switches to the integrated GPU again unless of course GE force is also running.. Jack E/NJ

Yeah I checked all at the same time and Ive included a screenshot.I have chrome spotify and task manager running but it doesnt show the gpu being used though??It shows intels gpu but not NVIDIA..I hope it makes sense..What are your thoughts?Anything I should do?Hopefully its not a hardware defect.Hope you get back to me.Thanks 

JackE

Likely no hardware defect. The problem is which GPU is functioning in the application that you are actually viewing on the screen at any instant in time.

So, for example, if you are viewing a chrome youtube video on the screen that's automatically using nvidia GPU, but then you press WIN key to view the Windows start menu on the screen that's now automatically using the intel GPU, there should be a delay. The screen draw is switching from the nvidia GPU on the chrome youtube video screen to the intel GPU on the Windows start menu screen.

Sorry for not being able to explain my view on this more clearly. Essentially the nvidia GPU is controlling what you see on the screen in chrome youtube. And the intel GPU is controlling what you seen on the screen in Windows start menu. There's a delay when switching from a screen drawn with the nvidia GPU to another screen drawn by the intel GPU.

However, if you recently purchased this laptop and are still worried about this GPU screen switching characteristic, I suggest that you return it to the vendor for a refund or exchange on a similar laptop but without a discrete GPU mainboard. Do this before the vendor's return merchandise authorization (RMA) period expires. Usually only a few weeks. ACER warranty service will take longer but I doubt the service will be able to find hardware problems.

Afdhal

JackE said:

Likely no hardware defect. The problem is which GPU is functioning in the application that you are actually viewing on the screen at any instant in time.

So, for example, if you are viewing a chrome youtube video on the screen that's automatically using nvidia GPU, but then you press WIN key to view the Windows start menu on the screen that's now automatically using the intel GPU, there should be a delay. The screen draw is switching from the nvidia GPU on the chrome youtube video screen to the intel GPU on the Windows start menu screen.

Sorry for not being able to explain my view on this more clearly. Essentially the nvidia GPU is controlling what you see on the screen in chrome youtube. And the intel GPU is controlling what you seen on the screen in Windows start menu. There's a delay when switching from a screen drawn with the nvidia GPU to another screen drawn by the intel GPU.

However, if you recently purchased this laptop and are still worried about this GPU screen switching characteristic, I suggest that you return it to the vendor for a refund or exchange on a similar laptop but without a discrete GPU mainboard. Do this before the vendor's return merchandise authorization (RMA) period expires. Usually only a few weeks. ACER warranty service will take longer but I doubt the service will be able to find hardware problems.

Not at all man I appreciate your help so much..Ok I kinda understand a bit.So basically now im confused and want to know why doesnt it show the nvidia gpu being used in taskmanager?However when i Use the geforce experience app,it shows the Nvidia gpu running on taskmanager but thats it..It doesnt show when Im in nvidia control panel nor does it show when i open a program using the nvidia gpu instead of intel in the nvidia control panel.The gpu does work I guess since it starts "visibly showing in the task manager"when I open the geforce experience..But I wonder why its not shown as you explained before regarding it being used by chrome etc..Id at least expect it to show on the task manager..Honestly ive never heard of chrome using nvidia gpu by default.

JackE

>>>why doesnt it show the nvidia gpu being used in taskmanager?>>>

Cuz task manager automatically uses the intel GPU. Doesn't need the nvidia GPU running to display the task manager screen. However, if you manually start nvidia experience, then yes task manager should absolutely show the nvidia GPU is running.

Easwar

Hi Afdhal,

Is there any update ?