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This is happening increasingly often as I play games. My display drive will say that it has stopped responding and been recovered after the screen has completely turned black and then reset. Some times this error goes as far as causing my computer to get the blue screen error saying that it could not restart the driver. This issue has plagued me since I bought the computer, and has recently been getting worse.

I believe I am using an nVidia Geforce 8600M GT. I have updated to the newest drivers, although Dell doesn't seem to like me doing that... and I have also made sure and run a driver sweeping program in between switches. Is there any possible way to fix this?

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This thread shows a classic intermittent display-driver failure that can be either software or hardware. has already checked basic cooling and correctly flagged thermal causes, so focus next on capturing objective evidence and isolating layers (OS/drivers vs. GPU hardware) before swapping parts.

Collect diagnostic data first: check Windows Event Viewer for exact error messages and any bugcheck codes; save recent minidumps from C:\Windows\Minidump and analyze them with WinDbg or the Microsoft debugging tools to identify the faulting module. Microsoft documents how the OS performs Timeout Detection and Recovery (TDR) and how to interpret those events: and Debugging Tools for Windows.

If logs point away from drivers, run hardware isolation tests: boot a Linux live USB to see whether the GPU fails under a different OS; run a full RAM sweep (MemTest86) and a storage integrity check; test with the external power adapter only or on battery only to rule out power-delivery issues. On laptops, intermittent GPU failures can be caused by solder joint or VRM problems — artifacting or persistent crashes across OSes usually mean hardware.

For mitigations and next steps: try the OEM-supplied driver package (not just the latest vendor release), roll back to a known-good driver, update system firmware/BIOS, and avoid registry TDR tweaks except as a temporary troubleshooting step. If crash dumps implicate the graphics driver or hardware and the machine is under warranty, collect the logs and pursue an RMA with the vendor.

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Member Avatar for Salem

Do you have adequate cooling?

Games will stress the hardware, so it seems to me the card just runs into thermal shutdown after a while.

Further, since you've had this a while, cooling could be further hampered by the build-up of dust around the fans and heatsinks.

A better fan, and a clean perhaps?

Member Avatar for Ranma344

I clean my laptop on a regular basis, hitting every possible area. I don't believe the computer is getting overheated, as I have had this problem occur during a test I setup to check for that specifically.

This test included me using many external fans and winter air to keep my computer cool while the game was running, I still experienced the crashes.

Member Avatar for Ranma344

Just adding some information, I just installed the TechPowerUp GPUTool and monitored my GPU temp while playing the game. It never once made it above 57C and I still got a blue screen error.

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