New
#1
Bad GPU? Freezing, black screen, and graphic artifacts.
Hello.
Recently my hp pavilion dm4 with switchable radeon 5000 series gpu has started acting funny.
It started months ago with poor performance in streaming videos online when the radeon was activated (dubbed "hi performance" in the OS.) This problem seemed to get better after reinstalling Windows back in March or April and using canned air to clean the innards of dust.
However, about a week ago while playing a game, the screen froze up and the computer rebooted. Upon restart, I got a message saying the video driver had crashed and was incompatible with the catalyst control center (not exactly sure what that is, but I installed several different driver versions to no avail.)
The computer continues crashing in this way, and often will show bars or a checker pattern on the screen before freezing. To make matters worse, a good percentage of the time, the screen will remain black upon startup. I've tried reinstalling the OS, and thankfully was able to boot in safe mode and back up all of the files I needed. I'm tempted to rule out malware as a cause due to the fact that the problem persists after reinstalling Windows.
I have used canned air to blow out all the fans, and have kept up with that habit pretty well since I started experiencing the slowness in video playback. I have not noticed any extreme overheating since I amended the initial problem earlier this year.
I'm ready to spend a small amount on fixing this, but I'm also pretty ready to upgrade to a MacBook Pro or iMac since I have started using Photoshop and a drawing tablet to illustrate digitally. I wanted to get a good background knowledge on what to expect before I bring it in to get an official diagnosis. Any input is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Jake