Asus G73jw-3de screen keeps flashing black! How annoying for a gaming laptop.

[FireMyst]

Hey everyone,

I have an Asus G73jw-3de laptop.

The screen keeps flashing/flickering black.

Having done some research, the issue appears to be widespread and people seem to think the cause is the nVidia Powermizer included with the 460M GPU.

I'm running 64 bit Windows 7 Ultimate and there is no such Powermizer control that I can find. In the nVidia control panel I've also set the global settings to "prefer maximum performance" but that hasn't resolved the issue either.

Today I tried downloading the latest nVidia 265.66 drivers and that hasn't helped.

Does anyone have a cure?

Is Asus going to release any driver updates to stop this? It's awfully embarrassing to show off this high powered gaming laptop to people with the screen flashing randomly.

Thanks!

[FireMyst]

Of all the brilliant minds in this forum nobody has any suggestions? Surely someone else on here with an Asus G73JW has experienced the black screen flicker? I've since tried setting the power setting to "prefer maximum performance", the VSync to match the monitor refresh rate, and have also set the PhysX to "CPU" to no avail.

[Brian@ASUS]

hurm... have you tried downgrading to the original drivers off the cd to see if the flicker still occurs? if the flicker goes away we know its a driver issue. what resolution are you at? how many hz are you running 60 or 120?

could be your lcd inverter being loose...

[FireMyst]

Hi Brian,

Thanks for the reply. I've tried both 60 and 120 Mhz refresh rates. I also tried upgrading to the newer version of drivers because I had the older ones when it was caused.

Here's something interesting... I went home over lunch today and booted it up. When I connect an external monitor, I can't get the flicker to happen at all; when I disconnect the external monitor, the laptop's display goes to random intermittent flickering.

I'll try what you suggested and use a driver wipe tool to clear out all the nVidia drivers.

[Chastity@ASUS]

I bet I know what it is

What size power brick comes with that unit? I bet the unit isn't getting enough juice under full load. I've noted that on occasion my brick on my JH would draw up to 171W. This is why I use a Targus APA05US 180w Power Supply.

To see if it's a powermizer issue, have you tried setting the system to High Performance?

[FireMyst]

HI Chastity,

Yes, I have set it to high performance.

The power block I have for it is the one that came with the machine by default.

However, as an update to everyone, I restored the system with the restore disk with nothing else added. The screen was flickering on occasion even during the restore process.

To me that says hardware issue, and so have taken it in to my local Asus Service Center. They reckon it's the panel/lcd and cable. They don't have any in stock, so have placed an order for the parts.

[Chastity@ASUS]

Idea: If they are going to replace the panel, see if they can order the panel they use for the G73JW-3DE. It's a non-glossy 120Hz unit that has better viewing angles and brighter capacity. You'll have to pay for it, but it'll be an amazing upgrade. No, you will not be able to do 3D gaming, but you will have a 120Hz panel.

[Rogue]

I have the same problem. I get distorted lines in the middle area of the screen that flash for a millisecond and also complete blackouts that can last for around half a second. I tried all the above suggested things, also another AC unit, plugged the cable directly in a wall socket, tried both the newest and factory-set Nvidia drivers, but the problem still persists. I still hope it is a software issue. If not I have to bring it back. The default monitor ("generic PnP monitor") is a Microsoft driver from 2006(!). It says it is up-to-date, OK, well. Could this be the problem? But on ASUS' support site I couldn't find a dedicated monitor driver.

@FireMyst: Did you get a new machine at the end or just a panel replaced? Is it working now? What did ASUS finally say was the reason? Indeed a hardware defect?

[FireMyst]

Hey Rogue and everyone,

I am another suffering from Asus' crap warranty/rma service, and am strongly advising people not to purchase Asus laptops.

@Rogue: I am still waiting. They said they need to replace the LCD, cable, and graphics card.

They can't replace the machine because the G73JW-3DE is NOT sold in Australia.

First, it took over 2.5 MONTHS to replace the 3D lcd screen because that model isn't sold here in Australia.

Second, it's now nearly April and they still haven't received a replacement graphics card!

Do you believe this crap?!

The ETA on the card is April 10th.

For whatever stupid reasons, they can't just get a whole new computer or parts shipped in from the USA.

Anyone reading this -- DO NOT BUY AN ASUS GAMING LAPTOP.

EVER.

It's been over 3 months now and they still haven't fixed it.

[Chastity@ASUS]

@FireMyst: You need to understand that the service center is a 3rd party contractor, and is operating with their own limitations. I am not surprised that the local center doesn't stock parts for a machine not sold in its area. To help things along, I am referring this post to Mason@Asus who may be able to expedite things for you. Sorry that you've had to wait this long for RMA service.