Question Asus ROG GU502DU problem

[Packadurm]

Hi,
So, in December I recently purchased this Zephyrus laptop (GU502DU) in order to replace my older Asus gaming laptop. I'm having a problem running games at any decent graphics level. What happens is, the game will start off fine, and I can hear the fans getting faster and faster. But after awhile, it will suddenly lag extremely bad (visual lag as far as I can tell) for a few moments, before returning to normal. It'll repeat this in a cycle. As long as the game runs. Asus has some program, armoury crate, that came in the laptop, and if it's correct, the cycle of lag corresponds to the GPU temperature.

Some of the games I've tried are: The Division 2 ( even on lowest settings it has this issue), Star Wars The Old Republic ( stable on medium settings), StarCraft II (stable on medium settings), and World of Tanks (Seems to be stable on low settings). I tried using recommended graphics settings from the Nvidia experience program, but they didn't improve anything - I still get this problem. It's really frustrating for me as it doesn't seem to be running these games any better than my previous Asus laptop, the G750, which has a Nvidia 770m graphics card. I know this new machine isn't a powerhouse, but the specs are all around better and newer than the older machine - it should be better.

(One thing I noticed before is that this laptop seems to be configured for auto overclocking of the GPU - this is something I've never messed with, so I don't know anything about that)

Does anyone have any ideas about what the problem could be? I'd really appreciate it!

Laptop specs:
AMD Ryzen 7-3750H,
Nvidia GTX 1660 ti,
8gbs of ram
Windows 10
I've added a second 8 GB stick of ram, so 16gb total, and a second 512gb ssd.

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

You could first take a look at the laptop's BIOS and see if you have any updates pending. Then you can try and uninstall your GPU drivers using DDU then reinstall said GPU drivers using the latest found off of Nvidia's support site.

Please make sure your OS for the laptop is up to date(after the BIOS update and)prior to tinkering with drivers.

 

[Packadurm]

Hi! Thanks for your reply

I checked my BIOS version, and it seems to be the most recent - windows and Asus don't list a newer version. It's GU502DU.208, released on 2019-08-01. I also saw 10.1.2.208 as a version number in the windows update logs. I opened up BIOS settings and set things to default. I used DDU to do a clean install of the most recent Nvidia drivers for my card (442.50), however I wasn't sure about the onboard graphics built into the and cpu - I've never had one of those.

The problem is still persisting as before. I did some quick testing with world of tanks, and it's still unable to run consistently smooth at even medium settings. Is there anything else we can try?

 

[Packadurm]

Hi!
So I recently purchased this laptop, and I'm getting this problem in most games. It'll run fine at first, but as the computer gets hotter, it'll reach a certain temperature, then drop performance to 0 for a few moments. It'll then go back to that temperature, then drop, repeatedly.
I'm only able to run most games stable on low to medium graphics settings, and some games I can't run at all:
The Division 2: not stable
World of Tanks: Stable at Medium
Star Wars: The Old Republic: stable at medium
Star Craft II: Stable at medium.

This is bothering me as I've been trying to fix it for awhile and nothing seems to work. Performance is worse than my older Asus laptop, with a Nvidia 770m, which this laptop was supposed to replace. I know it's not the beefiest machine but it should be doing better.

I've made sure my OS, BIOS, and GPU drivers are all current. Old GPU drivers were uninstalled with DDU. I've reinstalled the Asus software my laptop came with, as I suspected Armourycrate, which I think was the program automatically controlling the overclocking, was potentially the problem, but no dice. Most recently I tried Asus GPU tweak II to check overclock settings, as it supposedly overrides ArmouryCrate, but the problem still happens - and it doesn't turn on the fan at all, with no fan settings at all in the program.

According to Armoury Crate, the temperature it stops at is about 77 degrees.

Is my GPU bust? I'm beginning to wonder if it's time to send it in for servicing, or return it to the shop for a replacement. If anyone can offer any help, advice, or something else I can try, I'd really appreciate it!

Laptop specs: (GU502DU)
AMD Ryzen 7-3750H,
Nvidia GTX 1660 ti,
8gbs of ram
Windows 10
I've added a second 8 GB stick of ram, so 16gb total, and a second 512gb ssd.

 

[Lutfij]

Are both sticks of ram, identical? You didn't mention the version for your OS.

Please stick to one thread to get consistent suggestions and prevent you and the community from ending up spaghetti brains. Yes multiple threads can cause confusion for you and the community.

 

[Packadurm]

My apologies, I thought I may have posted in the wrong section, hence the repost.

The ram stick in the laptop is built in, and I have no access to it. I matched size and other stats, but have no way of matching the sticks exactly. My problem has been happening before and after I added the second stick, however, so I don't think it's related.

Here's my specific OS information:
Edition: Windows 10 home
Version: 1909
OS build: 18363.693

 

[Packadurm]

I have some new info~

I'm currently traveling, and tried to play World of Tanks on battery. The stutter problem I described didn't happen! I was able to continually reproduce this. When plugged in, I get these stutters on a fairly regular cycle, but when on battery I have no issues. Even if I unplug mid game, the problem will disappear mid game.

I've had a look in my advanced power options for high performance, but I didn't see anything that would explain this. I tried making plugged in match battery, but that didn't change anything. the only other power-related options I could find was in the Nvidia control panel - "Power Management Mode". The default is Optimal Power. I tried changing it to Prefer Maximum Performance: It seemed to increase the time between the stutters, which was good, but it didn't fix the problem, so I changed it back to default.

I'm still not really sure what the problem could be. Usually a laptop runs much better while plugged in, not vice versa. any possible ideas?