Problem with NVIDIA GTX 960m. Detected but not properly working.

[pinothepino]

Hello community, I'm experiencing some problem with my GPU, I've spent the last 3 days online searching for a possible solution and did (almost) anything I could do. And of course I did not solve the problem.

I hope it won't be too long for you but I have to explain in details what's going on.

I have a Lenovo Y50-70:
CPU Intel Core i7-4720HQ, 3500 MHz
OS Windows 8.1 64 bit
RAM 16 GB
GPU NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M

I am on a 24" Samsung external monitor because the original broke just one week ago. Connected through HDMI cable. The external monitor is running just as the original monitor was running: 1080p resolution, 60 Hz.

I usually use OpenHardwareMonitor to keep an eye on the sensors and their values. BTW, just one week ago I realized that my GPU is detected in Device Manager and correctly working but actually is not properly working.

I realized this after trying to play a couple of games I used to play before at high settings. Now I have to set everything to Low and disable lots of options in graphics settings.

On HWM the temperature keeps on staying around 50 °C, even when playing games.

I tried different things:
1. I uninstalled the NVIDIA driver and everytghin related to it and performed a completely clean reinstallation. Nothing happened.
2. I uninstalled the Intel Graphics driver and reinstalled them. Nothing happened.
3. I uninstalled both NVIDIA and Intel Graphics drivers. Nothing happened.
4. I set High Performance in NVIDIA Control Panel, both in Global Settings and in Program Settings. Nothing.
5. I run games through the "run with graphic processor/high-performance NVIDIA processor" in right click menu. Nothing.
6. I set the power options to High Performance.
7. I did not try a clean installation of Windows 8.1 only because at the moment I'm using this (only) laptop for working and can't waste time for a backup and reinstall. I might do this in the future but I have a feeling that it's not the OS. Plus, lots of people online did this without solving the problem.

I don't understand what more can I do. I've searched for anything. Basically my GPU is not working but it's "ON". Games keep on running on the Intel Graphic Card but won't switch to NVIDIA GPU.

My guess could be:

1. Is it the cable, somehow making a bad contact and needs to be reset in place?
2. Is it a driver problem but, for some reason unknown to me, it's still not working?
3. Is it just that the GPU is broken? Do i have to cry?

Let me say something in the end. I know that this laptop has lots and lots of problems. I started to have problems just when the warranty expired. Broken HD, broken plastic hinge and others. I know it was not the best idea to buy this laptop but as long as it's working, I want to keep it and use it and solve the problems I can actually solve. I never repaired the hinge, I took out the broken monitor, detached it from the laptop and now I'm using an external monitor as only monitor (primary).

If any good soul knows what I am facing here, any advice would be really appreciated.

I thank you in advance for reading this. If anything just ask, I might have forgot some info about the laptop.

 

[Jahr Jahr bonks]

Two options that could help.
Go to bios and disable/deselect the intel integrated graphics. This just may take preference over the card for whatever reason (maybe from uninstalling drivers)
Secondly, try removing and cleaning the card, reseating it and using compressed air could help.

 

[pinothepino]

Two options that could help.
Go to bios and disable/deselect the intel integrated graphics. This just may take preference over the card for whatever reason (maybe from uninstalling drivers)
Secondly, try removing and cleaning the card, reseating it and using compressed air could help.

So... I already went to BIOS and the only option there is to choose between a) switchable cards, with both nvidia and intel 2) only intel. I deselected and selected again the switchable card option but nothing happened.
Regardind the cleaning of the GPU, one week ago I opened my laptop because I changed the thermal paste on GPU and CPU and honestly, everything was pretty clean. I can try and open it again and remove and then reset the nvidia card again in its slot. I'll see what happens.

EDIT: I opened the laptop. The GPU is sealed on the motherboard. There's no way to remove it.

 

[Jahr Jahr bonks]

Two options that could help.
Go to bios and disable/deselect the intel integrated graphics. This just may take preference over the card for whatever reason (maybe from uninstalling drivers)
Secondly, try removing and cleaning the card, reseating it and using compressed air could help.

So... I already went to BIOS and the only option there is to choose between a) switchable cards, with both nvidia and intel 2) only intel. I deselected and selected again the switchable card option but nothing happened.
Regardind the cleaning of the GPU, one week ago I opened my laptop because I changed the thermal paste on GPU and CPU and honestly, everything was pretty clean. I can try and open it again and remove and then reset the nvidia card again in its slot. I'll see what happens.

EDIT: I opened the laptop. The GPU is sealed on the motherboard. There's no way to remove it.

Is your video card detected at all? Check device manager to see if this is the case and if it says the device is working properly.

 

[pinothepino]

Is your video card detected at all? Check device manager to see if this is the case and if it says the device is working properly.

Yes, totally. GPU is there, under Display Adapters, and it says that it's working properly.

EDIT: I also wrote on the lenovo forum and I added a couple of things that might be useful.

1. I upgraded the OS to Windows 10 shortly after the purchase, somewhere 3 years ago. Unluckily, in January of this year the internal HD broke and I managed to create a recovery drive, on my portable USB. When I installed the new HD and ran the recovery, I found out that now I had Windows 8.1, just as I was turning my laptop on for the first time. But this time without the possibility to upgrade to 10. It seems like I have this problem with the GPU since I changed the HD.

2. I sent the laptop for assistance once, I was having some flickering and flashing problem with the screen. They gave it back to me telling me that they changed the screen and updated the BIOS. When I went for the assistance, the laptop was already running on Windows 10.

 

[Jahr Jahr bonks]

Is your video card detected at all? Check device manager to see if this is the case and if it says the device is working properly.

Yes, totally. GPU is there, under Display Adapters, and it says that it's working properly.

EDIT: I also wrote on the lenovo forum and I added a couple of things that might be useful.

1. I upgraded the OS to Windows 10 shortly after the purchase, somewhere 3 years ago. Unluckily, in January of this year the internal HD broke and I managed to create a recovery drive, on my portable USB. When I installed the new HD and ran the recovery, I found out that now I had Windows 8.1, just as I was turning my laptop on for the first time. But this time without the possibility to upgrade to 10. It seems like I have this problem with the GPU since I changed the HD.

2. I sent the laptop for assistance once, I was having some flickering and flashing problem with the screen. They gave it back to me telling me that they changed the screen and updated the BIOS. When I went for the assistance, the laptop was already running on Windows 10.

Reinstall drivers, if you haven't already, and go to Nvidia control panel and see if the 960m is the preferred graphics processor. If you have two or more display ports, make sure your monitor cable is not plugged into the motherboard and instead is in the graphics card port.

 

[pinothepino]

Reinstall drivers, if you haven't already, and go to Nvidia control panel and see if the 960m is the preferred graphics processor. If you have two or more display ports, make sure your monitor cable is not plugged into the motherboard and instead is in the graphics card port.

I reinstalled the drivers twice and it didn't work.
In NVIDIA Control Panel the 960m is the preferred graphic processor.
And the laptop comes with only one HDMI port.

To me, the GPU seems "stuck". It's clearly ON, I mean it's powered but it looks "stuck" and not showing any error or symptoms, aside from the thing that it's not running any game or specific software.
Some people had that "error code 43" problem on this card, that AT LEAST is something.

 

[Jahr Jahr bonks]

Reinstall drivers, if you haven't already, and go to Nvidia control panel and see if the 960m is the preferred graphics processor. If you have two or more display ports, make sure your monitor cable is not plugged into the motherboard and instead is in the graphics card port.

I reinstalled the drivers twice and it didn't work.
In NVIDIA Control Panel the 960m is the preferred graphic processor.
And the laptop comes with only one HDMI port.

To me, the GPU seems "stuck". It's clearly ON, I mean it's powered but it looks "stuck" and not showing any error or symptoms, aside from the thing that it's not running any game or specific software.
Some people had that "error code 43" problem on this card, that AT LEAST is something.

Some gaming laptops have a function that will automatically switch between integrated graphics and the graphics card based on battery mode or battery level, is your battery full/always plugged in while in use? And is it on a battery saver mode?
That's worth a shot.

 

[pinothepino]

Some gaming laptops have a function that will automatically switch between integrated graphics and the graphics card based on battery mode or battery level, is your battery full/always plugged in while in use? And is it on a battery saver mode?
That's worth a shot.

I never play games on battery. My laptop is always plugged in and charged. Since I bought this Lenovo, I have always used the "conservation mode", that keeps the laptop's battery charged around 55-60% and stops charging it. It says it saves the battery so that it lasts longer.

I've always played games with this option on and I've never had a problem in the past.

 

[Jahr Jahr bonks]

Some gaming laptops have a function that will automatically switch between integrated graphics and the graphics card based on battery mode or battery level, is your battery full/always plugged in while in use? And is it on a battery saver mode?
That's worth a shot.

I never play games on battery. My laptop is always plugged in and charged. Since I bought this Lenovo, I have always used the "conservation mode", that keeps the laptop's battery charged around 55-60% and stops charging it. It says it saves the battery so that it lasts longer.

I've always played games with this option on and I've never had a problem in the past.

Did you try it on another mode?

 

[pinothepino]

Did you try it on another mode?

Yes of course and *drumroll* it's not working.
I'm literally losing my head but if you can keep on giving me hints, it's useful because I'm basically doublechecking.
Oh and, of course, thank you so much for the help.

 

[Jahr Jahr bonks]

Did you try it on another mode?

Yes of course and *drumroll* it's not working.
I'm literally losing my head but if you can keep on giving me hints, it's useful because I'm basically doublechecking.
Oh and, of course, thank you so much for the help.

No problem, I'll link you a list of graphics card troubleshooting tips, I'm sure some will be repetitive but I'm hoping for the best. http://www.playtool.com/pages/troubleshooting/intro.html

I would recommend seeing performance upon using a thrid-party tweaker like EVGA precision or MSI afterburner. (the free ones)

 

[pinothepino]

No problem, I'll link you a list of graphics card troubleshooting tips, I'm sure some will be repetitive but I'm hoping for the best. http://www.playtool.com/pages/troubleshooting/intro.html

I would recommend seeing performance upon using a thrid-party tweaker like EVGA precision or MSI afterburner. (the free ones)

I looked into that link you gave me. Rapid look, didn't have much time lately, and the chipset solution would be the one I'm going to try.

In the meanwhile, this a screenshot of Open Hardware Monitor while playing a specific game (Binding of Isaac, that is a very simple game and is not very heavy for any machine) but it's basically the same for any other game I play.

The Clock part, on top:

Top Line (Blue) is GPU Core, oscillating between those two fixed values, 135 MHz and 405 MHz
Middle Line (Greenish) is GPU Memory, stuck on 405 MHz and not moving.
Top Line (Brown/Yellow-ish) is GPU Shader. It goes with the same oscillations of the GPU Core, between 270 MHz and 810 MHz.

The bottom part is the CPU Temperatures, not going above 60 °C while playing.

Also, the same happens when I don't play games at all. It shows the same behaviour. The only thing that changes is the temperature graph, obviously. When I'm not playing they are always in the range 40 - 50 °C, depending on the usage of the laptop.

I hope that's useful somehow. I'll download also MSI Afterburner and see what it says.

 

[pinothepino]

A little update

I have noticed a couple of days ago is this: I ran the Intel Driver and Support Assistant. It automatically scans my laptop for driver updates and gives me also information about the system. Well, it says that the NVIDIA GTX 960m is "OFFLINE", but the status is "This device is working properly."

 

[pinothepino]

FINAL UPDATE

It seems that upgrading the OS from Windows 8.1 to Windows 10 automatically solved my problem. I honestly don't have a clue on the reasons. Maybe the BIOS, or the chipset, or whatever, but now the NVIDIA GPU is working again.

Thanks to you, Jahr Jahr Bonks, for the help.