Issues on startup + Flickering screen

[osmanas]

My Vortex series laptop has recently started experiencing issues with starting up. Sometimes I will start it and it won't start at all. It will simply display a black screen, with occasional white lines flickering on the screen every few seconds.

When it does start up, the screen flickers on some displays (e.g. on certain webpages, on the desktop, or on certain windows apps) but not on others. The flickering isn't extreme, as if it were turning on and off completely, but more like it was changing brightness from low brightness to high. It's noticeable and worrying.

Do you know what could cause a problem like this? I have tried to clean out the fans using a can of compressed air, and have tried to open it, but have found that there is something still causing the chassis to remain closed after I removed the 12 screws so I didn't want to force it open in case it damaged anything.

I've already attempted to send this to PCSpecialist's support page, but it's been a few days and I've not received a message, so looking to see if anyone else has an idea here.

 

[Citrus_9]

My Vortex series laptop has recently started experiencing issues with starting up. Sometimes I will start it and it won't start at all. It will simply display a black screen, with occasional white lines flickering on the screen every few seconds.

When it does start up, the screen flickers on some displays (e.g. on certain webpages, on the desktop, or on certain windows apps) but not on others. The flickering isn't extreme, as if it were turning on and off completely, but more like it was changing brightness from low brightness to high. It's noticeable and worrying.

Do you know what could cause a problem like this? I have tried to clean out the fans using a can of compressed air, and have tried to open it, but have found that there is something still causing the chassis to remain closed after I removed the 12 screws so I didn't want to force it open in case it damaged anything.

I've already attempted to send this to PCSpecialist's support page, but it's been a few days and I've not received a message, so looking to see if anyone else has an idea here.

When posting for Technical Support...

Hi all If you're here, it likely means you're having issues which is not good, so we want to help to make it much better as quickly as possible and get you back into full tilt gaming / rendering / production or whatever is your poison. It really helps us if we have the full system...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[SpyderTracks]

My Vortex series laptop has recently started experiencing issues with starting up. Sometimes I will start it and it won't start at all. It will simply display a black screen, with occasional white lines flickering on the screen every few seconds.

When it does start up, the screen flickers on some displays (e.g. on certain webpages, on the desktop, or on certain windows apps) but not on others. The flickering isn't extreme, as if it were turning on and off completely, but more like it was changing brightness from low brightness to high. It's noticeable and worrying.

Do you know what could cause a problem like this? I have tried to clean out the fans using a can of compressed air, and have tried to open it, but have found that there is something still causing the chassis to remain closed after I removed the 12 screws so I didn't want to force it open in case it damaged anything.

I've already attempted to send this to PCSpecialist's support page, but it's been a few days and I've not received a message, so looking to see if anyone else has an idea here.

It could be either the display cable wearing and requiring swapping out, or it could be the backlight inverter starting to fail.

Either way it would take some investigation.

One easy test is next time it displays like that, move the screen and see if it affects it, if it does, then it points to the cable.

 

[osmanas]

When posting for Technical Support...

Hi all If you're here, it likely means you're having issues which is not good, so we want to help to make it much better as quickly as possible and get you back into full tilt gaming / rendering / production or whatever is your poison. It really helps us if we have the full system...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Apologies, was unaware. Posted it below.

Chassis & Display
Vortex Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz LED Widescreen (1920x1080) + G-Sync
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor 9750H (2.6GHz, 4.5GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair 2133MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1660 Ti - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE 7mm SERIAL ATA III 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 128MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SU800 M.2 2280 (560 MB/R, 520 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated 6 in 1 Card Reader (SD /Mini SD/ SDHC / SDXC / MMC / RSMMC)
AC Adaptor
1 x 180W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre Cloverleaf UK Power Cable
Battery
Vortex IX Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® AC-9260 M.2 (1.73Gbps, 802.11AC) +BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.1 PORT (Type C) + 2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 1 x USB 2.0 PORT
Keyboard Language
MULTI COLOUR BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Promotional Item
FREE Geforce Fortnite bundle w/ select GTX cards
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

 

[osmanas]

It could be either the display cable wearing and requiring swapping out, or it could be the backlight inverter starting to fail.

Either way it would take some investigation.

One easy test is next time it displays like that, move the screen and see if it affects it, if it does, then it points to the cable.

I've read other posts in the forums here that said to do the same thing, but the flickering mostly happens when it's stationary and doesn't get any worse as it moves. It remains constant whether being moved or being left alone. It does disappear when the laptop is open for a short while, but I'm worried that it will soon become a more serious matter.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I've read other posts in the forums here that said to do the same thing, but the flickering mostly happens when it's stationary and doesn't get any worse as it moves. It remains constant whether being moved or being left alone. It does disappear when the laptop is open for a short while, but I'm worried that it will soon become a more serious matter.

Hmmmm..... that does sound like it may be the backlight / inverter starting to fail.

Estimated guess of course, it would take some investigation with the right tools to know properly, but they symptoms do fit.

 

[FerrariVie]

Regarding you not being able to open the laptop back, some chassis would have screws below the battery when this is externally removable. Not sure if that's the case on your specific chassis, but it's worth having a look.

 

[osmanas]

Hmmmm..... that does sound like it may be the backlight / inverter starting to fail.

Estimated guess of course, it would take some investigation with the right tools to know properly, but they symptoms do fit.

That would make sense. I'll contact PCS and see if there's anything I can do to get it looked at.

Regarding you not being able to open the laptop back, some chassis would have screws below the battery when this is externally removable. Not sure if that's the case on your specific chassis, but it's worth having a look.

I've managed to remove the battery's screws as well as the other screws on the chassis, but it still feels like it refuses to come off without force. I haven't tried opening it further or else it might damage the back.

 

[markh]

I also have a Vortex series laptop (RTX 2070, non-OLED version) and have experienced the exact same issue. A reboot hasn't ever not fixed it though. Interestingly, I was using Ubuntu on it but have recently had to switch to Windows for a project I'm working on and it hasn't happened since 🤔.