Laptop screen glitches & freezes occasionally when using 3D software

Okay, so my laptop will occasionally completely freeze, with the screen becoming glitchy and slowly fading less bright/more black:

IMG_20211008_192306.jpg




I've had this issue from the day I received the laptop, and so far it has only occurred when using 3D software (either Blender or UE5).

Does anyone know what this is? I'm suspecting it is a GPU problem, probably overheating or hardware fault? I've also been having frequent control center and fan problems, so it wouldn't surprise me if the GPU fan was dodgy or something.

Any help is much appreciated, cheers

Specs are below:

Chassis & DisplayIonico Series: 15.6" Matte QHD 165Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1440)
Processor (CPU)Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor 11800H (2.4GHz, 4.6GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics CardNVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3060 - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW)
Memory Card ReaderIntegrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
BatteryIonico Series Integrated 62WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal PasteARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
 

Bhuna50

Author Level
Can you post your full specs from the order page, not just a segment.

Can you also post a screen shot of your windows update page

This does look odd and could possibly be hardware related, however we need to rule out the possible driver issues first.
 

Bhuna50

Author Level
Are you confident enough to turn off the machine, unplug it, ground yourself and take the back off to make sure that there are no obvious loose connections / loose M2 drive at all - things move when being transported so its worth checking that nothing appears loose.

There is an open case policy so you are allowed to do this but you have to take reasonable care in doing so.
 
Can you post your full specs from the order page, not just a segment.

Can you also post a screen shot of your windows update page

This does look odd and could possibly be hardware related, however we need to rule out the possible driver issues first.
Here are the full specs:

Chassis & Display
Ionico Series: 15.6" Matte QHD 165Hz sRGB 100% LED Widescreen (2560x1440)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor 11800H (2.3GHz, 4.6GHz Turbo)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 3060 - 6.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor
1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery
Ionico Series Integrated 62WH Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 M.2 GAMING + BLUETOOTH 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
1 x USB 3.2 PORT (Type C) + 3 x USB 3.2 PORTS
Keyboard Language
IONICO SERIES RGB BACKLIT UK KEYBOARD
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 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
Google Chrome™
Keyboard & Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 1MP HD WEBCAM
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Dead Pixel Guarantee
30 Day Dead Pixel Guarantee Inc. Labour & Carriage Costs
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days

Windows is up to date with all the optional updates:
1.PNG

2.PNG


I've noticed the freezing has only occurred when I've been using Nvidia studio drivers, but also it's occurred throughout multiple driver updates of them so I feel like this is possibly just a coincidence?

It might be worth mentioning I've also frequently had weird CUDA errors when using blender which I've never experienced on any computer that I've used blender on before. And my control center also has this fan error most of the time but not always:

FANS 4.PNG
 
Are you confident enough to turn off the machine, unplug it, ground yourself and take the back off to make sure that there are no obvious loose connections / loose M2 drive at all - things move when being transported so its worth checking that nothing appears loose.

There is an open case policy so you are allowed to do this but you have to take reasonable care in doing so.
Yeah I'd be willing to take a look inside if necessary
 

Bhuna50

Author Level
I must admit it doesnt look right, so I would suggest you give PCS a call and get them to work through some possibilities but that does look like it might need an RMA.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
The first time it happened was within about an hour of receiving the laptop and loading Unreal Engine for the first time, so that would suggest it was already fried before it even arrived!
It happens, if a component is faulty out of the factory, then it will usually fail within the first 6 months.
 
It happens, if a component is faulty out of the factory, then it will usually fail within the first 6 months.
If it arrived faulty shouldn't this really have been identified during the PCS testing process? For instance, I spotted the control center fan warning message pretty much immediately within the first 10 minutes of opening the laptop. I'd expect at least a cursory glance at these things before sending it off?! I get the impression they just run benchmarking software and don't really do any other actual testing, which seems a bit lacking for a pretty pricey laptop..
 

Bhuna50

Author Level
If it arrived faulty shouldn't this really have been identified during the PCS testing process? For instance, I spotted the control center fan warning message pretty much immediately within the first 10 minutes of opening the laptop. I'd expect at least a cursory glance at these things before sending it off?! I get the impression they just run benchmarking software and don't really do any other actual testing, which seems a bit lacking for a pretty pricey laptop..

The laptops are built and do undergo a series of tests and it obviously passed those at the time.

since then it will have been packaged and handled by a few people, passed on to a courier, thrown into the back of a van :) and then handled again by the courier firm through a delivery hub and then onto another van to come out to you.

During this time it is possible that components move etc as well which could cause issues.

If that wasnt the case then it is still possible that it worked through these tests, came to you in pristine condition and unfortunately the next time it went on, the power surge was a little too much and it caused an issue as there was a slight fault not originally detected.

1001 things could occur in a small period of time after receiving anything - I read daily about cars that pass QC etc and then on day one or two, something goes wrong - same with PCs laptops etc unfortunately.

That is why firms offer warranties and such and you will now experience PCS's excellent aftercare service hopefully and they will arrange to pick the item up, get it into one of their technicians, fix it and return it.
 

Bhuna50

Author Level
Also if you noticed an issue like that from day one, then report it straight to them - you have 14 days to reject and return the item. Then after that the one year warranty returns and fix process kicks in.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
If it arrived faulty shouldn't this really have been identified during the PCS testing process? For instance, I spotted the control center fan warning message pretty much immediately within the first 10 minutes of opening the laptop. I'd expect at least a cursory glance at these things before sending it off?! I get the impression they just run benchmarking software and don't really do any other actual testing, which seems a bit lacking for a pretty pricey laptop..
Stands to reason it was working fine when tested. That's how failures happen most of the time, in transit through knocks or early on due to a short.

That's why a warranty is so important with any tech.
 
Last edited:
Okay further to this I've had a look at the temperatures during rendering in blender using HW Monitor, control center & Speed fan, all are showing ridiculously high CPU temperatures ~95C upwards to 100C... which is even stranger since I have GPU not CPU rendering selected in the program!
Overheating 3.PNG

Overheating 2.PNG


Also 0% GPU usage?!!! Is this just the sensor being buggy or is it actually this hot?
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Okay further to this I've had a look at the temperatures during rendering in blender using HW Monitor, control center & Speed fan, all are showing ridiculously high CPU temperatures ~95C upwards to 100C... which is even stranger since I have GPU not CPU rendering selected in the program!
View attachment 29845
View attachment 29846

Also 0% GPU usage?!!! Is this just the sensor being buggy or is it actually this hot?
Could you use something like HWMonitor?

There are various readings on a CPU and some will normally be well into the 90's, I'm not certain what sensors speedfan is using, but speedfan isn't reliable for temperature readings anyway.
 
Could you use something like HWMonitor?

There are various readings on a CPU and some will normally be well into the 90's, I'm not certain what sensors speedfan is using, but speedfan isn't reliable for temperature readings anyway.
I didn't screenshot HWMonitor at the time, but it was displaying the same temperatures as shown in the max part: (mostly around 95C)
Overheating 4.PNG
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I didn't screenshot HWMonitor at the time, but it was displaying the same temperatures as shown in the max part: (mostly around 95C)
View attachment 29847
Yeah, that's definitely not right, so suggests an overheating issue.

I would try a repaste and see if that resolves for the GPU as well, I would also log that your having to do this with PCS as its possible the high Temps have already done some damage
 

Bhuna50

Author Level
I thought the Ionico / Intels ran hot at times - hence the warning in the detailed specs re the case getting hot:

1633885039397.png
 
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