My Razer Blade Pro 2017 has been having a few issues lately and I couldnt find any information on the internet that could help me out. Here's a summary of my probelm in the form of a PCR :smile_:
Patient Name:
Razer Blade Pro 2017 (i7-7820HK, GTX 1080, 4K)
Chief Complaint
Random shutting down when playing video games.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/375735453845815297/642236537739673600/unknown.png
Signs, symptoms and events:
In October my battery charge started to deteriorate, it was already causing the chassis to warp due to bloating. Eventually I couldn't take my laptop off AC power without it dying immediately. During this period my laptop would randomly power off when playing games and the frequency of these occurences increased inversely proportional to my battery health.
Onset and Provocation:
The issue can be observed when playing games. I mostly play Destiny 2 and it has a higher probability of occuring if i'm playing in an area with increased entities or effects. However I have been able to reproduce the problem 100% of the time by opening up Warframe. As soon as I get past the login screen I hear the fans rev up and it just shuts power. This would be the method I follow to replicate the problem for my assessments.
Assessments and Interventions:
Primary physical assessment:
I have never opened my laptop up in my 2 years owning it until this month. Upon opening it up I noticed some dust on the thermal pads that are on the RAM. Cleaned it and reapplied. Cleaned off old thermal paste on GPU and CPU and reapplied some thermal grizzly. Dusted the vapor chamber and wiped the fans clean. Inspected motherboard for any damage but everything looked to be in prime condition. Applied pressurized air to the whole thing to make it squeaky clean (thermals however did not change after all this). Noticed severe battery bloating, but kept it in when putting everything back together for troubleshooting purposes. Removed inessential USB devices to reduce usb power consumption. No success, problem could still be replicated.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/375735453845815297/639597930956980266/image0.jpg
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/375735453845815297/639620331484741634/image0.jpg
Cognitive assessment:
Updated BIOS, OS and all Drivers.
Fiddled with CPU settings (including undervolting) with no change in problem replication.
Fiddled with power plan settings with no change in problem replication. HOWEVER when I put the critcal battery state response to be sleep when on battery and never when on AC, I experienced my computer locking itself and going to sleep when a game was running multiple times when my laptop was plugged into AC power. I eventually changed the on battery settings to match my AC settings. No success, problem could still be replicated.
Secondary physical assessment:
Removed battery so laptop would only run on AC. Changed the sockets in which my charger was plugged into to eliminate socket issues. No success, problem could still be replicated.
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/543919978928144415/642249546268934164/image1.jpg
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/543919978928144415/642249547925422100/image0.jpg
https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/543919978928144415/642249549108346911/image2.jpg
Other helpful information
Age:
Just over 2 Years
Past Medical History:
CPU overheating, fixed by disabling Turbo Boost and using Speedstep. Also added a cooler under the laptop and fixed a desk fan to blow over the top.
Missing screws at the bottom of the chasis, due to them falling off as a result of the warping chasis. Fixed by purchasing replacement screws.
Barely noticable screen burns, due to warping chasis. Further damage mitigated by putting a thin microfibre cloth between the screen and keyboard when shut.
(WASD) key strokes requiring more pressure than other keys to register.
Dust accumilation in fans, fixed by blowing compresed air in every month.
Diagnosis
I believe the laptop inherantly isn't capable of drawing enough power from the 250W charger to power everything inside and begins to use battery power as well when playing high demand games. I have never heard of laptops doing this and at this point I don't know if it is the actual cause of this issue as a result of my battery deteriorating. I would like a second opinion on this or some confirmation as to whether my laptop inherantly has this sort of factory battery to AC hybridization going on.
UPDATES:
Videos of me replicating the problem despite different thermals.
Also 3DMark Benchmark results, ran fine without powering off.
https://www.3dmark.com/3dm/40816126?