Here I am with another stupid computer problem.

[danimal]

Have you tried a different monitor/TV to see if it does the same thing with a different screen?

The Intel vs. nVidia device usage shouldn't matter much. There should be an option somewhere you can disable the Intel and run only the nVidia card, but it'd drain your battery in a hurry when you go unplugged.

I've had issues with new Dell's that had problems outputting video through the displayport on the external usb-c dock before. Solution was a BIOS update off Dell's support site.

Is your monitor connected through a dock or are you plugging directly into the laptop? I can't even begin to tell you how many usb ports the wife and boys have broken and cracked on mine over the years. HDMI should be a fairly snug connection, with almost no play. Possible too if you disconnect this monitor frequently that you're wearing the pins out on the computer. I know you tried a new cable, but certain connectors are only rated for so many insertion cycles.

 

[EvilElmo]

Most likely the video driver is crashing and getting restarted. If you look at the logs in the event viewer you'll probably see errors indicating this. I've used laptops as desktops for the last five years and they can most certainly handle it from a hardware standpoint.

Sounds like the culprit. My work laptop does the same thing every once in a while, just like you describe. The screen goes black and then a few seconds later windows reloads the driver and the screen comes back on.

 

[Sheepdog Gear]

I fix puters fer a livin.

You haven't isolated hardware from software yet and it's real easy. Enter BIOS, watch both monitors, wait to see if it drops out.
Building a Linux USB boot stick is easy too and will also help isolate the issue as hardware or software (Windows).
https://www.pendrivelinux.com/

Yes, I haven't done that yet. I'll try it today. I am pretty computer savvy, but am by no means at an IT level or anything. I just wanted to knock everything else out before getting into the BIOS. I honestly wouldn't know what to do while I'm there, so I have some research to do first I guess.

Sounds like it is a Lenovo. Is it?

No sir. All components listed in the OP....

- Windows 10 64 bit
- Custom HP Pavilion 17t laptop (bought new a couple months back)
- New LG 27UD58-B secondary monitor connected via HDMI

are you cloning the display or extending it out to the external monitor?

Extending. Directly centered to the right.

What is this Apple and Windows of which you speak?
Slackware64 Linux smokes them both.

I'm sure it does, but does it have all the software compatibility as Windows? I use a lot of computer graphics software.

Have you tried a different monitor/TV to see if it does the same thing with a different screen?
No. I can try that today too. Thanks for the idea!
The Intel vs. nVidia device usage shouldn't matter much. There should be an option somewhere you can disable the Intel and run only the nVidia card, but it'd drain your battery in a hurry when you go unplugged.

I've had issues with new Dell's that had problems outputting video through the displayport on the external usb-c dock before. Solution was a BIOS update off Dell's support site.

Is your monitor connected through a dock or are you plugging directly into the laptop? I can't even begin to tell you how many usb ports the wife and boys have broken and cracked on mine over the years. HDMI should be a fairly snug connection, with almost no play. Possible too if you disconnect this monitor frequently that you're wearing the pins out on the computer. I know you tried a new cable, but certain connectors are only rated for so many insertion cycles.

It is plugged in directly to the machine. No hubs. And it never gets unplugged or anything.

Sounds like the culprit. My work laptop does the same thing every once in a while, just like you describe. The screen goes black and then a few seconds later windows reloads the driver and the screen comes back on.

Could that be the culprit even though I DELETED both display drivers and reinstalled? I even updated afterwards. No change.

 

[jkaetz]

Could that be the culprit even though I DELETED both display drivers and reinstalled? I even updated afterwards. No change.

Look in the event viewer after it happens and see if you see any errors. If it is the video driver crashing, it will be logged there. It sounds like you have a laptop with both the intel integrated video and nvidia discreet video, whenever dealing with these I've had the most luck updating the intel video drivers first and then the nvidia. Check the driver versions against what is available on HP's website as well as intell and nvidia. Sometimes the laptop vendor's drivers (HP) will work better than the individual hardware vendor versions. Finally, when you say "deleted" did you uninstall the driver software from the control panel or device manager? It is fully possible to delete the device without removing the driver too. I find the dual hardware video drivers to be a pain. It's a great idea in theory, the low power video card does most of the work and only uses the high power card when needed but it's not quite seamless yet.

 

[Sheepdog Gear]

Look in the event viewer after it happens and see if you see any errors. If it is the video driver crashing, it will be logged there. It sounds like you have a laptop with both the intel integrated video and nvidia discreet video, whenever dealing with these I've had the most luck updating the intel video drivers first and then the nvidia. Check the driver versions against what is available on HP's website as well as intell and nvidia. Sometimes the laptop vendor's drivers (HP) will work better than the individual hardware vendor versions. Finally, when you say "deleted" did you uninstall the driver software from the control panel or device manager? It is fully possible to delete the device without removing the driver too. I find the dual hardware video drivers to be a pain. It's a great idea in theory, the low power video card does most of the work and only uses the high power card when needed but it's not quite seamless yet.

I'll look up how to view the event viewer tonight and get back to you for sure. Thanks for the help!

The NVIDIA is the GEFORCE GTX 960M. It's a dedicated 4GB card. Does that make it not discreet? I am probably wrong on my terminology, but are "discreet" video the ones that actually leech off of the processor?

I actually, by chance alone, did update Intel's driver first, then NVIDIA. I'll will compare versions tonight as well.

I uninstalled both drivers from the device manager. Afterwards, they did not show up in the device manager. I then restarted, and they were there again. All I did at that point was update them, (from the device manager by right clicking and selecting update driver.)

 

[jkaetz]

I'll look up how to view the event viewer tonight and get back to you for sure. Thanks for the help!

The NVIDIA is the GEFORCE GTX 960M. It's a dedicated 4GB card. Does that make it not discreet? I am probably wrong on my terminology, but are "discreet" video the ones that actually leech off of the processor?

I actually, by chance alone, did update Intel's driver first, then NVIDIA. I'll will compare versions tonight as well.

I uninstalled both drivers from the device manager. Afterwards, they did not show up in the device manager. I then restarted, and they were there again. All I did at that point was update them, (from the device manager by right clicking and selecting update driver.)

You're right on all accounts. Older generation laptops either used the integrated (CPU powered) graphics cards or the dedicated or discreet cards. The current generation hardware can switch between the two on the fly. The idea is that you use the low power integrated video until you start up an application that needs the extra power of the discreet GPU. I believe nvidia and intel call it optimus. It works pretty well but does have some hiccups as it's hard to tell which graphics processor is powering the external displays. Sometimes you don't even get a choice in the matter. I've seen some of what you're describing with my current system and using multiple displays but never as frequent as you're describing. I was seeing it only a few times a week.

Now that I'm thinking about it, did you say you tried a different HDMI cable? It's something simple to check and can cause issues.

 

[BroodXI]

have you set the pc up for performance? i've not dealt with multiple video cards in a laptop before, so you may check device manager and make sure the pc isn't powering down one to conserve power, kinda like the power options on a usb hub. either way, i hope you get it figured out.

 

[oldpink]

You're right on all accounts. Older generation laptops either used the integrated (CPU powered) graphics cards or the dedicated or discreet cards. The current generation hardware can switch between the two on the fly. The idea is that you use the low power integrated video until you start up an application that needs the extra power of the discreet GPU. I believe nvidia and intel call it optimus. It works pretty well but does have some hiccups as it's hard to tell which graphics processor is powering the external displays. Sometimes you don't even get a choice in the matter. I've seen some of what you're describing with my current system and using multiple displays but never as frequent as you're describing. I was seeing it only a few times a week.

Now that I'm thinking about it, did you say you tried a different HDMI cable? It's something simple to check and can cause issues.

You are correct.
It is indeed called Optimus.
I have to Corei7 laptops that have it.

 

[Sheepdog Gear]

You're right on all accounts. Older generation laptops either used the integrated (CPU powered) graphics cards or the dedicated or discreet cards. The current generation hardware can switch between the two on the fly. The idea is that you use the low power integrated video until you start up an application that needs the extra power of the discreet GPU. I believe nvidia and intel call it optimus. It works pretty well but does have some hiccups as it's hard to tell which graphics processor is powering the external displays. Sometimes you don't even get a choice in the matter. I've seen some of what you're describing with my current system and using multiple displays but never as frequent as you're describing. I was seeing it only a few times a week.

Now that I'm thinking about it, did you say you tried a different HDMI cable? It's something simple to check and can cause issues.

Yes sir. I did try swapping HDMI cables. No dice. I still haven't had time to try swapping monitors. I hope to do the other troubleshooting steps you mentioned today or tomorrow.

have you set the pc up for performance? i've not dealt with multiple video cards in a laptop before, so you may check device manager and make sure the pc isn't powering down one to conserve power, kinda like the power options on a usb hub. either way, i hope you get it figured out.

It's always plugged in, so I always have it on max performance. I even turned off all the power saving options in the USB settings in the device manager. Either way, it can't be a power issue as it happens even when I'm in the middle of USING the machine. I could be typing or browsing and it will still happen.

You are correct.
It is indeed called Optimus.
I have to Corei7 laptops that have it.

Core i7 6700HQ here as well if it matters any.

 

[Sheepdog Gear]

Wow. Now it's doing it even when the secondary monitor is not plugged in. Far less often, but flickers off and recovers.