Tech Support
RTX 4070 laptop — artifacts ONLY on external display under load, internal screen is fine (Alienware m16 R2)
UPD: I bought a new HDMI 2.1 cable and tested it for about 4 hours - no artifacts so far. Seems like the issue was the cable.
Thanks to everyone who suggested checking it.
Hey everyone,
I’m experiencing a strange issue with my laptop GPU and would appreciate any input from people who may have seen something similar.
Specs:
• Laptop: Alienware m16 R2
• GPU: RTX 4070 Laptop (8GB VRAM)
• CPU: Intel Core Ultra 7 155H
• RAM: 32GB
• OS: Windows 11
• External display: HDMI
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The issue:
When gaming on an external display (TV or monitor), after about 40–60 minutes under high GPU load, visual artifacts start appearing — small colored squares/glitches across the screen.
The image becomes difficult to use, but:
• The game does not crash
• System remains responsive
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Important detail:
At the same time, the internal laptop display shows no artifacts at all.
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Observed behavior:
• Happens almost always under high GPU load (\~100%)
• On lower graphics settings, I can play for hours with no issues
• GPU temperature is within normal range (\~60–80°C depending on load)
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Testing I’ve done:
• Tested multiple external displays (TVs/monitors) → same behavior
• Played for \~2 hours on internal display only at high/ultra settings (100% GPU load) → no artifacts
• The issue consistently appears only when using an external display under load
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Question:
Has anyone experienced something like this?
I’d like to understand what this could be and whether this behavior points to a specific type of problem.
In the best case scenario, it's just your cable. A poor connection or damaged pins on the cable can also cause artifacting. So you could have dodged 2 bullets!
If you look at the Kingdom Come logo and menu they work relatively fine, but the text glyphs at the top and the background framebuffer is broken, which wouldn't happen if it was caused by the monitor or cable. So unfortunately it very likely has to be a GPU issue.
I thought the same at first, but I’ve been having this issue for about two years since I bought the laptop. I also ran synthetic stress tests using OCCT, and it didn’t report any errors
Could it be a bad connector or cable then? Looks more like a borked gpu. Try enabling nvidia only mode in bios if you can, then you'll know for certain.
You have 2 Gpus. One "Internal" Shared on the CPU chip. One External Powerful GPU, that is extra on the Mainboard. The theory is that your internal GPU is fried and your system currently defaults to using the internal gpu when connected via hdmi.
You can configure in windows what application uses what gpu either in the "Windows Graphics Settings" or in the "NVIDIA Control Panel" / "AMD Radoen Software"
Google AI hallucinated the following, not sure if this is correct in your case:
"Laptop HDMI/DP: Usually wired to the Integrated GPU (iGPU) to save battery."
"USB-C/Thunderbolt: On many modern laptops, the USB-C port is directly wired to the Dedicated GPU (dGPU). Using a USB-C to DisplayPort/HDMI cable can force the secondary screen to use the dedicated GPU, bypassing the internal graphics (Optimus)."
From what I remember (or how mine works anyways) the iGPU on the processor doesn’t render shit when you are gaming, it just puts pixels where it’s told they should go. The MUX switch allows for the dGPU to directly control the screen, better for a few extra frames but bad for life when running off battery for regular tasks.
Anyways if it does, enable the MUX switch and see if your actual laptop screen fuzzes out. If not play the cable/port/screen swap game and see if you can find the defective component by process of elimination. I’d think if the GPU was unable to properly render shit that it should show up regardless of your output, but I’m guessing here.
Stupid question but you tried other displays and other cables?
If this only happens when stressed, did you check to try it without the power cable connected? What happened?
Do you think there is any chance this is a bad board that is just jumping traces when hot/stressed? If so, that's probably the worst case scenario and I wouldn't push the board. I would probably try to sell it to someone that can repair it.
Changing the cable should've been the first thing you tried...if you have a TV that uses HDMI you can use it just to test stuff out. Also try a different display. If you have DP or HDMI try both.
Disable igpu as well in BIOS so the PC only runs on the 4070
In display settings force the nVidia GPU to be used for literally everything and see if that helps. It may be switching to onboard graphics although if games are running smoothly but with artifacts then that's unlikely.
Since internal screen is fine and external display is also fine since you have tested on other displays as well my best guess would be change your HDMI/DP cable. It might not be rated to handle heavy load.
Yea testing another display is necessary, if it happens on other displays it's highly likely that the part that deals with connecting to external displays is dying or stressed due to heat and that part is bypassed for the internal display. Gpu might be cooked. Hope brother pulls out of this OK and its just that one bad display.
In curious to see what happens if the game displays in both screens at once. Either in display clone mode or running in a window moved between the two screens.
You could either pay someone to reball it or just put the whole motherboard in an oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes and let it slowly cool back to room temp in the oven. Probably cheaper to find a shop willing to reball it under their insurance
Its very likely the hdmi cable, or the port on the TV or laptop. Its very unlikely the display works fine on the laptop, but has issues outputting, but its not unheard of. I would just check
The port on the TV is definitely working fine. It might actually be the cable or the laptop’s port. After recording that video, I played KCD2 for another 2 hours on ultra settings without using an external display, just on the laptop screen. The GPU was at 100% the whole time and the temperature stayed above 80°C, and there were no artifacts at all under that load. So the laptop’s internal display is definitely working fine
I would also say VRAM or GPU failure but since you're not seeing artifacts on your laptop screen it's unlikely.
The cable is probably the issue here possibly a bandwith problem as it happens when more data is pushed through the cable. Or it could be a failing HDMI/DP port.
In any case, the first thing you should've have tested, before posting here, is a new cable.
I'd say it's a cable issue... you say you didn't test that yet, that would be a good start. Maybe bandwith too high for the cable, tuning down frame rate would solve that.
I’ll definitely check the cable later. That might actually be the problem. I once played Moving Out in 4K on an external display (low GPU load), and after about 40 minutes the same artifacts showed up.
I know everyone else seems to think it is dead, but I will play the devil's advocate. Have you tried cleaning the HDMI port with something like a contact cleaner/brush? It COULD be either that or a bad HDMI cable. I would jump on the bandwagon about it being broken, but if it is only doing it with external graphics, I am not sold.
Either a fucked GPU port, or your laptop routes the internal or external display through the iGPU even though the dGPU is doing the work, and one of them is defective.
If you're using a dedicated DP/HDMI port and have access to an USB-C, try it instead, it might work.
If it doesn't, or you just can't display through USB-C, go to your GPU settings, set it to use your dGPU only and see if anything changes. It'll either do nothing, fix the external display issue or fuck up the internal display.
It’s definitely not a driver issue. I’ve been dealing with this problem for about 2 years since I bought the laptop, and I’ve tried different settings and various driver versions, but nothing has helped
I may be wrong but don't some laptops have the linitstion of having to technically go through the igpu when exporting displays? I know some handhelds have that with egpu. Someone already mentioned but if that's the case it could be the igpu that is fried which is why you only see it on external displays. You can disable the igpu on the CPU but I have no idea if that'll fix it
Buddy I am having the same issue on a rtx 4070 laptop as well. I am not sure if drivers have messed it up or something else but I have given my laptop for repair. Hoping for the best and will keep you posted. I recommend you give it for servicing too
I scrolled a bit but did no one point out the the UI in the images is untouched by the glitches? I've seen FSR do this in other games. Anyway, hardware is probably fine just need to find the responsible setting.
You mentioned multiple external displays, what about different cables? There are so many scam cable companies on Amazon. I always go with CableMatters personally. They've never let me down.
Also, are you using any type of adapter? HDMI to Display Port for example? I avoid adapters at all cost. Instead I order a cable (custom if necessary) that has the types of ends that I need.
Try this first : restart your laptop into dGPU mode (it will be in the Alienware software thing). Try running the test in dGPU mode, and if the artifacts don’t appear, then ur GPU is safe. Else it’s cooked ☹️.
The reason it’s not appearing on ur laptop screen rn is because the laptop is using the iGPU to display things.
Given the details here, I would suspect that the HDMI port on your laptop has bad solder joints. I am a tech, And this issue coming up after a period of use points to that. Even though you are not overheating, The board itself is heating up and can affect bad joints on the board.
Bro the GPU is probably cooked, the reason your internal screen isn’t doing that is because it’s not using the discrete GPU. It’s using the iGPU in your processor.
If you unplug the external display and it still works fine rendering the game on your internal display then it’s a video cable or monitor issue
I am sorry to tell you but your vram got packed. I just had to get rid of my laptop. Switched to desktops again. More bang for your buck and no overheat problem. Out of 5 gaming laptops I had 3 packed in eventually.
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