I have a Lenovo IdeaPad Flex 5 14ABR8 with a Ryzen 5 7530U running Windows 11. Over the last few days, the display suddenly turns completely black after a few minutes in apps such as CapCut or LDPlayer 9. The audio stops, but the keyboard backlight remains on. A few seconds later, the fan ramps up loudly, and the laptop will not recover unless I hold the power button to force it off.
This never happens during long sessions with Chrome or Discord. The laptop used to run these demanding apps normally, and it does not feel hot when the crashes occur. Windows reports no available updates, Lenovo's hardware diagnostics passed everything except showing that the battery's full-charge capacity has dropped to around 77%, and updating the graphics driver did not fix the issue.
I have not recently installed software or changed settings. One possible event was using a damaged USB-C charger that only worked at certain angles; while trying to charge with it, the battery dropped from about 50% to 0%, although the laptop continued working normally for a couple more days. What should I check before considering a motherboard or laptop replacement?
2 Answers
The symptoms point more toward a hardware or power-delivery problem than a normal application crash. A GPU-related failure, unstable power input, motherboard fault, or graphics-memory issue can cause the screen and audio to cut out while the system remains powered and the fan goes to maximum. The damaged USB-C charger could be relevant, especially if it caused unstable charging, but the battery health reading alone would not normally explain this behavior. Back up important files first, then test with the original Lenovo charger, disconnect unnecessary USB devices, and check whether the crash also happens in another graphics-heavy workload. If it continues, Lenovo service or a repair technician should test the board and power circuits; a driver update cannot fix a physical fault.
A full format means erasing the drive and reinstalling Windows, so it can remove your personal files and applications. It should not be the first step here. Make a verified backup, check Event Viewer and Reliability Monitor for display-driver or unexpected-shutdown errors, and try a clean graphics-driver installation. Also run Lenovo's built-in diagnostics again and monitor temperatures and charging behavior. If the machine still hard-locks only during GPU-heavy work after a clean Windows installation or a bootable hardware test, that strongly suggests a hardware problem rather than corrupted software.
I have not changed any settings or installed anything recently, so I will avoid wiping the laptop for now and make sure my data is backed up first.
I was hoping to avoid replacing the laptop. I will back up my files and test it with a known-good charger before assuming the motherboard has failed.