Laptop Display Problem (Possibly artifacts)

Adam18290 · 30 May 2008 at 23:32

Just posting on behalf of a m8 who is having problems with his laptop;

Hes sent me this picture from said laptop.

The laptop was on for a good few hours - and went into hibernation a few times as he kept going back to the laptop. Apparently it was sitting on a bed as well - which as all laptop owners know - heats the hell out of a laptop.

Im guessing some sort of component is overheating - possibly the gfx card and im guessing that its producing the above artifacts ( l assuming its artifacts)

What do you guys think it is?

The Laptop stated is a Sony Vaio vgn-a215m.

Thanks in advance

beermonster · 31 May 2008 at 00:00

i would say graphics chip too, it built into the motherboard rather than seperate, using laptops on a bed is suicide for the ciruits over a long period they get far too hot, is it like this from cold also now?

Adam18290 · 31 May 2008 at 00:12

He left it off for about 30 mins and still it was the same - although he did say it was getting worse as he kept it on longer. Hes gonna leave it off 2nite and then check 2moz and go from there.

Am I right in saying that not all laptop gfx cards are soldered onto the mobo but on some the gfx cards have their own slot just like the memory does on a laptop.

The spoken laptop is not using onboard gfx but instead does have some ATI Mobility Radeon 9200 chip - does this mean that it might not be soldered into the mobo and instead in a socket like a desktop pc...

beermonster · 31 May 2008 at 00:24

iirc the sony A series the graphics chip is on the mainboard pretty much like a northbridge chip BGA affair, as they get hot the tiny solder points can break and cause this kind of problem, one way to be sure its not the lcd cable or lcd is to try in on an external monitor, if its the same then your looking at a mainboard replacent.

Adam18290 · 31 May 2008 at 11:45

beermonster said:
iirc the sony A series the graphics chip is on the mainboard pretty much like a northbridge chip BGA affair, as they get hot the tiny solder points can break and cause this kind of problem, one way to be sure its not the lcd cable or lcd is to try in on an external monitor, if its the same then your looking at a mainboard replacent.

Works fine on an external monitor - what next?