[SOLVED] HP dv6500 Graphics Artifacts

[Appletax]

The laptop that I'm working on is an HP dv6500t that I sold to my aunt.
It's from 2007 and has a Core 2 Duo and Nvidia 8400GS.

The initial problem was that the screen res. was super low (fixed) and she
said that the computer would freeze when playing Facebook games, just a few
days ago. It worked great before that for over 5 years.

I clicked on the Nvidia icon to open it's interface and received this error:



Uninstalled the graphics drivers to see what would happen and that's when
the screen started looking horrible (massive artifacts).

I reinstalled the OS because it was ready for a nuke and I reinstalled the
Nvidia drivers. This didn't effect anything. The artifacts were present when using the Windows 7
installer disc.





I plugged in my external monitor into the VGA port and nothing happened.

My best guess at this time is that either the GPU is cooked. I know this laptop
is notorious for having hardware problems. It's lasted a long time.

What might be the problem? Is it time to send it to computer Heaven?

Edit: tossed the laptop into the dumpster after removing its HDD

 

[FremontPC]

Especially with Nvidia, that's most likely the case.

 

[Appletax]

Now the display is working like it was before... The artifacts are gone.

However, the brightness is not adjustable, Aero cannot be enabled, and
I still get the same GPU error message.

Speed is great and can browse the web and even watch videos.

 

[NYJimbo]

Now the display is working like it was before... The artifacts are gone.

That won't last. Let it get cold again and see what it does. Regardless this sounds like a thermal problem with either the GPU or any graphics ram chips if they are soldered on the mobo (not sure about this model).

 

[Appletax]

It has a dedicated 8400GS... The weird graphics problem didn't start happening
until I removed the graphics drivers... I just installed the original drivers for the
system and now the graphics are messed up again.

Should I replace the GPU?

 

[NYJimbo]

It has a dedicated 8400GS... Should I replace the GPU?

Really ? I have never seen a DV6500/T with discrete graphics. Do you mean it just has its own chip or a whole separate video card ?

 

[Appletax]

Really ? I have never seen a DV6500/T with discrete graphics. Do you mean it has its own chip or a whole separate video card ?

I upgraded it from the onboard Intel to the discrete card. It's a 128 MB mobile
Nvidia 8400GS chip. I've read that this laptop is notrious for having the Nvidia
chip go bad. I know you can use a copper shim for better thermals, but I don't
want to mess with that.

Can't find the GPU so the only option is to replace the whole board with a
refurb, which is about $70 on eBay. The problem with that is that it's still the
same card that's prone to failure.

 

[NYJimbo]

I upgraded it from the onboard Intel to the discrete card. It's a 128 MB mobile
Nvidia 8400GS chip. I've read that this laptop is notrious for having the Nvidia
chip go bad. I know you can use a copper shim for better thermals, but I don't
want to mess with that.

Can't find the GPU so the only option is to replace the whole board with a
refurb, which is about $70 on eBay. The problem with that is that it's still the
same card that's prone to failure.

Maybe I am missing something. How did you upgrade a DV6500 from an onboard video to a discrete "card" ? What slot is this plugged into. Do you mean you went from a southbridge or something with video to the separate gpu with ram soldered on board ?

Is this some model I have not seen yet ?

 

[Appletax]

Maybe I am missing something. How did you upgrade a DV6500 from an onboard video to a discrete "card" ? What slot is this plugged into. Do you mean you went from a southbridge or something with video to the separate gpu with ram soldered on board ?

Is this some model I have not seen yet ?

Maybe I'm not using the right words lol. It is on board but is considered discrete?

It looks like this:
http://i01.i.aliimg.com/img/pb/625/009/400/400009625_717.jpg

 

[NYJimbo]

Ok, but its not a "card". I understand we often use the word card for anything discrete, but as techs we need to stop that because "cards" in laptops do exist but not for this model, its just a discrete chip, so it gets confusing.

If you have a discrete video chip you should also see if there are video ram chips (that photo shows pads around it that look like SMD ram chips belong there) and if they are on your motherboard you could try a thin flux/hot air reflow, but ONLY on the ram chips, NOT THE GPU.

If that fixes it then its just a crappy tin/silver ram chip soldering failure from heating cooling, whatever. If reflowing the ram chips does not solve it then I would do the GPU. HOWEVER, I would not do the GPU first.

Your issue could be thermal or it could be bad GPU ram OR that a GPU chip function called by one driver is not called by another driver so the failure is not brought out by one driver.

Bottom line, your f-cked unless you do a methodical diag taking into consideration motherboard soldering or possible GPU thermal problems.

Without a diag to eliminate all possibilities this will probably come back up if they ever load the drivers that wake up this problem or if there is an impending total failure.

ps - install Speccy or OpenHardwareMonitor and get the temps on idle and something like a virus scan. This will give you a clue if this machine is being cooked.

 

[Appletax]

I know it's not technicially correct, but I'm so used to saying it and hearing it
that it's pretty much implied that it's just a dedicated GPU that's actually
attached to the board.

... I don't feel comfortable doing the reflow. My aunt decided to just buy a
new one because this is not worth the money to fix it. So it's mine again lol.

Would you recommend that I just replace the board? That'd be a lot easier.
I am just worried that the problem will come back again.

Odd thing is that the computer will go back to no artifacts if I let it cool down
for awhile. It stays this way until I reboot; then it's back to looking horrible.