Graphics card aka video board
A graphics card also known as a video card or VGA board is a laptop component responsible for creating images on a laptop screen.
In most low-mid range laptops the graphics card is integrated into the motherboard. In other words, it’s a part of the motherboard. If that’s the case, the graphics card is not removable or upgradeable. If the graphics card fails, you have to replace the whole motherboard.
A discrete graphics card can be found in high range models and high end gaming laptops. Discrete graphics cards can be removed and in some cases they are upgradeable.
Here’s another example of the discrete video card in a high end gaming laptop. As you see the video card can be separated from the motherboard.
GRAPHICS CARD RELATED PROBLEMS
You can use the following method for troubleshooting problems related to graphics cards.
Let’s say your display stopped working properly. The image is distorted or garbled. Is this problem related to the VGA board or LCD screen?
Connect your laptop to an external monitor and take a look at the external video output. If you see the same problem as on the internal LCD screen, most likely it’s related to the VGA board. If video on the external monitor works fine and the problem appears only on the internal LCD screen, most likely your problem is related to the LCD screen or LCD cable.
TYPICAL VIDEO CARD FAILURE
Below you can see a few pictures taken from a laptop with a faulty video card.
1. When you start the laptop, the initial screen with manufacturer’s logo is not displayed properly on both internal LCD screen and external monitors. You can see random characters, vertical lines running through the logo, random colors, etc…
2. Same problem appears when the laptop displays the boot menu. The screen is either not readable at all, or there are some random characters all over the image.
3. Finally, the laptop starts loading Windows, but the image on both screens is still garbled.
A problem like that is not related to the laptop screen or inverter board.
Again, if the video card is integrated into the motherboard and it fails, you’ll have to replace the motherboard.
Laptop parts | Repair Man | 
December 26, 2008 2:52 pm
211 Responses to “Graphics card aka video board”
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March 17th, 2009 at 8:03 am
Hi repairmen
my laptop ( forsa HEL-80. vga geforce 7600 go 256 mb) have those videocard symtomps
could you please give me an advice where to get a new one (better will be good)
March 12th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
i have a alienware area-51 m15x 15,4 inch, iwanted to change the prossesor and the vga card could i know what type is compatible and how much and where could i buy it?
my laptop spec:
- Windows Vista® Home Premium 32 bit
- 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT(now) wan to change to 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT
- intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8100 2.1GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB) want to change to
Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X9000 2.8GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
is it possiblle?
and i also wanted to change my sound card, how could i do it?
March 10th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
Shcn,
I don’t have access to the list of parts for that particular model. Sorry cannot help. Usually, Toshiba doesn’t give you a lot of upgrade options (like Dell does).
March 10th, 2009 at 11:24 pm
Luca,
If you turn on the laptop and the screen stays black and absolutely blank (there is no image at all), the first thing to test would be memory. Try reseating the memory module and maybe replace it with a known good module.
On a Satellite M30X and M35X a bad memory module can produce a beep error – one long beep and three short.
You had, one long and two short. I guess it could be the video card but not sure 100%.
Anyway, in a Satellite M30X the video card is integrated into the motherboard. If the video card is bad you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.
March 10th, 2009 at 12:55 pm
Hi,
I have a Toshiba Satellite M100-165 with Ati x1400 vga card. Is an upgrade possible? If yes I prefer Ati, which cards are compatible with it?
Thank you
March 10th, 2009 at 2:48 am
Hello, the problem of my toshiba m30x is:
I was asked to update your video card drivers, then the images could be seen sometimes good and sometimes blurred, the gray, then the PC is lit and the monitor remained black, every time you view and occasionally stayed black, I have uninstalled the drivers, I rebooted, and the PC was seen with the basic settings, I have updated the drivers, insert the date of the ati catalist, given that my video card is an ati 9600/9700, and the next reboot the display was always black.
Only once has heard a beep and then another 2 faster, so I reported a problem to the video card, there is some way to prove whether it is actually the video card? can you control?
March 7th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Luca,
Nope, you cannot. In a Toshiba Satellite M30X and M35X the video graphics card is integrated into the motherboard. You cannot remove and replace it with a new one. If there is a problem with the card, you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.
March 7th, 2009 at 12:11 am
Hello,
i have a laptop from toshiba m30x and i have a problem with my grafic card.
can i replace my grafic card with a new card?
March 5th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Lynn,
I’ve never fixed a Qosmio F10 laptop, I assume it’s not sold in the USA. I guess your Qosmio F10 should be similar to Qosmio F15 (USA model).
In a Qosmio F10/F15 laptop the video card is integrated into the motherboard.
If there is a problem with the video card, you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard. Do you want to do it yourself? Check out instructions posted at http://www.irisvista.com/tech/
As an example, use Qosmio F15 guide.
March 5th, 2009 at 1:55 pm
Hi, do you know if the Toshiba Qosmio F10-GP1 notebook computer has an integrated video card? My symptoms are exactly as above. Further to that I can get into safe mode but not into windows – the screen is blank. At least in safe mode I can still see my screen even with the faint vertical lines in the background.
Thanks.
March 5th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Kurtis,
Nope, I do not see any connector for that.
March 5th, 2009 at 1:19 pm
Look on page 104. Is there a way to hook a graphic card up to the motherboard
March 5th, 2009 at 1:06 pm
Kurtis,
Here’s the maintenance and service guide for your HP Pavilion Dv7-1130us notebook, follow this link. It’s a 5.75MB pdf file and will take some time to open up.
Take a look at the page 18, it has all a diagram of all major components in your notebook. There is no discrete video card mentioned. The video card is a part of the motherboard and unfortunately you cannot remove and replace it separately. You are stuck with what you have.
March 5th, 2009 at 12:42 pm
HP Pavilion Dv7-1130us Entertainment – Turion X2 mobile processor 2 GHz – 17 ” – 4 GB Ram – 250 GB HDD from Hewlett-Packard in Notebooks
$850 to $1,038 fr
Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit Edition, 7.5 lbs, Lithium ion battery, 15.6 ” x 11.2 ” x 1.7 “
March 5th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Kurtis,
In most laptops you cannot upgrade the graphics card because it’s a part of the motherboard but I’m not sure about your laptop. Can you give me the full name of your laptop? dv7 what?
I’ll see if I can find the service manual with a list of parts. Maybe I can answer your question after I look in the manual.
March 5th, 2009 at 12:07 pm
I have a Brand New HP Pavilion dv7 Notebook PC, with Windows Vista Home Premium package. It’s a labtop of course, but I need a better Graphics Card. Please name a Graphics Card that would fit my Computer and how much it would cost. Need info ASAP!!! Thank You so much for your help you are the best.
February 24th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
Charles,
Unfortunately I cannot help you laptop with this particular model. Apparently your Satellite P100-188 is not sold in the USA. I went through list of all P100 but cannot find your model.
All laptops sold in the USA come with either an integrated video card or discrete nVidia G71M/G71M-U (256MB/512MB) video card.
If you are not sure, I would go with like for like. If your laptop has a video card with 256MB VRAM, there is a chance that you can find the same card with 512MB VRAM. If you have 512MB I think it’s the maximum.
Do you have any other numbers on the video card? Something like A000039750?
February 24th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Shen,
Sometimes laptops fail like a light bulb. It works great all day long. You turn it off and next morning you cannot turn it on. It happens.
It depends on the price of the video card. Does it make sense to buy a new card? Isn’t it better to use that money for a brand new laptop?
You cannot prevent that. If it fails, it fails.
February 23rd, 2009 at 12:09 am
Hi,
I have Toshiba P100-188 with symtoms similair to your example 3 of failed graphics card.
The graphics card is seperate from the mother board L601B656 0605A2 part GF-GO7600-N-A2.
1) Is it possible to upgrade this card when I replace, or is it going to have to be like for like.
2) I have had a real problem find a supplier through google searches for this graphics card. I have sent emails to various companies in the UK to enquire on availability. Could you recommend anyone, as I am based in the UK.
Thanks for a very useful and informative site. Which is a life saver for many, I would imagine.
February 19th, 2009 at 7:22 am
I have a question of curiosity. I have Dell XPS GEN 2 M170 with nvidia 6800 ultra. It seems that video memory has been damaged. Funny thing is (not so funny when it comes to pay) that when my graphic card failed I was not using laptop. It was just turned on but no programs running. When I opened the lid of my laptop I saw blue screen and when I restarted it I saw symptoms of video damage on my screen. Is there any point to buy a new card or repairing it? How can I prevent further damage if it happens without any reason – I mean Iwas not playing and pushing the card to its limits, so what is your opinion?
February 10th, 2009 at 2:55 pm
henrique,
I know that some HP Pavilion dv9000 laptops have a know problem with the video card/motherboard and HP fixes them at no charge even though if the laptop is not under warranty anymore. You’ll find more info about free HP repair for Pavilion dv2000, dv6000, dv9000 laptops here:
Free repair for some out-of-warranty HP Pavilion and Compaq Presario laptops
Try calling HP first. Maybe your laptop is covered by this service enhancement program.
February 10th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
HI i have a hp pavillion dv 9000 and when i start my pc, the screen turn on but no image, just black sreen. Whats the problem? How can i fix this?
Waiting for answer very very urgently.
Thanks
January 31st, 2009 at 11:53 pm
[...] video output on the LCD screen or external monitor is garbled. Most likely this is related to the VGA chip failure. 3. The laptop turns on without video on the screen and the power LED starts flashing. 4. [...]
January 18th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
Mo,
Apparently your problem is not related to the graphics card. I guess you have either bad LCD screen or bad video cable. Does it make any difference when you move the display panel? Does the video out gets any better if you move the screen?
You can replace the LCD screen /video cable.
Nope, it will not help. The laptop works fine with an external monitor, so it’s not a software related problem.
I guess it’s possible. I you spray to much windex it could get under the display bazel and damage the screen controller. But this is only a guess.
January 17th, 2009 at 2:20 pm
Thanks Repair Man,
I tested the external output and that looks ok. Does that mean that I have no other option other than using an external monitor? Is reformatting the computer useless?
Do you think using windex cleaner on the screen could have caused this?
Thanks again
Mo