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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Pages: « 9 8 7 6 [5] 4 3 2 1 » Show All
January 27th, 2010 at 3:09 pm
Rik,
Yep, sounds like the video card failure.
Some Satellite A200/A205 models come with integrated video cards. If that’s the case, you’ll have to replace the entire motherboard.
More expensive Satellite A200/A205 models might have a discrete video card. In this case you can replace just the video card.
I don’t know if your Toshiba Satellite A200 PSAFCA-01400J has a discrete video card. It’s not a US model and I cannot check the configuration.
You can open up the case and take a look inside to find out if you have a discrete card.
January 27th, 2010 at 2:52 pm
Charles,
Yes, it’s possible that one of the graphics cards is bad. Also, could be bad RAM. Man, I hate to troubleshoot these X200/X205 laptops with SLi graphic cards! Too many things could go wrong.
First of all, try removing memory modules one by one and test the laptop with each module separately. If you still experiencing the same issue with only one module installed, most likely it’s not related to the memory failure. I really doubt that both memory modules failed at the same time. By the way, I believe that when you have only one module installed in Satellite X200/X205, you have to use the outer memory slot (further from the motherboard) or the laptop will not start.
If the laptop still beeps when you swap memory, most likely one of the graphics card is faulty. Which one? I don’t know.
I fixed a few Satellite X205 SLi notebooks with faulty video cards and in my case it always was the first card failure (which is located closer to the motherboard).
I don’t know. As I said, in my case it always was the first card failure, so removing the second card (mounted further from the motherboard) didn’t change anything.
If you have to guess, buy these cards one by one and I would suggest replacing the card#1 (mounted closer to the motherboard) first.
You’ll find laptop disassembly steps at http://www.irisvista.com/tech/
January 26th, 2010 at 10:49 am
Hi repairman, I own a satellite X200-21x. It works nice but suddenly it wont start up. Black screen and sometimes two short beeps an a long beeb. Coult it be the graphic boards? (LS-344AP and LS-3449P). If so is there a way to be shure that this is it? Because the boards are not sheap at all (2×450 bucks. Is it possible to run the lap with only one card installed? Thanks a lot for your posts and your help.
January 24th, 2010 at 10:50 pm
Hi,
I have a Toshiba Satellite A200 PSAFCA-01400J and have had serious video issues. A few months back my laptop would shutdown unexpectedly. Then it became more frequent. Now, when I turn on the laptop I get random white lines on the screen and thats it. If I connect it to an external monitor, I get an image and it boots up (if I disable the GPU from device manager) but I still get a distorted image (red lines). I took it overseas to get it checked and they reckon it was the GPU as well but I didn’t get time to fix it.
Now I think I may be able to fix it myself, but I need your advice. I was thinking of following this guide: http://www.irisvista.com/tech/laptops/toshiba-satellite-a205/laptop-disassembly-4.htm till the last step and replacing the thing that looks very much like the CPU, I’m guessing that is the GPU (it’s also attached to the heatsink). I am thinking of buying this part http://laptopparts.com.au/toshiba-satellite-a200-a205-nvidia-video-graphic-card-v000100500-p-6566.html which I think is the one I need.
Do you think I should do this (I don’t really have any experience with computer hardware but it doesn’t look too hard) or take it to a repair shop (which is very costly!)?
Thanks,
Rik.
January 22nd, 2010 at 8:37 am
Vlada,
It’s possible that you’ll have to update the laptop BIOS. Maybe the new card is not supported properly by the BIOS installed now.
This is just a guess.
I guess you had to disassemble the laptop for the video card replacement.
Maybe you disconnected the cooling fan and forgot to connect it back?
Did you transfer the heat sink from the old card to the new one? Maybe you forgot to apply thermal grease (if it’s required)?
It’s possible that your laptop shuts down because of overheating.
January 20th, 2010 at 8:26 am
I replaced my card Ati X1400(doesn’t work) with new ATI HD3650 and it starts to show picture but after 2seconds computer shut down alone. I’m providing you pictures what was happened. I pressed F2 to go in bios and it started the process entering to bios and shut down was happened again. The second picture showing result after shut down! 5 seconds are disappearing pixels from right to left on my screen in turn off state. Is new ATI HD3650 has any problem or my BIOS need to be upgraded? Any suggestion?
http://www.sremus.org/vlada/HD3650/HD3650-1.jpg
http://www.sremus.org/vlada/HD3650/HD3650-2.jpg
January 19th, 2010 at 11:56 pm
Kir,
Sounds like the graphics card failure.
Unfortunately, they are correct. The video card is integrated into the motherboard and if it failed, the entire motherboard has to be replaced.
You can ship it to HP or… try replacing the motherboard yourself. Of course, if you have nothing to lose.
The disassembly guide posted here: http://www.insidemylaptop.com/disassemble-hp-pavilion-dv6500-dv6600-dv6700-dv6800-notebooks/
Could be helpful if you decide to try it yourself.
Find the motherboard part number and google it or search on eBay. In most cases the motherboard part number is located on a sticker in the memory compartment. Good luck!
January 6th, 2010 at 12:17 pm
Pete,
There is not much you can do if the desktop doesn’t recognize your external video cards automatically.
I’m afraid you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard.
January 6th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Hiya,
I’m fixing a friend’s computer, it’s a desktop, and the integrated video card has died. I’m banging my head against a wall trying to get the system to accept a PCI or AGP card, but it doesn’t seem to read them. I’m literally flying blind without SOME kind of video, and I have none. Is there any trick to get a bios to just switch to a new card without having to try a flying blind install?
January 5th, 2010 at 1:08 pm
Dear Mr Repair Man!
I have a HP Pavilion 6597es bought 2 years ago and month ago it broke down. I was playing a game when suddently the image froze and sound went into a loop. I turned it off and then on again. From that moment everything I see on the screen is white screen which then shifts into vertical random colored lines. Connecting to external monitor shows a black screen. So it’s the graphics card, right? I assumed so and HP customer service told me the same. They said that I need to have the whole motherboard replaced for like 400$ total… What do you think? Is there a way to repair the graphics card separately (btw it’s a Geforce 8400M GS)?
December 15th, 2009 at 1:20 pm
From Leonard to Leonard.
Dear Leonard,
You are preceicely correct with your assumption.
As you will discover the VAIO laptop will again live after replacement of your video card as I have done.
Now don’t take this to be the answer for all dead laptop problems, as it may be a case of trial and error. After searching Ebay for my part number as Mr. Repair man suggests, I was able to purchace a used video card and replace my faulty one. I must warn you again though, that doing this kind of repair yourself might leave you with a few extra screws after you have reassembled your laptop. Don’t worry though, it’ll work fine. Those screws are only there incase you lose one or two, or six!
December 10th, 2009 at 11:21 am
I have taken my Sony Vaio PCG-V505DC2 laptop apart several times in order to solve its problem of being dead.
Can you answer my question below?
First I bought a new battery, battery does not charge.
Second I tested the AC/DC plug and found it OK out put 15V (OK I cut the cord part and ruined the end, but still works)
Third I cleaned and reassembled the heat sink and cleaned the fan.
Fourth I completly dissasembled and removed the MB so I could find out what the power plug was connected to. This happened to be the video card (A8068226A VIF-24). I am supposing that this may be the problem to the dead issue. Why, because 1) this is where the power connection goes to, 2) I was having some problems with delayed/skippy video from streaming TV shows, and 3) the dead problem occurred immediatley after I plugged my desktop monitor into the side port.
Do you think that replaceing the board (A8068226A VIF-24) might cause the computer to come alive again?
December 1st, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Mr. Repair Man,
I have a viewsonic stand alone lcd. The monitor lights up but no picture at all. I suspect bad vga board (converts signal to lcd screen?).
I also have a few Planar monitors that were given to me. They do fine at first for several minutes then flash or go out. Invertor? I’ve found an ebay site with universals for a fair price. Is it worth my time?
Thanks for your time.
December 1st, 2009 at 6:25 am
Thank you for the reply, it’s a Qosmio G30-126. The product’s web page shows the following info about the video card.
manufacturer : NVIDIA®
memory amount : 256 MB
memory type : DDR3 Video RAM
connected bus : 16x PCI Express
It says that it is connected to the 16x PCI Express bus. Does that mean that I can upgrade the video card ?
If yes, what are the available options from NVIDIA ?
Thanks again
November 26th, 2009 at 1:36 pm
basepart,
What is the model number for your Qosmio laptop. Is it Qosmio G30/G35?
I believe this models come with integrated video card (when the video card is integrated into the motherboard). If that’s the case, you cannot upgrade the video card.
Check your laptop specifications. Find out if the video card is integrated.
November 21st, 2009 at 4:48 am
hi, I’m interested to upgrade the VGA in a Qosmio PQG32E-02K02WGE. Is it possible to install a better VGA ?
Thanks
November 18th, 2009 at 1:56 pm
Judy,
Sounds like the LCD screen on the faulty laptop is working fine. Apparently the problem is somewhere on the motherboard.
It’s possible. I’ve seen failures like that before.
Recently I was fixing a HP laptop with very similar problem. And I went through the same steps as you did. New inverter, cable, LCD didn’t fix it (luckily I had a loaner laptop).
Finally, I found that my faulty laptop had a stuck lid close switch. The lid close button was pushed into the connector and the laptop “thinked” the display is closed even when it was open. It took me a while to figure out what’s going on because the lid close switch was hidden under the right hinge.
In my case, the switch was located on a separate board. Instead of replacing the switch, I simply unplugged it from the motherboard and the screen started fine.
Check the lid close switch. If it’s a button, try tapping on it. If nothing helps, I guess you’ll have to replace the motherboard.
November 18th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Hi Repair man.. I have a HP zv6000 laptop that boots to a dim dark screen. Can be read with a flashlight. However video is okay when connected to an external monitor. I changed the inverter, same problem. Changed the video cable, same result. Before getting a new lcd, I connected the lcd of another laptop of the same kind, same result. I also connected the lcd screen of the original laptop to the other laptop and it came on fine. (resulting in okay lcd and backlight).
Can just the video cable connection on the laptop to the lcd be bad, but work to an external monitor? Can this be fixed, or do I need a new motherboard?
Thanks.
November 5th, 2009 at 1:38 pm
Fred,
Sounds like a problem with the motherboard.
Most likely the heat sink is clogged with dust and the laptop overheats. Clean the heat sink and cooling fan with compressed air and try running same tests again. Most likely the laptop will stay on after cleaning the cooling module.
Maybe it’s normal for that particular test? If the laptop works fine with Linux (in normal resolution), I assume the video card operates properly.
Although, the description sounds like a problem with the video card.
I don’t think so.
I doubt that your problem is related to the CPU. Check the heat sink a clean it. As I said before, most likely the heat sink is clogged with dust.
November 5th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
I have an HP 6715s: AMD Mobile Sempron 3600+, ATI X1250 video integrated, 2GB RAM, 8GB Disk.
It has a disk failure (disk recognized neither by BIOS nor by diagnostic programs on the UltimateBootCD, verified by swapping disks with another notebookand successfully booted Ubuntu Linux).
There seems to be other problems as well, however:
1. When I run memory and CPU diagnostics from the UltimateBootCD, the air coming from the vent gets hotter all the time and the fan gets louder. At some point the system simply switches off. These diagnostics run okay on the balcony at an ambient temperature of 10°C.
2. Some of the diagnostics on the UltimateBootCD switch the display into a different mode (I don’t know which). A garbled grid pattern and an appears on the screen (some pixel pattern repeated in each character cell). One can see that some text is being written to the screen, but this is not legible. The display is okay in the boot or DOS mode, however, and it was also okay in Ubuntu. I could not try all resolutions, however.
About three months ago the machine got quite hot when my wife and daughter were watching a movie on the bed – they probably restricted the airflow. I switched it off immediately as soon as I noticed this and let it cool of. After that it worked fine again.
Could be that all the above symptoms are related to this event?
Could it be the cause of the disk failure?
Could the CPU have been damaged, resulting in it getting hot sooner? Or perhaps the heat sink paste?
Could be the cause of the display problem? This only seems to affect a mode that’s not normally used on the computer. Can I expect this problem to spread?
Thanks
November 3rd, 2009 at 8:44 am
sanjeet kumar,
It’s hard to tell what’s going on because this is not a common failure.
I think when you have multiple images on the same screen, it’s related to the LCD screen failure, otherwise you would have 6 way split screen on the external monitor too.
I think you have 6 way split screen because of the LCD screen failure.
This part of the description does sound like a problem with the video card, but it could be just a coincidence.
I wish you have another LCD screen for test. Without test equipment you’ll have to guess.
October 30th, 2009 at 9:38 pm
6 WAY SPLIT SCREEN
i have lenovo y510 7758 44Q
i m having problem with the display.
i m getting 6 way identical small screens on my LCD display
booting and everything is in that display only.
when connected to external monitor found single screen but fluctuating and distorted.
i have NVIDIA Geforce 8400M GS inbuilt graphics chipset with 128 MB memory.
after all your article it seems there is a failure in my graphics card so i needed to replace it.
so plz suggest me where to get the card and the approx. cost for the card.
thanks in advance…
October 29th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
Mark,
I’m not familiar with this Sony model at all.
If the Nvidia Geforce card is a discrete modules, you can replace it without replacing the whole motherboard.
You can try reconnecting the card, maybe it’s not making good contact with the motherboard (if it’s a discrete card).
Have you tried reinstalling Vista from scratch?
October 27th, 2009 at 11:18 pm
Hi Repair man,
I have a sony Vaio Sz433N with a Nvidia Gefore 7400 go graphics card in it (Vista 32bit OS). The laptop runs a dual card system with an Intel 945 family media accelerator which is controlled by a stamina/speed switch. The problem is the laptop appears to have lost all communication with the nvidia card and doesn’t detect it when new drivers are installed. I suspect the Nvidia Card has failed. The result is the laptop only detects the Intel card and gaming performance is reduced.
Is it possible to replace the card with a straight replacement /new card or, is this a problem you have heard of before and the card is recoverable.
Any advice is appreciated
October 17th, 2009 at 6:36 pm
Hope,
If there is no video on the external or internal screens, most likely it’s ether memory or motherboard problem.
Try removing memory modules from each slot one by one. Test laptop with each memory installed separately, it’s very unlikely that both modules failed at the same time. If one of the memory modules is bad, the laptop will start when another one is installed.
If reconnecting, replacing memory doesn’t help, most likely your problem is related to the video chip failure. That means the whole motherboard has to be replaced.
There is a chance that HP will fix it at no charge, check out this post.
Free repair for some out-of-warranty HP Pavilion and Compaq Presario laptops