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.
May 21st, 2010 at 9:17 am
hello – I’ve been having a problem for quite some time, in a pretty new computer – of course, not new enough to be under warranty. HP wants me to send it to them for 400 dollars – but nowadays, that’s crazy. It’s the DV2890NR artists edition running vista. I’ve tried to restore it a few times (back to factory) and it works sometimes for almost a whole day, sometimes for an hour or so, and then it locks again on the blank screen. I updated the bios, no luck. I think it’s the graphics card that is bad, and it goes crazy because it finds a hardware malfunction (I did the memory/hard drive test, and it passed – it has 3 gig of RAM, 250 of HD). I downloaded the service manual, but can’t find the graphics card in it – is it attached to the mother board? I read a few people saying that the solder goes bad in it if it gets too hot – which it did a few times (it’s my wife’s, and she often puts on her lap in bad, so the comforter covers all possible vents – no matter how many times I tell her not to, she forgets). If it is indeed something that can only be fixed changing the mother board, I guess 400 dollars will be the price to pay, right? Oh, and I tried to upgrade to windows 7 (just in case the vista was messed up) but it stops in the middle – because the problem comes back before it is fully upgraded. Thanks!
May 12th, 2010 at 8:31 am
thank you ! the website having lots of knowledge about laptop & its useful for me thank u once again !
May 5th, 2010 at 7:22 pm
PROBLEM: SPLIT SCREEN INTO FOUR SMALLER ONES
Hello everyone.
When I turn on my HP dv6000 laptop the screen gets divided into four smaller screens about 4″x5″ each.This happens as soon as the BIOS screen appears, it does not go away even when windows finish loading up. I have looked online for this problem and it does not appear to be the inverter, so far I unistalled the the video driver to forced the computer to look for the driver again, I also updated the video driver with the latest one from HP but it did’nt help. Can any one tell what else I can try? Thks.
April 27th, 2010 at 8:52 am
Beth,
First of all, make sure you are using the laptop on a flat surface and there is a gap between the laptop bottom and the surface, it’s necessary for the proper cooling.
If you are using the laptop on a desk and it still shuts down, most likely it happens because of overheating. You’ll have to clean up the cooling module, apparently it’s clogged with dust.
This post explains what’s going on inside the laptop: http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2006/01/04/toshiba-laptop-overheating/
Find an air compressor (or use shop-vac blower) and blow off dust from the cooling module. You can so it though the air intake on the bottom.
April 27th, 2010 at 4:46 am
I have a Toshiba Satellite P505D that I purchased in January. All of a sudden it has started shutting off when I am playing my online games. I play Warcraft and the computer completely shuts off after about 10-30 minutes in game (it varies). Toshiba suggested it may have been a software flaw so I loaded 2 other games, Atlantica and Warhammer, same thing, 10-30 minutes in, the computer shuts completely off. This doesn’t happen when I am web browsing or playing web based games such as Evony. I’m thinking the graphics card is having some problem since it the problem isnt exclusive to one program but instead to any game that but a load on the graphics card. Any ideas?
April 15th, 2010 at 9:33 am
redchow,
Sounds like a well known video chip failure. Check out this page, maybe your laptop qualifies for a free repair.
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01087277&lc=en&cc=us
Hard drive, DVD drive, memory, LCD screen, keyboard, plastic parts, etc…
If you have nothing to lose, you can try this fix:
http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2010/04/06/fixing-compaq-presario-v6000-motherboard-no-video-issue/
I used this trick to repair a Comapq Presario V6000 and it worked well. It had a problem similar to your laptop.
By the way, I’m typing my response on this laptop.
April 15th, 2010 at 9:09 am
Hi I have a HP dv6000 which was bought in 2007. I have read that my series may have faulty motherboards. Anyway when I power it up the LCD has lights on and everything has power, but there is just a blank screen. I plugged in a VGA monitor and there are vertical blue lines when my computer boots up and as it tries to do a system restore but fails. When I try to boot up windows normally it blue screens at the point where it usually goes to the user login and restarts itself and does this in a cycle. I’m guessing that my video card is totally dead judging by the descriptions above but is there also an lcd problem? Can anything from my laptop be salvaged?
April 12th, 2010 at 8:51 am
Matt,
You’ll have to test your laptop with an external monitor. If you see same problem on the external monitor, most likely this is the video card failure.
I cannot tell without looking at the laptop but in most laptops the video card is integrated into the motherboard.
It’s possible the heat sink is clogged with dust. Because of that the laptop overheats and the cooling fan runs at full speed.
April 12th, 2010 at 8:33 am
AB,
It’s hard to tell if your problem is related to the motherboard or video card, but I’ve seen a failed video card shorting the whole system.
I’ve seen a problem like that with Toshiba Satellite X205 laptops. Exactly same symptoms. No LED lights with the video card plugged in, but as soon as you remove the video card and plug the AC adapter, the power LED turns on. I’ve seen a few laptops like that and replacing the motherboard didn’t fix the problem. I had to replace failed video cards.
Yes, it’s possible.
April 12th, 2010 at 7:50 am
Yep, reheating the motherboard works. Here’s how I “fixed” a Compaq Presario v6000 motherboard. Not sure if this repair will last forever, but so far it’s working fine.
http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2010/04/06/fixing-compaq-presario-v6000-motherboard-no-video-issue/
Not too many computer shops repair motherboards on the component level.
Is it an expensive repair? How much do you charge for the repair? Maybe it’s cheaper to buy a new motherboard?
April 11th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
So many questions! Hardly an informed answer!!
Laptop graphic issues are fixable. This goes for PC and Mac as well.
It doesn’t matter whether the chipset is ATI, nVidia or Intel or whatever.
Removing these chipsets and replacing it or reballing the faulty chipset though is not a job for normal user or DIY enthusiasts. Not that the knowledge is rocket science grade, only that it requires several tools, reballing kits, rework station, balls or new chipset depending on the circumstance. And of course experienced tech guy or tech lady.
The message is if you can diagnose the issue, if you are sure that your machine hasn’t got multiple ailments, i.e. Short circuit issue or spillage. [No offence meant, but some folks love force feeding their laptops, many laptops come in to us drunker than the owner. Needless to say that all laptops are allergic to tea, cafe or spirits - not ghost please] If you diagnose right, you can safely remove an upgradeable graphic card and replace it. for reballing though, you may need get a professional.
April 11th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
Really, you may not have to replace your motherboard if you’ve a computer repair shop that knows its stuff. The issue of failing or failed laptop graphic card nowadays is mainly common to any laptop with on-board graphic as well as upgradeable graphic card carrying nVidia chipset. These chipsets can be repaired using a number of methods.
1 – Reheating. [May only work for a few minutes to hours or days or even months]
2 – If it works after reheating. it means that the chip is good but the balls are bad. A fully equipped repair shop can remove the chipset, on die as well as upgrade card and remove the ball, then reball the chipset and reinstall the reballed chipset using special rework station.
3 – Buy a brand new chipset with corresponding reference to the old chipset. Remove the old and install the new. Avoid buying off ebay as they are mainly reballed chipset being sold as new. Mostly they are dead! This may be frustrating.
April 7th, 2010 at 4:56 pm
Hi,
I have a Toshiba Satellite M60. The laptop is completely dead – no lights at all (with power plugged in). I took apart the laptop to check the jack – everything seems good. With the laptop apart, I plugged the bare motherboard in and used a voltmeter to check for power. I noticed that power was going from the jack to the motherboard – so I conclude that the jack is fine and the power supply is good – but still no indicator lights on the motherboard. I unplug the motherboard and remove the Video Card. Plug the motherboard back in – THERE IS LIFE – Blue indicator LED on the motherboard illuminates!!! Could the Video Card be causing a short somewhere? Have you ever experienced an issue like this – Or do you think the MOBO is done?
April 5th, 2010 at 10:20 am
I’m also having some problems with vertical lines on my screen, including the bootup screen and the cursor. A friend says it’s the video card. This scares me because it’s integrated into the motherboard, right? Also, what does it mean when the fan suddenly goes from low to super-high (and loud), and without stopping? The OS is fine, but I can’t get the darned fan to turn off except to restart the computer. The only permanent fix is when I uninstall the video driver. Can you offer me any suggestions??
April 5th, 2010 at 8:08 am
hellbinder,
I cannot tell without looking at the laptop. In most laptops the video card is integrated into the motherboard and cannot be removed or replaced. You have to take a look at the laptop specifications and find if your laptop has integrated video card.
April 3rd, 2010 at 6:56 pm
So, now I have been looking online for some way to fix this. Now my question is? Is this video card replaceable. Can I buy an upgraded one? I do think that it is the video card but i can’t find any info on video card replacement on my laptop. If it’s even possible… Any ideas?
March 31st, 2010 at 10:36 pm
hellbinder,
Your description sounds like the video card failure.
March 31st, 2010 at 7:32 pm
I have a toshiba s9722 and i saw a comment where
ther eare random character lines when starting up where it is in DOS. The screen also has garbled lines all over. I can’t boot up windows normally. I have to turn it on in safe mode. Now, this happens randomly, sometimes i leave it off for some days and when i turn it on is normal, then in the blink of an eye, the screen becomes messed up. Its the video card right?
March 29th, 2010 at 11:34 am
Kevin,
If the video is fine on the external monitor, most likely the video card works properly.
I think it’s either bad LCD cable or the screen LCD itself going bad. Which one is causing the problem? I don’t know. It’s hard to tell until one of them is replaced.
1. You can try reconnecting the LCD cable on both ends – motherboard and LCD screen. Maybe it’s just loose connection.
2. You can take apart the display panel and move/wiggle the LCD cable while the laptop is on. If moving the cable affects video on the laptop screen, it’s possible the cable has shorted wires inside and has to be replaced.
3. Replace the LCD screen.
March 19th, 2010 at 4:13 am
I have a Clevo M57u or M570U with Geforce Go 7950.
All of sudden I have very small white vertical lines all over the screen and the color of the images are distorted and some flickering aswell. The font is also distorted and some are illegible. This problem is present during booting, bios setup and in windows (xp). I tried to reinstall the video drivers but to no avail. When connecting the laptop to an external monitor, the display is fine on the monitor. Is it a video card problem or the lcd? How can I test them?
PLEASE HELP.