Distorted Display, Color lines and Pixels

[greek_guy]

Hello everyone,

My daughter's old HP nc8430 laptop running Win7 suddently started acting weird and displaying colour lines and distorted pixels:

I connected an external monitor and this was the result:

Is the graphics card dead? I believe that it is on-board so replacing the mptherboard is not an option. (The cost would be the same as buying a new laptop). Is there something I could do to try and fix it?

Thank you for your time.

 

[Robert Cook]

It is not overclocked I would assume? do you suspect overheating? it is possible that the GPU is being fried from heat, but if that is so then it is most likely too late. since that laptop is rather old, I am suspecting that the GPU is simply on its last leg, an will die soon. since it does not appear to have integrated graphics, it would appear that once it goes the laptop is toast. Can you access device manage and see if Intel graphics is listed? it might be Intel HD graphics, or some other name similar to that, if it does not pop up, then it is certain that there is no integrated graphics, if i is there, disable the GPU, and make it use integrated graphics, which will it might weaken the gaming on the laptop, it should solve the bad display.

 

[greek_guy]

It is not overclocked I would assume? do you suspect overheating? it is possible that the GPU is being fried from heat, but if that is so then it is most likely too late. since that laptop is rather old, I am suspecting that the GPU is simply on its last leg, an will die soon. since it does not appear to have integrated graphics, it would appear that once it goes the laptop is toast. Can you access device manage and see if Intel graphics is listed? it might be Intel HD graphics, or some other name similar to that, if it does not pop up, then it is certain that there is no integrated graphics, if i is there, disable the GPU, and make it use integrated graphics, which will it might weaken the gaming on the laptop, it should solve the bad display.

Thank you for your reply. No overclocking, 2.0GHz Core Duo with 3gb ram used only for surfing the net and emails. Manufacturer says it comes with a ATI X1600 256MB graphics chip. Unfortunately the display is so distorted that i cannot navigate and check the device manager. Heating could be the cause, as you say, so I will be taking it apart for dust cleaning.

 

[Robert Cook]

there is always the chance that that may save it. I wish you the best of luck.

 

[Michael Flatman]

if you boot into a live cd of linux or something, is it the same, you might want to try reinstalling windows, poweplay may have mucked up, im using the exact same laptop as you to write this post on windows 7