Le_Murphant Posted January 20, 2008 CID Share Posted January 20, 2008 My sister's computer has been acting strangely recently. When I cold boot, the boot screen shows up but some lines on the screen seem to be missing and the missing lines skip around. I could compare that to what happens when you insert a NES game and it only partially works. I can enter the bios but the same problem continues there, and I am unable to enter windows (the screen just becomes black) and safe mode has plenty of command lines appear (still with the pixelated lines) but still boots, but in windows it's still the same problem. The fact that the issue happens before I boot into windows hints that it's a hardware problem, but I'm just not to sure wha component would be the problem. Any insight on this? Btw, the computer is a laptop, a Dell Inspiron 5150 which had been working fine for 3 years except for some heat issues which seemed to have been partially resolved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted January 20, 2008 CID Share Posted January 20, 2008 Considering the fact this is occurring with all the video, I would have to say it is the video card itself. They call those , " artifacts ". The heat will do this , every time. May want to open her up, and blow the dust out, while your in there, make sure the fan(s) are functioning properly, if not try and find replacements. edit, you aren't clocking that book, so it couldn't be from the memory not being able to keep up w/ the clock speed of the gpu. just thinking...... Unless the psu is failing and not supplying necessary voltage to the card........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le_Murphant Posted January 21, 2008 Author CID Share Posted January 21, 2008 How hot is a typical laptop video card supposed to run? I'l make sure that the video card is not overclocked too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted January 21, 2008 CID Share Posted January 21, 2008 EnvironmentalTemperature range: Operating 0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le_Murphant Posted January 21, 2008 Author CID Share Posted January 21, 2008 Oh, I have disassembled it scores of times, but the last time I did it I thermally linked the (overheating) cpu heatpipe to the graphics card heatpipe with thermal grease (the metal was already touching) and I was wondering if that could have caused the graphics card to overheat. Even then, if the card overheating is the problem, should it not work correctly when I first boot? Actually, it does, but only for about 5 seconds, and it gets worse over a minute. As for the temperature, I was wondering about the temperature that it can safely reach while operating, not the temperature on the outside. And there is no way the card's temperature is ever under 35 Celsius, but thx for the info anyways. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted January 21, 2008 CID Share Posted January 21, 2008 Oh, I have disassembled it scores of times, but the last time I did it I thermally linked the (overheating) cpu heatpipe to the graphics card heatpipe with thermal grease (the metal was already touching) and I was wondering if that could have caused the graphics card to overheat. Even then, if the card overheating is the problem, should it not work correctly when I first boot? Actually, it does, but only for about 5 seconds, and it gets worse over a minute. As for the temperature, I was wondering about the temperature that it can safely reach while operating, not the temperature on the outside. And there is no way the card's temperature is ever under 35 Celsius, but thx for the info anyways. Well thermal grease is made just for that reason, to dissipate heat , or conduct it. So it could be possible. By googleing the 5150, you will find many articles of heat issues. Not unlike any other laptop. If the artifacts get worse, that I would assume is a heat issue, or , the power supply has a greater demand as the system loads , so you could have a couple issues. You may want find out where everything is at. There is a good program called "everest", there may be newer , or better, but none the less, it reveals a plethora of info on your machine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le_Murphant Posted January 21, 2008 Author CID Share Posted January 21, 2008 The 5150 is especially bad with heat, there's actually been a voluntary recall after a class action lawsuit against Dell but I missed the deadline due to my parents receiving the mail I hadent thought of the power supply explanation, but I'l give it a look, thx. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
starship_troopers Posted January 21, 2008 CID Share Posted January 21, 2008 Well thermal grease is made just for that reason, to dissipate heat , or conduct it. So it could be possible. By googleing the 5150, you will find many articles of heat issues. Not unlike any other laptop. If the artifacts get worse, that I would assume is a heat issue, or , the power supply has a greater demand as the system loads , so you could have a couple issues. You may want find out where everything is at. There is a good program called "everest", there may be newer , or better, but none the less, it reveals a plethora of info on your machine. Hey, just on your comment about EVEREST...dont look for the free version on the official site...last i knew it was discontinued...to get it try going here http://www.majorgeeks.com/download4181.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted January 26, 2008 CID Share Posted January 26, 2008 So if Everest has been discontinued, who has a program that parallels it? For those who don't know what Everest is, a program that completely scans your system, giving you detailed information on every component of your system, and I mean tons of info. I remember reading about another program that will do this here, anyone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buntz Posted January 26, 2008 CID Share Posted January 26, 2008 The only other program that I found was PC Wizard, it free also.. http://www.cpuid.com/pcwizard.php Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mudmanc4 Posted January 26, 2008 CID Share Posted January 26, 2008 Thanks Buntz , So far, I would favor this program over everest. Le_Murphant, please keep us updated : ) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Le_Murphant Posted January 26, 2008 Author CID Share Posted January 26, 2008 I usually see my sister about once a week, I might see her this weekend, I will keep you posted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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