13 replies to this topic

[Furry Pancake]

Hey everyone,

I have the Dell E1705 with an upgraded Nvidia GeForce 7900 GO video card.

It's only a few years old and last week I had left the computer on overnight (Which NEVER happens) and when I woke up to get on it, I realized it was frozen. I rebooted it, but when it loaded up again, the screen had about 15 green vertical lines on it, and it wouldn't load windows..

First off, I was thinking this was a hardware issue, BUT, when I load the computer in safe mode the lines don't appear.. Do any of you have an idea what this could be??

I have done these services to try and fix it:
Driver Update
Bios Update
System Restore to about a week ago (4/19)

Any ideas?

[marwex89]

Sounds a bit like synchronization problems to me. Try running with different display resolutions and see if anything changes.

EDIT: It is also possible that the video card overheated overnight and caused damage (e.g. to the ribbon cable). Safe mode doesn't usually run the nvidia card at all, so it might very well be a hardware issue. Try hooking it up to an external monitor to see if the problem persists. Is the computer still under warranty?

EDIT 2: Just saw that you said it wouldn't even boot up Windows normally. Sounds like you just fried your video card :S Again, if it is under warranty you should be able to convince Dell to repair it

[Furry Pancake]

Naw man, It's like 2 or 3 years, and the warranty was only for a year.

Thank god I have a desktop I can use during the replacement period. :/

[marwex89]

Too bad.. You could always open it up and have a look yourself. You have nothing to lose :) I have heard about people "baking" their video cards in situations like this - putting the card in the oven for a few minutes. Might want to think twice before going this far, though. Maybe some other member has experienced this before.

[Furry Pancake]

When I was looking around online yesterday, I saw that same thing. I was thinking that before I do anything "purchasing-wise", I will try to do that.
It would be SO worth it if I can fix it that way.

Would I want to bake it with the ribbon attached?? I had ripped my laptop apart last night and now it lies in peace on my desk in about 45 different pieces, but I don't want to do anything stupid if in fact I can fix it.

[marwex89]

No, unplug the cable lol :p See this video: YouTube - Xtreme Bakeover - baking your video card to fix micro-fissures

[Furry Pancake]

Well thank you sir :)

[Furry Pancake]

OMG.. Baking it worked..

[marwex89]

Seriously? Haha aren't you a lucky one.. :P

[Furry Pancake]

Hell yeah dude!

That made my night! :D But before I did anything with the hardware, I tried to run a system restore. The OS froze on me and deleted the install.. so I am pretty sure I am going to put my laptop back together tonight, and then install XP until I can get my license back for 7

[marwex89]

Oh well..

Hopefully it will last for a while... You might want to keep on the lookout for cheap used laptops :D

[Furry Pancake]

Hehe no joke.

We will see how long it lasts.. I love my laptop, so if anything. I will just replace the card.