After using my Inspiron 9300 (Pentium- 1.6, 1 Gig DDR2, 6800 Go 256 MB) with hardly any problems for 3.5 years (well, aside from the vertical line issues), I ran into a rather problematic issue today. While playing WoW, my computer locked fully up with artifacts on the screen, and graphically nothing happening anymore. Since it wasn't going to get moving anymore, I pressed the power button to turn it off, and then turn it on again. (Due to the vertical line issue on the TFT which I didn't get replaced yet, I tend to have a CRT connected to my laptop for the actual video output) My initial startup looked quite worrisome with some artifacts on both the Dell Bios screen and the initial Windows XP loading screen, but things actually got worse then, as after that video output just stopped.
Normally speaking this is the time where my computer switches from the laptop TFT to the CRT screen. To check if it was my video cable, I took out the connector to let the laptop run with only the TFT available, but the problem persisted. I tried System Restore (Got the lightblue screen which you have after restart for the final few things the system does for system restore, and then the thing went blank again), I tried to reinstall video drivers, but to no avail. Basically my conclusion right now is that the 6800 Go is likely fried for the better part:
-I can start up Windows XP in safe mode. I have been told by others that graphics in this mode are essentially CPU generated, with little GPU involvement.
-When starting in normal mode, things go OK up to the XP loading screen with the windows logo. After this, the screen totally vanishes, giving me a black screen (plus the assortment of colorful vertical lines). This is the point my laptop normally switches from TFT to CRT, in other words the point where the 6800 Go with the Nvidia drivers (which are set to display on the CRT) is supposed to kick in.
That basicaly suggests that something is wrong with the GPU to me, though the artifacts in the bios and windows loading screen are odd, since they are not present in safe mode. With this issue seemingly the case, I decided to open the case and disassemble until I reached the video card, to see if I could detect anything. (Something which I had intended to do about half a year ago when the PC seemed kind of warm at times, but decided to stop at taking off the Display assembly, due to the delicate nature of some of the contacts, and what I could screw up with them) Some time and a whole lot of loose screws later, I got to the two system fans, and what I suspect was the problem. A considerable amount of dust and the like accumulated in the entrance between the air ducts and the system fans. My hypothesis is that this dust accumulation probably blocked the airflow sufficiently to cause the GPU to become rather warm, which in turn led to the defect. (One thing which I still find odd in this case is that I never got any restart or crash or whatever due to GPU temperature, despite having the Nvidia temperature safety checks on.) Nothing is visible on the card itself, but my guess is that something can still get broken anyways without that.
Now my couple of questions I am facing and not quite able to answer on my own:
*Is there any other explanation for my problems than the one I just mentioned?
*What kind of person thought it was a good idea to design an area with a high chance of dust and dirt accumulation which is extremely inaccessible (and where 'normal' buyers would likely not even ever check or dare to disassemble) yet can pose apparent critical danger for the system? (Ok, I don't really expect anyone to answer that one, but it's been playing through my head the past hours)
*Assuming the GPU is fried, what are my options? Some friends suggested that it should be easy to replace the Go 6800 with any Pci Express card, but while that might be the trend these days (I don't know, I must admit I didn't follow laptop technology too closely after buying this one, the past 3 years), my memory seems to recall that this wasn't quite the case yet when I bought my laptop. I seem to recall that it was still in a time where graphic cards for laptops got custom designed per manufacturer or even model, which led to a hard time for replacing these parts. In other words, what would be my options for replacing the 6800 Go should it be needed? I did an initial search of my options on for instance ebay, which didn't cause a lot of optimism to say the least.
Normally speaking this is the time where my computer switches from the laptop TFT to the CRT screen. To check if it was my video cable, I took out the connector to let the laptop run with only the TFT available, but the problem persisted. I tried System Restore (Got the lightblue screen which you have after restart for the final few things the system does for system restore, and then the thing went blank again), I tried to reinstall video drivers, but to no avail. Basically my conclusion right now is that the 6800 Go is likely fried for the better part:
-I can start up Windows XP in safe mode. I have been told by others that graphics in this mode are essentially CPU generated, with little GPU involvement.
-When starting in normal mode, things go OK up to the XP loading screen with the windows logo. After this, the screen totally vanishes, giving me a black screen (plus the assortment of colorful vertical lines). This is the point my laptop normally switches from TFT to CRT, in other words the point where the 6800 Go with the Nvidia drivers (which are set to display on the CRT) is supposed to kick in.
That basicaly suggests that something is wrong with the GPU to me, though the artifacts in the bios and windows loading screen are odd, since they are not present in safe mode. With this issue seemingly the case, I decided to open the case and disassemble until I reached the video card, to see if I could detect anything. (Something which I had intended to do about half a year ago when the PC seemed kind of warm at times, but decided to stop at taking off the Display assembly, due to the delicate nature of some of the contacts, and what I could screw up with them) Some time and a whole lot of loose screws later, I got to the two system fans, and what I suspect was the problem. A considerable amount of dust and the like accumulated in the entrance between the air ducts and the system fans. My hypothesis is that this dust accumulation probably blocked the airflow sufficiently to cause the GPU to become rather warm, which in turn led to the defect. (One thing which I still find odd in this case is that I never got any restart or crash or whatever due to GPU temperature, despite having the Nvidia temperature safety checks on.) Nothing is visible on the card itself, but my guess is that something can still get broken anyways without that.
Now my couple of questions I am facing and not quite able to answer on my own:
*Is there any other explanation for my problems than the one I just mentioned?
*What kind of person thought it was a good idea to design an area with a high chance of dust and dirt accumulation which is extremely inaccessible (and where 'normal' buyers would likely not even ever check or dare to disassemble) yet can pose apparent critical danger for the system? (Ok, I don't really expect anyone to answer that one, but it's been playing through my head the past hours)
*Assuming the GPU is fried, what are my options? Some friends suggested that it should be easy to replace the Go 6800 with any Pci Express card, but while that might be the trend these days (I don't know, I must admit I didn't follow laptop technology too closely after buying this one, the past 3 years), my memory seems to recall that this wasn't quite the case yet when I bought my laptop. I seem to recall that it was still in a time where graphic cards for laptops got custom designed per manufacturer or even model, which led to a hard time for replacing these parts. In other words, what would be my options for replacing the 6800 Go should it be needed? I did an initial search of my options on for instance ebay, which didn't cause a lot of optimism to say the least.
