horizontal line on alienware laptop 17xr4

Ive had this issue before in the past on a sager notebook, but this one is a bit different. The horizontal line is on the upper section of my screen, it is horizontal, BUT it does not extent from one side of my screen to the other. This horizontal line is centered on upper part of my laptop screen and it is visible in game and on other gray backgrounds. What is this problem, and how can it be fixed?

i tried to show this issue on a printscreen + microsoft paint image, but the line wont show on that image....=(

 

If it wont show up on the image that means that is is infact a laptop screen or video card error . But most likely the laptop screen itself are you still under warranty?

 

Can you try plugging the laptop into a TV or other external display and checking if the line is still there? If it isnt then the issue is with the screen itself, if it is then the issue will be with the graphics card.

 

funny....the problem went away today when i turned on the laptop. Yesterday i turned off the machine and turned on...problem still was there. But today the problem went away.....weird. could it be possible that it was a problem in the gpu memory? just trying to speculate why the problem magically went away. Again this was not a solid line stretching from one side of the screen to the other. It was a very faint horizontal line that was centered on the upper part of the screen.

update roblem just returned, but it was after playing duke nukem 3d lol. Could it be a overheating problem? speedfan reports the temps range between 52-54c during duke nukem 3d play

 

Theres so many things that can go wrong on the LCD display itself as well as the GPU or even LCD cable which could cause this problem. The only way to find out would be as I previously asked - check the output on another screen when it is doing it and see if the line is still there.

 

It's not overheating .. Thermal shut down is 95*C for GPU .. 100*C for CPU

 

Yes, check it on another screen by connecting it with VGA or HDMI. Then we can continue troubleshooting.

 

Definitely not overheating, as metioned a couple of times before, you should test the system with an external monitor or TV, and you should also re install the video drivers following the steps in this article.

 

This is most likely the screen problem. LCD cable could be faulty too and a lot less likely GPU. Try moving the display forward and backwards - if the line is there or is not there and the state of the line does not change - this is more likely screen problem. You can grab the screen on the top corners and gently (VERY GENTLY) turn it sideways just a little bit to see if that changes your picture. If it does - 90% screen issue. It moving the screen forward and backward affects your picture (artefacts, lines etc) - most likely LCD cable issue. If you are under warranty, just give AW a ring.