P-6860 FX Black screen - Possible Video Driver Issue.

I'm a total newbie, so i apologize, but i'm just looking for help. In short, and in point form:

- Bought this laptop probably four years ago. Has worked fine all that time, played great games.
- Started playing LA Noire about a month ago. Slow frame rate. Updated drivers from Nvidia (285.62), but later found out it was a simple setting on the game launcher that needed changing. (Something about single versus double threading)
- Started noticing after that the computer would hang up with some sort of digital noise, and not just visually. Sound would die too, so it wasn't as if the game was still playing.
- This happened mostly during gameplay, but sometimes from other programs.
- A simple restart would fix it.
- A week ago it happened again, but upon restart, the screen was lit but black. Multiple restarts in the next hour did not fix it.
- Over a day later i started it up and it worked, but the problem would come back intermittently. Never in safe mode, though.
- Took it to a repair shop. They ran hardware diagnostics and told me everything came back fine. They said it was likely a software problem and suggested a clean install.
- Decided to upgrade to windows 7. Did an install. Worked brilliantly. Started downloading the software i liked. Still working great.
- Graphics card was recognized as a simple VGA in DXDiag, but i read that a driver update would fix that right up. Went and got Nvidia's 285.62 again.
- After updating the drivers, the computer hung again, restarted to a lit but black screen, and hasn't started properly since.

Attempts (likely stupid) i have made:
-Formatted the hard drive on a separate machine.
-Taken the CMOS battery out (i cannot find the bloody jumper. Anyone know where it is?)
-Taken hard drive and memory out.
-Attempted various powering on scenarios such as mixtures of holding the button on for certain time periods while having battery in out, power in out etc.

Only other thing i have to add is that when it turns off, it does it fast, in that way it might do it's only reached the bios.

Can anyone help me. Thoughts, suggestions, diagnoses?

 

If you are constant black screen now, not even bios post, the GPU has most likely fried............

 

Hey man, thanks for replying. That's what i was afraid of.

Is it buy a new laptop time?

 

Try the Dox Customised Forceware v185.85 in the sticky.

 

I do not think he can even get to BIOS let alone the OS.......

 

Have you done a complete teardown of the laptop and reapplied thermals past to both the cpu and gpu cooling units and blown out all the dust in the unit? Don't know if this will help but at least with a tear down you can see what if there is any obstruction or if the thermal paste is not doing it job anymore. But if it is a GPU failure then if you have the cash getting a used or refurbished motherboard is one way to keep your laptop going.

** Dust buildups ** sure fire way of killing laptop computer when cooling is needed..

 

I have done a full tear down and yes there was some dust. As for thermal paste the stuff on there looks sort of cracked and dry, if that makes sense, so i'd imagine a reapply is in order, but silly as this may sound, i've no idea how to do that properly.

 

If you took it appart to view the TIM and saw it was cracked and dried you needed right then and there to repalce it. Assembly with the old TIM that was cracked and dried is a no-no and will cause numerous issues...........

 

That isn't a good thing at all your really asking for a baking of the CPU and GPU to go to the heap. Cracked thermal dried paste is a good indication of too much heat or long term usage and not reapplying a thermal paste to replace old thermal to improve heat transfer. And by not doing so your inviting damage to the CPU and GPU thus rendering your system as a failed laptop. Take it apart again and follow the sticky that another user has posted to take apart your laptop and reapply new thermal paste again and hope that what you did - didn't damage the laptop in any substantial way from ever working properly.