FZ190E Video Problem

Hey all,

Starting last night I started getting some very bad video problems on my (almost) 2 year old Vaio FZ190E (custom and upgraded).

The problems occurred in the form of artifacts and color shifts that affect both the LCD screen and an attached monitor. Here are some pictures of the problems:
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll91/crazyshow/lcd.jpg
http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll91/crazyshow/external.jpg

After the initial occurrence, I let the vaio sit for a few minutes before rebooting (on battery) and all was well. As soon as I plugged it back in, within 5-10 minutes it had occurred again. Thinking it may have something to do with plugged in vs. battery, I tried many variations on that but the problem continued to crop up regardless. Another variation in the problem is that sometimes I will be able to fight through the distortion/artifacts and still use the computer, whereas other times the artifacts will coincide with a complete system freeze and auto-reboot.

To try and diagnose the problem, I pulled out the RAM (2x2gb OCZ) and replaced it with the 2x1GB that the system had come with. This had no effect as on the next boot the problem cropped up immediately.

Thats another thing to note - the time before the problem shows up seems random. Sometimes it will start from the VAIO logo screen which will be distorted on the right side and go the entire way through the boot, sometimes the problem doesnt show up until the windows loading bar, sometimes it doesnt show up until Ive had a usable computer for a while.

To try and rule out overheating, I watched temperatures for a while, and while at first it seemed this may be the case, I used the Intel Thermal Analysis tool to get my core and gpu temps way above what they normally have been when the problem occurred and the problem did not crop up. I tried this stress test twice.

I have tried to run Memtest86+ twice, however the problem has cropped up at different times during the test both times. I tried to run a video ram stress test while in windows, and the problem cropped up then as well. The video card is an 8400M GT.

Any ideas? If theres any more info you need, just let me know.

Thanks very much, I've been diagnosing (or trying) for over a day now, and am out of ideas.

Edit: No recent hardware/software changes that I'm aware of - and one of the first things I did was to try a System Restore. I have also uninstalled Nvidia drivers and reinstalled them to no effect.

 

You are not going to want to hear this but most likely the Nvidia chip has died or is in the process of doing so. There are several threads here about the issue. Basically over time, stress fractures appear in the substrate due to a difference in the expansion rate of the substrate and the bonding. It is a know defect, yet Sony will not admit to it. HP, Dell and Apple have all admitted it was a problem (actually it is NVIDIA's problem) but you have no recourse withe Nvidia only with Sony. Look at the other threads for more info. (Use the "search this forum" box to find them.)

Gary

 

I had seen reference to that in my research and feared that....

Ill contact Sony, but do you have any personal idea of the cost effectiveness of replacing the video chip vs the unit?

 

The chip can't be replaced. The whole motherboard must be replaced to the tine of $600-$700.

Gary

 

Gotta love that. Its convenient for Sony how this crops up usually outside of their warranty period. I don't know how many Sony bricks I'm going to go through before I learn...the problem is that I like them while they're working.

Thanks for your help, though. If anyone else has any other opinions that dont involve that much money...would loove to hear them. Haha.

Tim

 

Get a new notebook instead of wasting money on your broken video card.

 

Oh, don't worry, thats what I'm planning to do.

Not that I want to, I like this one, but unless Sony is going to fix the problem caused by bad parts without charging almost half the cost of the laptop (when it was new), then I'm not willing to pay it.