Graphics card blues (Tech problems)

[A Weary Exile]

The graphics card on my laptop seems to have died and I'm looking for advice on what I should do in light of this unfortunate development.

Recently I've had problems with the drivers dying in the middle of games, sometimes they'd recover, sometimes I'd have to restart manually from a blank screen. There was no noticeable drop in frame rate or anything before these hang-ups, they seemed to be completely random. I've uninstalled and reinstalled drivers for the video card (And nearly everything else on my computer) but the problem persisted. I made sure to keep the vents on my laptop as well-ventilated as possible and lowered all my graphics settings, but the hang-ups would occur even if my laptop was at a reasonable temperature. It never hangs up on videos or while surfing the web, only while playing games.

Recently, I've gotten visual artifacts (At least that's what I think they're called) like this:

http://steamcommunity.com/id/bobbycarmody/screenshot/594699578053925382?tab=public

That screams "Faulty hardware" to me.

Ideally, I would just like to get whatever is wrong with my laptop repaired (Since owning a desktop is just not feasible for me [Space issues] and buying a whole new laptop is completely out of the question) but I don't know if that's even possible. Pretty sure the graphics card is integrated into the motherboard and not easily removed, so I'd imagine repairs would be really expensive. I have the number of a computer repair guy that I plan on calling tomorrow, but I'm just trying to get as many opinions on this problem as possible before I start blowing what little money I have on a solution.

My laptop is an Hp 17 Envy. My video card is a Radeon HD Mobility 5850.

Any ideas on what I should do about this predicament, suggestions on where to go to get it fixed, etc. would be appreciated.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

If the GPU is damaged or dead on your laptop, there's not much you can really do as its built into the motherboard. You could send it away if its still under warranty but normal repair costs for it aren't cheap. if latter, you're best getting a new laptop.

have you tried using maybe an older version of graphic drivers? sometimes a year old driver might do the trick. (worth a shot anyway)

 

[A Weary Exile]

If the GPU is damaged or dead on your laptop, there's not much you can really do as its built into the motherboard. You could send it away if its still under warranty but normal repair costs for it aren't cheap. if latter, you're best getting a new laptop.

I'm not sure what the status of the warranty is, this was a gift from a relative and I'm pretty certain that they have all the warranty information. I'm going to have to contact them and see what they have.

have you tried using maybe an older version of graphic drivers? sometimes a year old driver might do the trick. (worth a shot anyway)

I doubt it'll do anything, but there's little harm in trying.

I just can't believe the graphics card burned out after less than a year. I play a lot of games, but I don't play that much FFS.

 

[A Weary Exile]

*snip*

Alright, so the warranty is expired and I've tried every possible software-related solution I could find, so I'm pretty certain that the card itself has been damaged.

I've contacted two separate computer repair services who haven't yet given me an estimate or a yea/nay on whether it is fixable or not.

Either I'm going to have to cough-up a fortunate to get the card replaced or endure a (Probably years long) gameless drought until I can afford a new computer.

Oh well. :l

 

[RhombusHatesYou]

Either I'm going to have to cough-up a fortunate to get the card replaced or endure a (Probably years long) gameless drought until I can afford a new computer.

If, and it's a gigantic if, your laptop runs a discrete GPU card instead of an integrated one you might be in luck... assuming that you can afford the new card, the techs can source a new card (laptop components are a bastard to get sourced), and they have the slighest idea on how to pop in a new laptop GPU card... oh yeah, and you can afford the labour charges they'll add on top of all that.

 

[A Weary Exile]

Spoiler

Either I'm going to have to cough-up a fortunate to get the card replaced or endure a (Probably years long) gameless drought until I can afford a new computer.

If, and it's a gigantic if, your laptop runs a discrete GPU card instead of an integrated one you might be in luck... assuming that you can afford the new card, the techs can source a new card (laptop components are a bastard to get sourced), and they have the slighest idea on how to pop in a new laptop GPU card... oh yeah, and you can afford the labour charges they'll add on top of all that.

If the GPU is damaged or dead on your laptop, there's not much you can really do as its built into the motherboard. You could send it away if its still under warranty but normal repair costs for it aren't cheap. if latter, you're best getting a new laptop.

have you tried using maybe an older version of graphic drivers? sometimes a year old driver might do the trick. (worth a shot anyway)

Welp, I contacted a repair company out in Orlando and they said they could fix it for about $140 dollars, but the guy also said it's not worth getting it repaired since HPs are notrious for having overheating problems. >_<

$140 is not that bad, I'm still considering sending it to them so I can play games while I save up for a new laptop. Also, I can't really sell a half-functioning laptop.

I'm looking into ASUS, thinking about getting [a href="http://www.amazon.com/ASUS-G74SX-A1-17-3-Inch-Gaming-Laptop/dp/tech-data/B00542SUD8"]this one[/a] but I'm going to do a bit more research before I buy another one. I thought I put enough research into this one, but that was apparently not the case.

 

[Ziadaine_v1legacy]

since HPs are notrious for having overheating problems. >_<

Th HP Pavilion 6000/8000 series have also got notorious GPU and Mobo faults, My old job we had a pile of dead HP laptops.

That ASUS is quite nice, and ASUS is a good reliable brand. Personally steer clear of DELL, ACER, HP and Compaq.

Few other good brands are MSI, Toshiba (However I dunno if Toshiba make gamer based laptops) and SONY VAIO's have started to pick up Power wise.

Alienware I can't really say, their systems are good, but generally 80% of the time are over-priced.

 

[A Weary Exile]

Seems that my situation has changed enough to where getting a desktop is a good option, so that's what I'm gonna do now. :s



To Google I go!

Spoiler

since HPs are notrious for having overheating problems. >_<

Th HP Pavilion 6000/8000 series have also got notorious GPU and Mobo faults, My old job we had a pile of dead HP laptops.

That ASUS is quite nice, and ASUS is a good reliable brand. Personally steer clear of DELL, ACER, HP and Compaq.

Few other good brands are MSI, Toshiba (However I dunno if Toshiba make gamer based laptops) and SONY VAIO's have started to pick up Power wise.

Alienware I can't really say, their systems are good, but generally 80% of the time are over-priced.

Either I'm going to have to cough-up a fortunate to get the card replaced or endure a (Probably years long) gameless drought until I can afford a new computer.

If, and it's a gigantic if, your laptop runs a discrete GPU card instead of an integrated one you might be in luck... assuming that you can afford the new card, the techs can source a new card (laptop components are a bastard to get sourced), and they have the slighest idea on how to pop in a new laptop GPU card... oh yeah, and you can afford the labour charges they'll add on top of all that.

Thanks for your help guys.