Troubleshooting Graphics Problem on Dell Inspiron 8600

CallmeShirley · 01-Nov-2009, 06:30 PM #1

Thanks for looking and hopefully helping

I have a Dell Inspiron 8600 laptop, with a NVIDIA GeForce FX5650 128mb Graphics Card, and 15.4" SXVGA Screen, running XP Pro. The laptop is 6 yrs. old and about a month ago it started doing weird things, graphically.

The first symptoms were little worms on the screen, while in Windows, moving around in patches, then it progressed to stripes during startup, with intermittent colored stripes, during bios startup, and during login screen, and while running windows. Sometimes it just jumbles the colors and make it really pixilated or fuzzy and freezes the screen.

SO, I figured it was probably the Video Card, (at least that is the cheapest thing to replace) so I bought one on eBay, a GeForce 5200 64mb "tested" card, and it gave me more problems and never got beyond startup. I contacted the seller, he sent a new one (no questions asked) and this one let me get into Windows, but started the same thing again. I contacted him and he quickly refunded my money.

SO, in an attempt to nail down the culprit I plugged the S-Video cable in to my TV, and sure enough the same thing that was on the screen, the colors, the patterns, etc. was on the TV. Now, I am confused as to whether it is the graphics card or the lcd, but common sense tells me it is the graphics card and I would be safe to buy another on eBay (from someone other than last seller).

Does anyone agree with my logic? Or disagree? Or have another way or solution? Thanks in advance!

CallmeShirley · 08-Nov-2009, 05:17 PM #2

No ideas?? Anyone?

DoubleHelix · 08-Nov-2009, 06:07 PM #3

Maybe it's neither. The problem could be with the motherboard itself. Six years is a long life for a laptop. Time for a replacement.

CallmeShirley · 08-Nov-2009, 06:51 PM #4

Is there any way to test it?? Are there diagnostic software that will nail it down as to its certainty?

DoubleHelix · 08-Nov-2009, 10:56 PM #5

I don't know of any. You've ruled out both the LCD display panel and the graphics adapter. That leaves a deeper hardware problem.

dant22185 · 09-Nov-2009, 02:52 AM #6

Are the drivers for the MB and Graphics card up to date? Sounds like a silly question but could be the problem if they are not.

peck1234 · 09-Nov-2009, 05:54 AM #7

are you on windows 7 by any chance?

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