Asus F8V Suspected Graphics Card Problem

[glitzy_dust]

Hi everyone!

I have posted some thing similar in the Graphics & Display Bazaar forum, but so far, no one has replied me there. I have posted my problem here because I am not 100% sure of the root cause of the problem of my laptop and I thought since no one has replied me in the Graphics & Display Bazaar forum, I should post my problem here and hopefully, the experts in this forum can help provide recommendations to my problem. I hope I did not flout any forum rules while doing this. I shall describe my problem below:

My Asus F8V computer has been giving me random BSoDs with the atikdmag.sys or the atikpmag.sys (I can't recall the exact error message but it is something along this line) since last year (about 4 months ago).

When I disable my ATI graphics card and use the Intel graphics card, the BSoDs do not come back at all but my CPU will get super hot (70 to 90 Celsius) whenever I try to play videos from YouTube.

My laptop uses the graphics card ATI Radeon HD3470 graphics card. I am not sure if I should change the graphics card of my laptop or get a brand new laptop, 'cos this laptop has been serving me very well for the past 6 to 7 years.

May I ask for your opinions on this? If I would like to buy a new ATI Radeon HD 3470 graphics card, do you have any recommendations on where to buy good and reliable ones? I don't think I can 'anyhow' upgrade my graphics card so I guess I have to stick with my original graphics card.

Thank you very much!

-glitzy_dust

 

[royfrosty]

I'm guessing you are the below average Joe whom knows anything about PC. Pardon me if it sounds harsh on you.

The problem you have right now, you can't simply just change a laptop GPU just like that. Most laptop dedicated GPU are actually soldered in and it is impossible to just replace it.

When you disable the dedicated graphics, using Intel means that it is using integrated graphics from the CPU itself.

Since you are experiencing high temps, my suggestion is:

If you intend to use the GPU, to game or whatsoever reason, then you are better of buying a new laptop as a whole.

If you intend to use integrated graphics, my suggestion is to bring it to PC Care & Solution in Sim Lim Square to give it to Nigel. He can help you, probably open up the laptop and replace thermal paste and to help you check on the laptop fan if it is still working.

 

[darkarn]

To add on to what royfrosty just said, even if you can change the GPU of the laptop somehow (which is rare even today), it is too expensive since you need to source overseas cos the model is really old and such laptop parts are quite specialised.

Somemore may fail cos need to make sure that it is the exact model (i.e. other models usually won't work in such cases.); if the model is same but for different brand's laptops or even just different firmware (yes, these cards have their own firmware too!), it will fail and even brick your entire laptop.

Also, the other parts may be too old for what you intend to do with the laptop; may not be worthwhile to keep repairing it.

 

[Koenig168]

You can try this .....

http://www.sevenforums.com/bsod-help-support/381999-random-bsod-atikpmag-sys-atikdmag-sys.html

 

[glitzy_dust]

I'm guessing you are the below average Joe whom knows anything about PC. Pardon me if it sounds harsh on you.

The problem you have right now, you can't simply just change a laptop GPU just like that. Most laptop dedicated GPU are actually soldered in and it is impossible to just replace it.

When you disable the dedicated graphics, using Intel means that it is using integrated graphics from the CPU itself.

Since you are experiencing high temps, my suggestion is:

If you intend to use the GPU, to game or whatsoever reason, then you are better of buying a new laptop as a whole.

If you intend to use integrated graphics, my suggestion is to bring it to PC Care & Solution in Sim Lim Square to give it to Nigel. He can help you, probably open up the laptop and replace thermal paste and to help you check on the laptop fan if it is still working.

Thank you royfrosty for your reply.

Haha. Omg. You sound so mean. xD xD Just kidding. It's okay. I know a little about PCs but I am sure I am not as competent as most of you guys here in HWZ. Thank you for taking time off in educating me about my laptop.

The problem you have right now, you can't simply just change a laptop GPU just like that. Most laptop dedicated GPU are actually soldered in and it is impossible to just replace it.

You mentioned that my GPU is soldered in, but it is not. I have attemped to remove my graphics card and boot my laptop, but it failed to boot as it hanged before the ASUS logo came out. When I put my graphics card back, my laptop could boot up again normally.

My graphics card is seated near a fan and it is slotted it at an angle which I managed to pluck it out (as mentioned earlier) and I plugged it back in as my laptop couldn't do without it. Some blu-tack looking thing is used to pull it down as it has a tendency to 'float' up.

Hence, my graphics card is removable.

I'm sorry if I had made any mistakes or I had confused you all about this by using the wrong terminologies.

If you intend to use the GPU, to game or whatsoever reason, then you are better of buying a new laptop as a whole.

Haha, I think I will kill my laptop totally if I game on it with the current state it is in. xD When I use PowerPoint's presentation mode, a warning will come out and say something like my "graphics card has not been properly configured...". And my CPU fan will start to speed up. :X

I shall bring it to PC Care & Solution one of these days to see if my laptop can be save. ><

Thank you, royfrosty, once again.

 

[glitzy_dust]

Thank you, darkarn, for your reply and for telling me so much about graphics cards in laptops. Haha. I feel enlightened.

I went to PC Clinic in SLS, and a staff quoted me $120 if he could repair my laptop. :X Maybe I should try royfrosty's suggestion and go to PC Care&Solutions~

If my laptop can't be saved, I guess I can only buy a new laptop. >.<

Thanks darkarn once again.

 

[glitzy_dust]

Thanks Koenig168!

Haha. The poster in the forum was me actually. LOL.

The reason why I didn't re-open my case there (in 7Forums) was because I wanted to ask if anyone knows where to buy an ATI Radeon HD3470 card here in Singapore.

Furthermore, this BSoD problem did not surface for a month after disabling and re-enabling it. The BSoD problem only started to re-surfaced recently, in the middle to end of December 2014.

Now, I am using Intel's integrated graphics so that I do not run into the irritating BSoD problem again. It is really troublesome because sometimes after I restart my laptop, I need to connect to an external monitor to enable/disable my graphics card until my laptop screen lights up and can function on its own again. Sometimes I need to reboot several times before my laptop can function normally again.

The screenshots in the forum are from my own computer. Is it okay if you guys were to help me take a look at my screenshots to see if they tell of a more pressing problem? :X

Thank you so much guys for your help. Thanks Koenig168 once again.

I really appreciate all of your help here.