Inspiron 8100 that have ATI Mobility Radeon 7500 @64MB

Question

Hi: I have the above combination laptop for 3.5 years. With the exception of a bad hard disk, everything is good until 3 months ago. I have similar problems like those that I read on the forum -- display flickering with blue lines at first, then progresses to blocks and lines. For the past few months, whenever the problem happens, I just reboot the laptop and everything is nice and 'back to normal' again until I 'wake up' my laptop from hibernation the next time. However, this afternoon, the lines become all blocks after blocks.. The screen is all 'garbage'. I tried to reboot many times, but still garbage. Is this video card 'dead'? Is it time to change a new video card? What is the replacement card since Dell does not have the original card anymore in stock (as I've read in the forum). Is it even cost-effective to change a new video card? I did pay close to $2500.00 with quite a bit of upgrade back then. Any advice is greatly appreciated to solve this problem. Thank you! Have a nice evening.

funtoupgrade · Answer

To diagnose problem first you need to know whether problem shows up also on exterior monitor. If so probably the video card, if not probably either a loose connection or bad LCD.  Please report back.

chee4rtl · Answer

Hi,

yes, the same problem appears when i plugged in an exterior monitor.

btw, i have a 64 Mb card, this morning, i noticed in CMOS is at 32Mb too.. After one night of "rest", the video comes up, but with TONS of lines and blocks, but i managed to see something, at least.

thanks for any info.

chee4rtl · Answer

I figure it is a bad card. any solution? any suggestion?

funtoupgrade · Answer

Sounds like a bad video card.

funtoupgrade · Answer

My advice is not to buy from Dell - you're going to pay two to three times the going rate for any parts from them that are available elsewhere. The cheaper Nvidia GeForce 2 32MB card also works nicely in an 8100 and is readily available on eBay or from other resellers. I will send you a private email for one source.

chee4rtl · Answer

honestly, i have absolutely no problem with this video only until recently. from the reading, i realized Dell does not carry 7500 card anymore, right?

is there any "lower" grade or cheaper video card that I can order from dell that is compatibility with 8100?

thanks.

funtoupgrade · Answer

My personal opinion is that this is the most stable card for the 8100, but others on the forum seem to think that the faster cards made for the 8200 are better.  They are definitely more expensive.

chee4rtl · Answer

Thanks very much for your input. looking forward to the email. is this a something DYI job?  have a nice day

funtoupgrade · Answer

Definitely a DIY job.  You can download the Removing and Replacing Parts Guide from the Dell web-site (or mine) for your model.

nittanylion05 · Answer

Hello Fellow Inspiron 8100 Video Card Forum members!

I have an Inspiron 8100 with a Mobility Radeon 7500 that is acting just like the other users. Sometimes it displays an OK image, other times it does not boot to Windows and displays a primarily black screen with flashing colorful squares and sometimes "Matrix-like" greenish lines. I have removed the video card and re-installed it and it got better for a few minutes, but the image is getting worse.

I am wondering what is the best video card I can install in this rig, Can I install a 128MG or even newer 256MG video card with this chipset/MOBO? I have a PIII 1.0GHz with 256MG RAM. I am also planning bump my RAM up to 512 (the max right for 8100?) if this new video card works properly.

Thanks for your help and for sharing your problems.

funtoupgrade · Answer

I presume you have ruled out your LCD by hooking up an external monitor and finding it exhibits the same problem display on it. If not then it is not likely a video card problem.

64MB is as big as you can go for a video card since nobody made one to fit that is any bigger.

nittanylion05 · Answer

Thanks for the quick reply! I have tried hooking an external monitor and the problem still exists. Looks like I'll be hitting E-Bay tonight. Thanks again!

nittanylion05 · Answer

I searched E-Bay and only found one Mobility Radeon 7500 but it was from the UK.  I found another seller claiming a Mobility Radeon 9000 (64MB) fits into the Inspiron 8100.  Is this true?   Does anyone know where I can find a Mobility Radeon 7500 or 9000 besides E-Bay?   Thanks for your help:smileyhappy:

rtomlin · Answer

I've got on as well ! For approx. a year and a half it was easier to just restart my computer. This corrected the problem most of the time.

Dell TAC was of no help even after I sent in screen shots. At the time they wanted me to send it back since it was under warranty. I needed to have it for business so I just put up with the need to restart.

Now, however it is getting a lot worse and takes a lot of effort to get a good screen.

The diagnostics detect video memory errors. It sees only 32m out of the 64m.

I guess I'll have to replace the video board with ...?

RT

chee4rtl · Answer

hi nittanylion05:

try impact computers.. here is the link... i don't know if they are any good, just passing on info.

good luck.

http://www.impactcomputers.com/dellparts-dell-laptops-dell-inspiron-8100-parts-internal-parts-and-assemblies.html

bc

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