Inspiron 8200 Video Artifacts... Opinion(s) wanted

Question

I have an Inspiron 8200 w/ a Mobility Radeon 9000 (#4U284) I'm currently having trouble with video artifacts appearing on icons, or any 3-d rendered image (and a few other things). These artifacts are usually a bunch of lines, and sometimes make my icons appear as a bunch of lines. In a 3-d game everything has these lines coming off of them - and everything sort of 'blinks'. These artifacts vary in intensity over time, going from simply annoying to being so bad I can't see what an icon is (or in the case of a game, anything thats going on). The intensity usually changes when I apply pressure to my keyboard. These artifacts appear whether I'm using the notebook's LCD screen or an external monitor, and I've since reformatted the computer and reseated the video card. *An interesting thing to note is that whenever I reseat the video card it runs perfect for a while - then eventually the artifacts reappear. *Also these artifacts where non-existant in windows until I installed the ATI drivers, and I know its not a driver issue since they appear on the BIOS splash. I need opinions here, is this a problem with the video card or could it be something else? If I'm positive its the video card then I'll look to purchasing a replacement. I know one thing - its not software related since differing pressure on the keyboard and tilting the notebook varies the intensity of artifacts. Thanks in advance.

Lucid-Snake · Answer

Here is an example of what my icons usually appear like (name/image intentionally blurred):

http://www.missouri.edu/~tnb324/dellVideoProblem1.jpg

And here's an in-game shot:

http://www.missouri.edu/~tnb324/dellVideoProblem2.jpg

Message Edited by Lucid-Snake on 02-22-2006 05:21 PM

Lucid-Snake · Answer

In case anyone has this problem and you know its not dirver related, then I've found the problem. Ran some diagnostics and it made the problem clear - my video memory is bad.

Had 26 error messages like this:

VESA SVGA Video - Video Memory Test : Fail
Result Code: 5300-0119
Msg: Detected a failure while writing and reading video memory. Video mode:
Dh (320x200x16). Address A0020h, expected to read 0h, but read FF00FF00h
instead.

Time for a new video card!

zelmar · Answer

HI

I don't have the same problem but I was wondering what diagnostic tools you used to find the problem. I am experiencing a problem with vertical lines over the screen and think it's my video card as well. Could you mail me at marinus.de.bruyne@foundation.nl

Thanks in advance

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