Graphics Cards

[SENKOP]

Hello everyone

I have a problem with my Toshiba Satellite L655 laptop

It has been upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10

Every now and again, the screen will freeze.
What ever I am doing, watching YouTube, searching Google etc, The Screen will freeze, the cursor will move, but it has like 4 black dots in a sqare around it. And I cant click on anything, it will move, for 2 minutes or so, then the screen goes blank, (Black) and I have to power it down by pulling out the power cord.

I have read up on AMD Graphics cards and windows 10 and it keeps telling me about update the drivers

I have downloaded just about EVERY driver that AMD Has!!! . . . It still does it!!!

Anyone got any ideas ???

I am a newbie by the way !!!

Thanks

[vialli100]

Hi,

Is your laptop getting hot?

If it is and it has a fan for cooling it may need cleaning.

What I would do is, take it apart and clean the fan.

While it is in parts I would also take the cooler off the cpu and graphics to replace the thermal paste (or thermal pads)..

Having repaired a lot of Laptops in the past it sounds like overheating or the graphics chip is starting to give up..

Hope this helps..

[SENKOP]

Hi

Thanks for the fast reply

I must admit, I thought of overheating.  I have a small desk fan by the side of me to keep it cool and the laptop is also raised to let air underneath it.

I will give that a go, and the paste for the CPU.

Well,   . . . . . .    as I typed the above, CPU the thing did it again . . .  and I have only just turned it on, so surely it does not get hot THAT quick ?????

Any ideas ?

[vialli100]

Is it quite an old laptop?

If it is, it could be the graphics chip..

You could try removing the gpu heatsink and applying a new thermal pad or paste whichever it has already..

If it's soldered to the motherboard you would probably need a new one, they are sometimes repairable if it's the solder that has become dry and cracked.. But in my experience that solution only lasts a while.. 

[SENKOP]

Thanks

Yes  that is worth trying

[vialli100]

Going back to your previous answer, it would overheat that quickly if the fan is blocked with dust or it's not spinning..

But to me it sounds like the graphics chip is near end of life..

Having looked at the model of laptop I can see it's a good few years old, so probably needs replacing..

[SENKOP]

Hi

Whilst I agree with you about my laptop being old, I am reluctant to get a new one.

And Windows 10 is running OK on it, when it works !!!!

I have been playing about with the drivers, and I have discovered that Windows 10 thinks IT KNOWS BEST !! . . . .    It does NOT like the AMD drivers !!!

So, I un-installed the AMD Software, un-installed the Display Card in ""Devices"" and then shut down the laptop . . .  (the other thing THIS laptop does not like is re-boot)

I restarted the laptop, and it found "Microsoft Basic Display" and installed its own drivers.

It works perfectly !!! . . . .  but ..   the resolution is 1064 x 768 and it really should be something like 1368 x 768 but I cant do that because it does not like the AMD drivers.

So basically I think I will have to leave it like that 

Thanks for all you help

[vialli100]

Hi,

That is a classic example of the graphics chip going bad..

When it will not work with the AMD drivers.