Most laptop video chips are soldered directly on top of the motherboard. It is responsible for generating a display on the screen and is easily damaged and susceptible to premature failure especially if mistreated.
If you disassemble a typical laptop you will most likely see a heatsink with fan covering two large chips. One will always be the CPU chip the other the graphics chip. The CPU and graphics chip produce a lot of heat when the laptop is running. The CPU does not generate nearly as much heat as the graphics chip. The CPU is nearly always found in a socket which allows it to be rapidly removed and replaced should it fail or require upgrading. The graphics chip, however, is almost never contained in a socket so cannot simply be upgraded or changed.
Graphic chips will probably fail or have a reduced life when they continually operate at a high temperature. So any measures that could be taken to keep this chip cool will lengthen the lifespan of the laptop.
There are a few obvious steps that may be taken to keep this chip cool and some less obvious ones. Always use the laptop on a tray or table, and not on a rug, your bed or on your knees since this may obstruct the cooling vents. If you notice that the air leaving the exhaust outlet is slow or very hot then you will probably need to have the fan and vents cleaned by a laptop repair agent. The majority of users do not realise that certain software programs generate considerably more heat from the graphics chip than others. Letting the laptop idle on the Internet should not cause the graphics chip to create much heat, however, playing a game where sophisticated graphics are running will usually make it generate considerable heat. You probably will be amazed to discover that playing a DVD film can cause the graphics chip to run very hot, so potentially reducing the life span of the laptop especially if this is done regularly.
If the wrong or an outdated graphics driver has been installed on the laptop then this may cause the graphics chip to overheat and will likely cause graphics intensive programs to judder or crash the laptop. The correct graphics drivers are usually relatively easy to find and may usually be downloaded free from the manufacturer’s Web site.
Upgrading the graphics chip on a laptop is generally nearly impossible because it is very difficult to remove the old chip from the motherboard. You will discover though, some high specification laptops that have the graphics chip installed on a separate sub assembly circuit board that connects to the main motherboard. This will make it easy, thought quiet costly, to upgrade or replace the graphics chip as required.
Look after your laptop’s graphic chip since it is either very costly or impossible to replace. You may notice that your laptop is pumping out very hot air or the case is getting too hot to the touch then it is very likely that the graphics chip will be about to fail.
Graham Kelly is experienced at repairing broken and damaged laptops and USB RAM drives. He has spent in excess of 30 years inside the electronics industry focusing on electronic design and repair. He has published many articles relating to laptop and notebook faults to assist users diagnose and perhaps perform simple laptop repairs by themselves where appropriate. He is always happy to give technical guidance and may be contacted at Trilogic’s internet site for laptop power connector repair or memory stick repair.
Thank you for visiting us, please click here to read more great reviews