Laptops Can Quickly Fail if Their Video Chip Overheats

Article Written By: Graham

The video chip is located inside the laptop soldered directly to the motherboard along with other components. It is responsible for generating a display on the screen and is prone to premature failure particularly when mistreated.

If you disassemble a laptop you will usually see a heat sink with fan covering two large chips. One will always be the CPU chip the other the graphics. Both are extremely complex and produce plenty of heat during use. The graphics chip though produces the most heat. The CPU is almost always found in a socket that allows it to be rapidly extracted and replaced should it fail or require upgrading. The graphics one is almost never incorporated into a socket so cannot easily be upgraded or replaced.

As a general rule, the hotter it works at, the shorter its life span, when a failure should be expected. So any measures that could be taken to keep it cool will extend the lifespan of the laptop.

There are a few obvious measures that can be taken to keep this cool and a few 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 will obstruct the cooling vents. If you notice that the air leaving the exhaust outlet is slow or hot then you will most likely have to have the fan and vents cleaned.

The majority of users do not realise that certain programs generate much more heat from the graphics chip than others. Games make use of many advanced graphics features so will generate far more heat than say a word processing program. Amazingly, playing films via DVD or straight from the web will result in producing maximum heat. If this is done too frequently, and the in-take is slightly obstructed, then the chip is extremely likely to fail. So bear this in mind if you intend to play many films.

If the wrong or an outdated graphics driver has been installed then this may cause the graphics chip to overheat and will likely cause graphics intensive programs to judder or crash the laptop. Most manufacturers offer a free service where the correct driver or drivers can be downloaded to help keep it operating exactly they intended when designed.

Upgrading is usually almost impossible since it is very difficult to remove the old chip from the motherboard. You will discover though, a few high specification laptops that have the it mounted on a separate sub assembly circuit board that connects to the main motherboard. This makes it easy, thought quiet expensive, to upgrade or replace the graphics chip as required.

Always treat your laptop carefully, being aware that if it is getting too hot then your graphics chip may fail immediately or may have a reduced life and always treat your laptop with care.

About the Author

Graham Kelly - Visit Trilogic's internet site for notebook repair or USB data recovery.

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