[T500] Graphic errors on laptop

[Markstar]

Hi,
after your guys' recommendation I got a WUXGA screen for my T500 that I just got from eBay.

Sadly, I have some pretty severe graphic errors, as can be seen in the screen below (no, I did not scramble the picture, that's how it actually looks ):


It's not all the time and when I mouse over UI elements (or reopen the window), it may even disappear for a while. At first I thought it was the wrong driver, as I just popped my SSD from the T60 into the T500...which works flawlessly, btw. But now I reinstalled Windows, tried different drivers, etc. and the problem persists.

What do you guys think is the problem? Edit:I did not have it with the original screen (1680*1050).

The guys I got my screen from said it is not suitable for the T500, but you guys disagreed and of course I trusted you.

But something is definitely wrong here and I would really appreciate your input on this!

Thank you in advance for your help!

P.S.: Below is a high resolution picture that illustrates the 3 aspects: A Windows Explorer window without graphic errors, the Computer information window that is totally scrambled and 7-Zip which not displayed in a native resolution (it's kind of blurry as if interpolated):

[RealBlackStuff]

What is the 7-character TYPE from the label on the T500's bottom? (looks like: TYPE 2241-CC1)
Do you use Intel or ATI graphics?
Which graphics driver-version is installed?

[Markstar]

What is the 7-character TYPE from the label on the T500's bottom? (looks like: TYPE 2241-CC1)
Do you use Intel or ATI graphics?
Which graphics driver-version is installed?

Wow, very impressive!

It is indeed a 2241, but a CY6 with the Intel only graphics (currently the GM45 from the P8600), driver version is 8.15.10.2555.

Edit:It seems I was wrong and probably just didn't notice the graphic errors before. I have now played around with it some more and hooked it up to the docking station... and I get the same graphic errors on the external monitor...which makes this a different beast entirely, I guess. The GPU is running at 640MHz which sounds about right. But what could it be? I doubt it can be the graphic card on the die, right? What then, the driver? Hmm...

I also updated to 3.23/3.25 now, still the same.

Here a screenshot (made via the Windows Snipping Tool) from the desktop:

As you can see the distortions are even there...

[RealBlackStuff]

As per HMM the T500 officially has two WUXGA options: 44C9614 and 42T0613.
Don't know the manufacturers though.
The problem you have lies not in the screen, but in the graphics driver, OR (less likely) in the Intel 4500MHD GPU itself.
Have you tried uninstalling the graphics driver, then see what Windows Update comes up with?
(direct Intel drivers, not modified by Lenovo)

[ajkula66]

I had some *really* weird issues with my R500F that had scared the living daylight out of me to the point of believing that the chipset went bad.

Yes, that's how bad the distortion was at times.

Reverted the graphics driver and have been running clean ever since.

The current ("good") driver is 8.15.10.2202 dated 08/25/2010, and this in in 32-bit version of W7 Pro.

Obviously, YMMV.

Good luck.

[Markstar]

Yes, I had tried reinstalling Windows, it's already happening before installing any drivers and also after getting them via Windows Update.

This is so weird! If it was my desktop PC I would think it is because of overclocking, but that can't be it. The CPU is running really cool, too (especially compared to my T60s).

[ajkula66]

Given what you've said so far, my best guess is that the chipset itself decided to go haywire.

One last thing to try would be to run memtest86 to see whether RAM is your culprit. Not very likely, but not impossible either.

Good luck.

[Tasurinchi]

I would also give a try with a Linux CD/USB drive and see what happens

[ajkula66]

I would also give a try with a Linux CD/USB drive and see what happens

An excellent suggestion indeed.

[AIX]

Check this out:

Visual corruption - ThinkPad R400, R500, T400, T400s, T500, W500, X200, X200s, X200 Tablet, X301

[Markstar]

Check this out:

Visual corruption - ThinkPad R400, R500, T400, T400s, T500, W500, X200, X200s, X200 Tablet, X301

Exellent link (I have the "Type B" illness) and suggestions from you guys, thank you!

It actually came to me at work that it could be the RAM (I bought a 4GB module in addition to the 2GB module that came with the laptop). I just came home and that seems to be indeed the culprit.

I also resolved the "blurry font" issue, as it is simply due to Windows detecting that the dpi is quite high and adjusting the text to 150%.

I never encountered either issue (problems due to 2 different modules and Windows adjusting the text by itself after setup), so I was a bit thrown off.

Thank you guys again for your advice! Now I can actually get started with my new toy.

Just a small point: The LP154WU1-TLB1 is quite grainy in my opinion (matte coating?), so I guess I would not recommend it as I assume there are better alternatives (you can actually see the grain in the pictures above).