Hi, suddenly the screen of my old X31 started displaying strange artifacts. I disassembled the motherboard and replaced all the tantalum capacitors, but the problem remains unresolved. A VGA external monitor works properly so I guess it's not a GPU issue. Is there any particular component placed between the GPU and the LCD connector that could be responsible for this?
https://ibb.co/8LdGwXfh
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X31 screen with artifacts
Re: X31 screen with artifacts
Looks a lot like flexing to me, i.e. some balls of the GPU BGA soldering lost contact,
usually due to torsion of the bottom case and/or vast differenes in expansion coefficients of involved materials.
Best use the notebook only on flat surfaces, to put on lap etc get a ~ 3mm Aluminum sheet of its size,
that also decreases avg temps by 2 to 4 °C here.
If this is indeed flexing and what i see is about the worst it gets,
there is a good chance that a well performed reflow can fix the issue, at least for a time.
Average life expectancy of mostly T4x reflows was 1.5 to 2 years here with regular use, positive statistical outliers up to 10 years.
Undervolting the CPU to limit heat will reduce the stress and prolong life in any case
usually due to torsion of the bottom case and/or vast differenes in expansion coefficients of involved materials.
Best use the notebook only on flat surfaces, to put on lap etc get a ~ 3mm Aluminum sheet of its size,
that also decreases avg temps by 2 to 4 °C here.
If this is indeed flexing and what i see is about the worst it gets,
there is a good chance that a well performed reflow can fix the issue, at least for a time.
Average life expectancy of mostly T4x reflows was 1.5 to 2 years here with regular use, positive statistical outliers up to 10 years.
Undervolting the CPU to limit heat will reduce the stress and prolong life in any case
Re: X31 screen with artifacts
Yes, you might be right. I've noticed that every now and then (although rarely) this issue disappears, and the screen works properly for a while. This makes it likely that it's not permanent physical damage to a component, but rather a faulty connection somewhere. I'll try to follow your advice. Thanks.
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