GPU 'issues' only with ATI ?

[Raydeo]

Exploring this forum I find many references to GPU issues that require a re-solder,etc. :
Is this problem only peculiar to the ATI GPU's, or does it occur with the Intel GPU's as well ?
I'm looking at a 15" R51 with Intel graphics (XGA ) : would you consider this to a safe bet in terms of avoiding the GPU 'detachment' problem ?
Thanx ,

Admin note: Moved from General SW/HW forum and removed your duplicate thread that was posted in this forum

[ARD]

The ATI GPU issues belonged to T43s and T42s.
The forum experts will likely expand on this.
I have not read anything about R51 GPU issues.
Intel GPUs don't have the detaching issues, but they are amazingly mediocre for a flagship notebook.
I don't see any problem with your choice.
A much bigger problem belonged to the T61s with nVidia GPUs which simply died with no hope of repair.
The only remedy was to swap the motherboard and wait for that one to die too.

[RealBlackStuff]

It's the A31, T30, T40/T41/T42, R50/R51 with ATI GPU that have these problems.
Most prominent in the T40-T42 series.
None of those models (except A31 and T30, which only have ATI) with integrated Intel GPU have these problems.
On T43/R52 models it's quite rare that the GPU comes loose.
If these have a problem, it's usually the Southbridge chip that comes loose (similar mounting to the GPU).
Other models with ATI, both older and newer, do not show these symptoms.
(And there's also the T61 with nVidia GPU, which has major GPU problems.)

Don't stare yourself blind on this. Only the people that had a problem have reported here.
The zillion others that do NOT have this problem, hardly ever mention this!

[Raydeo]

Thanx All :
Just what I needed to know to start off this new decade

[MidnightToker]

Yep, unfortunately I'm also experiencing issues with my ATI GPU on my Thinkpad A30, or at least it seems to be GPU related (Screen will randomly become garbled, hard drive will spin down and laptop becomes unrestonsive). So far this only happens when the laptop is cold and hasn't been used for a few hours, once the laptop has reached normal operating temperature, it runs fine. I'm thinking about maybe wedging some neatly folded up aluminum foil in between the CPU heatsink and GPU to keep the GPU seat. Anyone tried this?

[ajkula66]

@MidnightToker:

While it's doable, it's not recommended. On A30 units VRAM failure is actually a lot more common than a loose GPU, and that's what your description sounds like.

Moving on to a newer machine, or finding a cheap replacement motherboard would be my suggestions.

Good luck.

[MidnightToker]

@ajkula66:


Is there any way to confirm that faulty VRAM is causing these issues with my laptop?

[ajkula66]

Run PC Doctor for DOS on it while it's cold, if you start getting responses on the screen that look like hieroglyphics your VRAM is definitely toast.

[MidnightToker]

ajkula66


Alrighty, I'll give that a shot, thanks/