Toshiba Tecra A9...freeze issues weird...

merlinxi · May 13, 2011, 11:13 AM

Hey Guys recently my wifes laptop the Toshiba Tecra A9, has been acting strange. I can't figure out in my head what is going on.

For some reason about 8 minutes into being in windows, the screen starts fuzzing and turning PLAID colors, like a plaid shirt. And i can't move the mouse, or when it moves the screen gets worse. then the fan out of no where kicks on REALLY high. I feel the heat coming out, but it doesn't feel that hot at all.

So I don't know if the GPU heatsink got un seated, or something. or the GPU is going bad... but it really doesn't seem like that this seems too strange. because this doesn't happen in the bios when just running it there.

Could Windows be corrupted? Possibly? any ideas? Taking this laptop apart is a pain, i was in a very high dusty room so maybe dust has caked underneath the heatsinks in side?

Any suggestions?

**synthesis204** · May 16, 2011, 12:11 AM

Try seeing if you can install GPUz.

GPU-Z Video card GPU Information Utility

Install and boot it up in those 8 minutes, and it has an option for monitoring the temperature/fan speed of your graphics card. Tell us how hot it runs. It sounds like a GPU issue (dying or otherwise), but it could be other things.

Also: if it's under warranty, it may be a good idea to contact Toshiba to see about a replacement.

merlinxi · May 16, 2011, 12:15 AM

Actually it IS the GPU. It must be dieing because there is no way within just Windows booting up it's failing. Unfortunately the Laptop is only 3 years old but it's no longer in warranty. Which is BS. Never seen a Laptop GPU burn out THAT fast.

If anyone knows where I can get a replacement GPU chip, that would be great for cheap. So I can open this up and replace it? This does not have the standard built in Intel GPU. It's a NVIDA Quadro. And the chip can physically come out.

Anyone know where I can get replacement for this?

Tyrsonswood · May 16, 2011, 02:27 AM

I would take it apart first and see if there is dust caked in there, clean and reseat that GPU and apply new paste to the heatsink before shelling out bucks for a replacement.

May 13, 2011, 11:13 AM	#1
merlinxi The Paranoid Cook Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: New Jersey Posts: 655 Rep Power: 0	Toshiba Tecra A9...freeze issues weird... Hey Guys recently my wifes laptop the Toshiba Tecra A9, has been acting strange. I can't figure out in my head what is going on. For some reason about 8 minutes into being in windows, the screen starts fuzzing and turning PLAID colors, like a plaid shirt. And i can't move the mouse, or when it moves the screen gets worse. then the fan out of no where kicks on REALLY high. I feel the heat coming out, but it doesn't feel that hot at all. So I don't know if the GPU heatsink got un seated, or something. or the GPU is going bad... but it really doesn't seem like that this seems too strange. because this doesn't happen in the bios when just running it there. Could Windows be corrupted? Possibly? any ideas? Taking this laptop apart is a pain, i was in a very high dusty room so maybe dust has caked underneath the heatsinks in side? Any suggestions? __________________ 700 Watt Toughpower Cable Management Power supply -- Asus P55 LE Motherboard -- Intel Core i7 860 2.8GHZ Quad Core -- 6Gb Dominator Ram DD3 8 Latency Timings -- Windows 7 64bit -- Gigabyte GTX470 Superclocked Video Card -- 1.5 TB Hard drive, 1TB hard drive, 250GB Hard drive, and a partridge in a pear tree.

May 16, 2011, 12:11 AM	#2
synthesis204 Dragonborn Join Date: Sep 2010 Location: St. Louis, MO Posts: 1,175 Rep Power: 97 System Specs	Re: Toshiba Tecra A9...freeze issues weird... Try seeing if you can install GPUz. GPU-Z Video card GPU Information Utility Install and boot it up in those 8 minutes, and it has an option for monitoring the temperature/fan speed of your graphics card. Tell us how hot it runs. It sounds like a GPU issue (dying or otherwise), but it could be other things. Also: if it's under warranty, it may be a good idea to contact Toshiba to see about a replacement. __________________ Donate the spare computing power of your PC to help to cure alzheimers, ALS, huntington's, parkinson's disease and cancer: Fold for HH!

May 16, 2011, 12:15 AM	Thread Starter #3
merlinxi The Paranoid Cook Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: New Jersey Posts: 655 Rep Power: 0	Re: Toshiba Tecra A9...freeze issues weird... Actually it IS the GPU. It must be dieing because there is no way within just Windows booting up it's failing. Unfortunately the Laptop is only 3 years old but it's no longer in warranty. Which is BS. Never seen a Laptop GPU burn out THAT fast. If anyone knows where I can get a replacement GPU chip, that would be great for cheap. So I can open this up and replace it? This does not have the standard built in Intel GPU. It's a NVIDA Quadro. And the chip can physically come out. Anyone know where I can get replacement for this? __________________ 700 Watt Toughpower Cable Management Power supply -- Asus P55 LE Motherboard -- Intel Core i7 860 2.8GHZ Quad Core -- 6Gb Dominator Ram DD3 8 Latency Timings -- Windows 7 64bit -- Gigabyte GTX470 Superclocked Video Card -- 1.5 TB Hard drive, 1TB hard drive, 250GB Hard drive, and a partridge in a pear tree.