g53sw-3d screen issues, artifacts, some cable is probably loose

[brecker]

Hi,

I got a g53sw-3d. Last week I started getting constant artifacts all over the screen. Its mostly notisable on the windows login screen and transparency's. So I googled a lot about similar issues.

First time I got artifacts was when i was watching a 3d movie and switched from 3d to 2d. Nvidia driver crashed and everything was normal after reboot. I thought this might be relevant but I later found out i was on the wrong track.

When i got the artifacts i noticed them on linux as well. Since it doesn't use as much transparency's it was not as notisable as on windows. But I could see them on some webpages. That rule out the drivers. Though I did try a whole lot of drivers before going on with the testing...

A week before the artifacts started. I recall making an asus liveupdate. Which it froze in the process. So I thought that it may have had attempted to flash a new bios and froze in the process. I flashed the stock bios from asus page using EasyFlash and a pen drive. The issues remained the same. I did uninstall the live update after founding all the sorts of problems this software had...

At this point I was almost certain that the gpu was dying... I even looked prices of the 460m replacements...

Since this machine is only a few months old my plan was to return it to the retailer. And give them the option to just switch the part that was causing the problem instead of changing the whole machine.

But after looking to more similar issues on the net and this forums I found out some people got artifacts and they where gone after applying some pressure on the back of the notebook. So I tryied to do that and the artifacts where gone. As soon as I stopped pressuring the artifacts reappered.

So I did the procedure to remove the access panel. And after removing it I noticed I didn't have access to the gpu or any cable that had to do with my problem. But looking with a flashlight I saw that the gpu was located in the are that the pressure solve the issue.

Btw, I never overclocked and temperatures are always below 79C.

I'm thinking in performing a full disassembly to look for the issue. I had a similar issue on a chinese tablet where the lock that secure the screen flex cable was faulty and it released the cable over time. I'm thinking I may be facing a similar issue.

I'm also thinking in bringing the notebook to my retailer so I don't loose my warranty.

So I didn't found any online data on how to solve the problem. Is it a cable? the gpu is loose? Is the lock of any cable damaged and the movement of the notebook will incur in that cable getting loose often?

I'm really happy with the performance of my notebook... this is the only real issue I'm facing and I would really like to avoid the hassle of changing it. Any information about this issue is welcomed. As well if there is a chance of loosing warranty under doing a full disassembly.

Thanks in advance!

[brecker]

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bump

[dstrakele]

I think it is interesting you report seeing artifacts shortly after an ASUS Live Update. Other users are reporting video issues after ASUS Live Updates (see http://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread...untry=&status= ).

I recommend using Windows System Restore to restore your system to a time before the update.

[brecker]

its not a windows only problem, i have witnessed the same issue on my ubuntu 12.04... and the issue is not driver related, since i experience the same issue on stock drivers, latest, and all the versions in between them...

the issue seems to get worse / better from time to time... all the artifacts are gone for the moment... but i still see pixelated shadows, and a notisable difference in between Imp Pant watched from the screen and another device...

taken this webpage for example, I see 4 layers of pixelated shadows and the background of the rog logo not displaying correctly, there is a line of the background that goes all the way down to where the shadows end...

on the print screen on this notebook i see it exactly like i see it on the screen, but if i transfer it to another device i see it correctly...

[dstrakele]

I agree with you. The issue is likely hardware-related, since it occurs in another OS and I now see you were able to eliminate the artifacts by applying pressure to the back of the laptop. Disassembly to reseat the GPU will void the warranty, plus there is no guarantee it will resolve the problem.