In this post I explain how you can fix a laptop motherboard with failed NVIDIA graphics chip. This repair might apply to some HP/Compaq laptops and probably some other laptop brands. If this repair works for your laptop, please mention the brand and model number in comments after the post. This will help other readers with similar laptops.
This method should work for the following models: HP Pavilion dv2000, Pavilion dv6000, Pavilion dv9000, Compaq Presario v3000, Presario v6000, HP Pavilion tx1000, Pavilion tx2000.
By the way, I just fixed my son’s Xbox 360 with red ring of death (error 74) using exactly same technique.
MOST COMMON PROBLEM SYMPTOMS
1. Laptop turns on with garbled video on the internal laptop screen and external monitor.
2. Laptop turns on as normal but there is no video on the internal laptop screen or external monitor.
MY UNDERSTANDING OF THE PROBLEM
The NVIDIA graphics chip soldered to the motherboard. When the laptop gets very hot, the NVIDIA chip separates from the motherboard and laptop video fails.
HOW TO FIX FAILED NVIDIA CHIP
I have previous posts explaining how I fixed same problem by baking the motherboard in an oven or bubble-wrapping the laptop. But today I’m going to fix the motherboard using a heat gun. Basically, I’m going to heat up the NVIDIA chip with a heat gun to solder it back to the motherboard (reflow). I think this method is more reliable and the repair should last for a while.
WARNING!
There is no guaranty this method works all the time. While doing this repair you may damage the motherboard and make it unrepairable. Also, you may damage the laptop while taking it apart.
Proceed at your own risk and don’t blame me if you turned your laptop into a very expensive door stop. 
If you don’t feel comfortable doing this repair, take your laptop to the repair shop.
HOW I FIXED THE MOTHERBOARD
First of all, you’ll have to disassemble the laptop and remove the motherboard. You can find laptop disassembly procedure in the service manual. If you having trouble finding the manual, leave a comment and maybe I can point you to the right direction.
In my example I’m using a motherboard removed from HP Pavilion tx2000 laptop.
In most laptops the graphics chip located under the CPU heatsink (and it has NVIDIA logo on it), so there shouldn’t be a problem locating the chip. The chip has a glossy top surface.
For this repair I’m going to use an Ecoheat heat gun EC-100.
In order to figure out how to position the heat gun and for how long, I tested it on a penny with a small piece of solder on the top.
The Ecoheat heat gun has a switch on the handle. There are two positions for the switch. Position 1 – slow. Position 2 – fast.
I used position 1 – slow.
I positioned the heat gun about 1 inch away from the penny and turned it on.
After about 40-45 second the solder started melting. After 50 seconds the solder melted completely.
To protect the motherboard from the heat I used a regular cooking aluminum foil. I cut off a piece of aluminum foil and folded it a few times to make my protection shield thicker. After that I cut off a square opening right in the middle, same size as the NVIDIA chip.
After I removed the heat sink, I had some old thermal grease stuck on the NVIDIA graphics chip. You can remove old thermal grease using alcohol swabs. It’s not necessary to make it perfectly clean. Just make sure there are no large chunks of thermal grease on the chip.
UPDATE: Some people mentioned that I should have applied some liquid flux underneath the NVIDIA chip for better results. I didn’t do it this time. I’ll definitely do it next time if the motherboard fails again. I found this video explaining how to apply liquid flux under the GPU chip. This video was made for Xbox 360 motherboard but should apply to any laptop motherboard too.
Liquid flux for GPU reflow available on eBay.
Finally, I positioned the heat gun above the NVIDIA chip about 1 inch away and turned the heat gun into the position 1.
After 50 seconds I turned it off and let the motherboard cool down for about 20 minutes.
Don’t forget to apply new thermal grease on the NVIDIA chip when you install the heat sink.
Some laptops use thermal pads instead of grease. If that’s the case with your laptop, make sure the thermal pad positioned correctly.
After I assembled the laptop back together, the video started properly!
The NVIDIA graphics chip problem fixed!
Will it last for a long time? I don’t know. Still testing.
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December 13th, 2011 at 4:15 am
Thanks a lot for sharing this info. I am actually been sending my clients laptop into a repair shop every time i encounter this problem, and i am not getting any clue as to how they are doing it because they are hiding it from me, may be because they know how easy it is to learn.
I will definitely try this as soon as another client comes with the same issue.
Thank you very much and Happy Holidays to you and your love ones.
Stay Blessed,
Carlos
Manila
Philippines
December 7th, 2011 at 12:55 pm
@ Ravi,
I guess it hasn’t been fixed completely. There is still a problem with the graphics chip.
December 3rd, 2011 at 12:38 am
Well I applied this fine technique, worked fine for few days. Now I am facing another problem that my laptop boots and but before login onwards screen goes blank. That means I have only option left with me is to boot in safe mode and run my laptop.
I guess in safe mode graphic card hardware is disabeled so it boots up properly. Can you comment on this problem please.
November 24th, 2011 at 4:25 pm
@ Adetola,
I suggest testing the laptop with external monitor. Do you have the same problem on the external monitor or it works properly?
November 22nd, 2011 at 12:20 pm
Pls i have a Asus F2HF Laptop, i dont knw d cause of it problem, but anytime i on the laptop, it only shows the green light, the fan does not spin, no beep from the ram, and nothing display on the screen….i have try to wash the board with some spirit and dry it in the sun but the problem still persist…can somebody help me with the solution…cos i dont have money for a new laptop now, and its even expensive to get here
thanks,
Adetola
November 21st, 2011 at 3:09 pm
@ smoby,
I cannot tell what’s going on without looking at the laptop. It’s possible the USB port separated from the motherboard and has to be resoldered.
If it doesn’t help, you can use an external PCMCIA USB or ExpressCard USB.
November 21st, 2011 at 11:51 am
(my usb port not working) one at the left is onboard but the
2 at the right is attached one of
the attached is working fine but
the other is not……just as the left
November 17th, 2011 at 2:05 pm
@ Klevin,
If the fan works fine, probably you are correct. This is some kind of motherboard (graphics card) failure.
November 17th, 2011 at 7:14 am
The fan spins, i’d even propped a table fan next to my laptop but the same thing happens too. The laptop is not even hot by touch as it should be if it’s really overheating.
November 15th, 2011 at 10:31 am
@ Klevin,
Take a closer look at the cooling fan. Does it start spinning at all? I’m thinking maybe the fan failed and the laptop shuts down because of overheating.