Laptop GPU Reflow to Fix Display Related Issues

There are many symptoms which reveal that the GPU or Graphics Processing Unit of your laptop is going bad. Here are some signs which when seen should be understood that your GPU is faulty.

  • There will be random visuals such as lines or dots on the screen.
  • You will notice weird colors appear on the screen suddenly, this is a sign that your graphics card is dying. Restarting fixes, the problem temporarily but the problem comes back again.
  • Another sign is a blue screen but you should remember that blue screens may be a result of problems with Hard Drive, RAM or other components. The best way to distinguish the problem is that whenever you begin to do something graphic intensive such as play a game or watch a movie and you get a blue screen – then the problem is related to the GPU. Try this before reflow: How to Fix BSOD – Blue Screen of Death?
  • There may be bizarre visuals that may appear on-screen. The colors will look funny and 3D models will look as of stretched.
  • And sometimes, it’s also possible that the display remains black blank on the system’s Startup and stays same. Try this before reflow: How to Fix Black Blank or No Display Laptop’s Problem?, How to Fix “No Display” or “No Signal” Desktop Computer’s Problem?





A GPU is soldered on the motherboard of your laptop and with time this GPU begins to separate from the motherboard which causes the problems mentioned above. The part of GPU which is separated can be fixed with the help of Reflow.

Remember to have a thorough hardware and software check done before you take the decision of reflowing the GPU. There are chances that there may be a software problem that is causing the screen to display the above problems. Follow the signs closely and then go ahead with the reflowing of GPU of your laptop. It is not wise to disassemble your laptop for something which does not require any repair.

What is Reflow? It is a very common procedure which manufacturers and repair shops use to fix electronic components on circuit boards. When the solder paste is heated at a certain temperature to make the joints on the PCB or Printed Board Circuits it melts from a solid state to liquid and then the joint is formed. There are usually four types of reflow that are used:

  1. Wave Solder Reflow – When liquid solder is used to fill holes on a PCB to create joints for electronic components that are pre-attached in those holes on PCB to make an electrical connection. A wave solder machine is used to make the soldering. The motherboard of your system or PCB is taken from one side of the machine to the other and the motherboard is floated in the liquid solder so the melted solder is absorbed in the holes of the PCB. This method is more effective and easier than soldering is done with a soldering iron.
  2. Hot Air Pencil – This is a small pencil-like device which is attached to a box and it blows hot air through a connection pipe. The hot air pressure is then used to solder the required place. It is quite an easy and affordable option for soldering.
  3. Convection Reflow – When there are many components on a PCB that need to be soldered then this is the best way of doing it. The solder is applied by heating the PCB in a convection oven.
  4. Vapour Phase Reflow – This is the latest technology that is used in soldering where the solder joint is made by boiling the PCB in liquid.

And to know more about it, click here: What Is Reflow? – Explained with Procedure



#Steps to Reflow a GPU of a Laptop

The easiest way to reflow a GPU chip is to use a heat gun. The things that you would require are heat gun, foil paper, tools to disassemble the laptop.

Follow these steps below to reflow a GPU:

  1. Disassemble the Laptop – In the first step, you will need the necessary tools to disassemble your laptop to reveal the motherboard. You then have to remove the motherboard from the body of the laptop. There are many tutorials available on YouTube that you can check on how to disassemble a laptop for the specific company and model of laptop that you own.
  2. Preparing for the Process – Once the disassembling is complete you should lay down the laptop on a table and begin covering it with a foil paper. Remember to cover in a way that the GPU chip is revealed out and the entire motherboard is covered in foil.
  3. Reflowing – For the process of reflowing you need to ready your heat gun. Keep the temperature of 220°c with very low air pressure and preheat the gun for just about 30 seconds. Keeping the GPU chip at a distance of two inches from the heat gun, blow the heat over it continuously for one minute. Keep rotating the heat gun around  clockwise and anti-clockwise when you are blowing heat from the heat gun. The heat should be provided continuously but it should not be kept still. The pressure of the air from the heat gun should be kept low and steady else the other smaller components of the GPU chip will be destroyed.
  4. Reflow at the Back of GPU and Reassemble the Laptop – Now reflow the GPU chip from the back for 30 seconds. Wait for some time for the GPU to cool down and then assemble the laptop back again. Once done you have assembled you should try running it. Try viewing graphics intensive things such as games or movies to check if any of the above signs on the screen can be seen.


Follow the steps only if you have the understanding of laptop and its components else it is best that you approach a skilled person to do the reflow.

This way of reflowing the GPU usually works but if your laptop is still under guarantee/ warranty then it is best that you approached your retailer or the company that you have purchased your laptop from. They will usually provide you with a new GPU chip or have it changed for no labor charges. You may although have to bear for the price of the GPU chip. This may vary from company to company. It entirely depends on which laptop you own.

“And that’s all for now, thanks for sticking with the article, and you know it will always good to let me know about the article, in the comments down below.” 🙂




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59 COMMENTS

  1. Hello I have a dell inspiron 15R SE 7520. When I want to start it shows a green screen with a single horizontal white stripe and beeping eight times until i shut it down. I got it checked by dell but went in vain. They suggested a screen replacement but with new one the same problem exists. I think it might be a problem in motherboard(part no: CN-04P57C). Can you suggest where exactly is the problem and is a motherboard replacement is the only solution? If it is in GPU then a GPU reflow may not be the permanent solution as it may in bad shape again in 6 months.

    Please suggest.

    Thanks in advance.

    Best Regards
    Parijat

  4. My Dell Inspiron 15-3537 Laptop first 3 three times restarts automatically then next 4th times gives 7 beeps error with no display. I do the usually process of reboiling but the problem not solved… what i do ????

  5. I did the reflow process but after that when I press power button only the display blinks for less than 1 sec My laptop is Dell studio 1555

  6. Hello friend.
    i have a problem with may packard bell laptop.it is a common problem( black screen) during booting up.everything is working except the video.need your help please

  7. Hi, can i reflow card using only ordinary fan? Does it heat up to needed temperature or is it to low? I dont have proper equipment,,

  9. My DELL INSPIRON N4030 PROBLEM IS WHITE SCREEN DISPLAY. I ALREADY REHEAT THE VIDEO CHIP BUT THE DISPLAY THE SAME. WHAT ARE THE SOLUTION SIR?
    THANK YOU

  10. Hello, Madhur TJ
    I have Acer Aspire 5783zg with mother board JV.50-MV DDR3 M96 MADISON MB 09925-1 48.4cg10.011
    there was this problem with horizontal lines but after a wile they disappeared, the problem got worse and now it dose not even want to boot and there is blue screen. The lap top restart and nothing change. I can start it in safe mode but the screen is all in square any suggestions. Is It Reflowing or Reballing or something else? The message on the blue screen was something about DVB not sure i have been told that there is a problem with my graphic processor and i start looking for mother board. I am waiting to hear from you Rosen. Thanks

  11. This is not a fix once a chip fails like this nothing can repair it dont waste time on some ovens and heat guns trow your laptop in the garbage and don’t buy from the shity manufacturer again.

    • True. A bad chip is a bad chip. Reballing will only give it a short lease of life on life-support and it’ll fail again very soon. reballing serves no long term purpose.

  12. Hi madhur
    My laptop is Toshiba Satellite c50
    I recently burned down it’s original motherboard but purchased a newer one which had an AMD gpu on it
    When i placed the motherboard in i realized that i had no heatsink over the GPU part
    But i managed to successfully boot up my laptop and everything was working fine
    It used to shutdown automatically after 6-7 minutes but recently i tried to boot again it’s having a black screen but everything else is working fine?
    Can it be repaired by reballing or the GPU is fried?

  13. I have a problem with my laptop after I came to a computer repair shop to replace my keyboard. The keyboard is fine after then, but the problem is my NVIDIA GeForce 820M is not working anymore im stuck with Intel HD graphics, the gaming performance is really poor. In device manager the NVIDIA has a yellow triangle and the error is “Windows has stopped this device because it has reported problems. (Code 43)” I tried all what I can do update to the latest version of driver, registry (CCleaner), uninstall through DDU and install different version of driver it is still not working. Is this some kind of hardware problem or software? or it also needs a reflow? TIA I can’t play games in good performance without it 🙁

  15. Hello Madhur, I have a dell vostro 2521 laptop with 7 beeps problem. I reflowed the GPU and the 7 beeps stops but when I power the machine, everything seems working but still no display. What should I do now?

  16. Hi there… Thanks for your help in posting this article. I’ve read it and according to what I’ve experienced with my laptop, I think the GPU needs reflow. My laptop is a Dell XPS L502x Nvidia 540m 2G. This particular model is known to have issues with its GPU: 540M. Before I had to underclock to play games while reducing freezing or BSODs. But a week ago, when running apps with the GPU, I do see artifacts on the display (pixelated dots of different sizes). 3 days ago it stopped working. Error 43. Driver reinstall doesn’t fix this. Any guide or advice? I’ve a friend that has a heat gun… Thanks in advance.

  17. Hey Madhur. You’re really surfing on a wave of myth and urban legend. Reballing rarely ‘repairs’ a bad GPU. Sure. After throwing your hard earned money on reballing/reflowing, your system will work. But only for a while. Reballing is merely a temporary ‘fix’ and is bound to fail soon thereafter.

    • the issue in reballing, if you are not professional to do it, you might ended up a “cold solder” of solder balls into the motherboard, hence, it will return back to display issue, Madhur advice might not the ultimate fixed, but it really helps to extend the life of your laptop, I had have my laptop sent for repair 2 years ago (display issue too) the repair man ask me two option, change the GPU, but I need to pay more, but reflowing is very cheap and I’d go with that, as I mentioned, 2 years ago, and until now, I can still be able to use it without any sign display issue (Lenovo brand)

  20. Hi, I have a lenovo g5080, the screen doesn’t turn on even after the laptop is on. The screen comes on after 10mins. The service engineer says a reflowing of the graphic card will fix it. His long will it stay fixed after I reflow??

  22. Hello Madhur sir,
    My hp laptop screen started to give different colors and it goes blank while using it.different colors fills my screen. What could be the problem of it?

    Thanking you

  23. Sir where you live sir i have nvidia GeForce 410 m gpu when I enable or use it a black screen with two horizontal lines come sir plz reply tell me I have sony vaio pcg71811w laptop sir does it require reflow plz contact me I will be heartly thankfull to you

  24. quick question. what about completely removing the GPU and running the laptop only using the CPU (with integrated video chip)? is that a feasible workaround if i do not care about the dedicated GPU?

  25. Hi Madhur.
    Thanks for your interest article.
    I want to ask something about a bga chip (Intel) on my laptop’s motherboard, which is getting very hot, a few seconds after Power On the laptop. (the CPU fan, starts and led turns on, but system do not start, with the screen remain black).
    Do you beleive that the reason for the bga overheating is a bad connection of the small balls in the base of the chip, so a reflowing will solve the problem, or is it something else, so it is better not to try reflowing the bga ?
    Thanks

  27. Hi Madhur.
    I have MSI 970 gamming motherboard which is not now under warranty. I sent it to MSI repair service for no display problem. MSI told me that GPU chip is required to be replaced and the cost they mentioned is very much high, near to motherboard price. Can you please suggest the solution? Thanks in advance Sir.

  28. Not for all cases, My Dell L502x has had ongoing issues (well documented with this model due to poor thermal design) and a quick reflow coupled with way better application of paste and a slight undervoltage to the gpu has kept it running for years now.

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