Is this a graphics card Issue?

[Jawbreaker]

Not sure if this is the right forum but tonight my laptop looks like this. Does this mean the graphics card is going bad?

Edited Monday at 05:19 AM by Jawbreaker

[mechahamham]

Possibly. It looks like your gamma is turned ALL the way up. It's not affecting all your UI elements, but most of them.

 

Could also be a memory issue.

 

I'd

 

a) Reinstall your video card driver after deleting all your settings and the like. It's possible for those settings to get corrupted and

b) Run Memtestx86+ to test your computer's RAM. https://memtest.org/

[Captain Fabulous]

Does this happen only when you run the Homecoming Launcher?

[Jawbreaker]

6 hours ago, Captain Fabulous said:

Does this happen only when you run the Homecoming Launcher?

It's always like that, EXCEPT on boot-up, where it shows the usual ASUS logo

[Jawbreaker]

20 hours ago, mechahamham said:

Possibly. It looks like your gamma is turned ALL the way up. It's not affecting all your UI elements, but most of them.

 

Could also be a memory issue.

 

I'd

 

a) Reinstall your video card driver after deleting all your settings and the like. It's possible for those settings to get corrupted and

b) Run Memtestx86+ to test your computer's RAM. https://memtest.org/

Can't even see anything when trying to click on icons or websites to try and do anything

 

[mechahamham]

2 hours ago, Jawbreaker said:

9 hours ago, Captain Fabulous said:

Does this happen only when you run the Homecoming Launcher?

It's always like that, EXCEPT on boot-up, where it shows the usual ASUS logo

 

That kinda points at a RAM issue, but it's possibly RAM on the video card.

 

Hear me out. That logo is stored in the on-board ROM chip, either from your motherboard or on the graphics card, and is more or less read straight out of that ROM and plopped onto the screen. If the video processing were broken, that wouldn't display correctly. Once your computer begins execution of code, then it copies the result of that execution into RAM. It sends the data to be displayed on screen to your graphics card's RAM. If your main system RAM were broken enough to cause the screenshot you saw, it could make it difficult to boot windows.

 

So are you able to tell if there's frequent crashing or lock-ups? If so, that points at your motherboard RAM. If not, that points at the RAM on your video card.

[Captain Fabulous]

One thing you can try is connecting an external monitor and see if it looks the same. That will rule out an issue with your display panel.

[Jawbreaker]

10 hours ago, mechahamham said:

 

That kinda points at a RAM issue, but it's possibly RAM on the video card.

 

Hear me out. That logo is stored in the on-board ROM chip, either from your motherboard or on the graphics card, and is more or less read straight out of that ROM and plopped onto the screen. If the video processing were broken, that wouldn't display correctly. Once your computer begins execution of code, then it copies the result of that execution into RAM. It sends the data to be displayed on screen to your graphics card's RAM. If your main system RAM were broken enough to cause the screenshot you saw, it could make it difficult to boot windows.

 

So are you able to tell if there's frequent crashing or lock-ups? If so, that points at your motherboard RAM. If not, that points at the RAM on your video card.

No, no crashes or lockups, was working great until this

[Jawbreaker]

1 hour ago, Captain Fabulous said:

One thing you can try is connecting an external monitor and see if it looks the same. That will rule out an issue with your display panel.

I'll try that tonight, thank you

[Troo]

Any luck?

[Jawbreaker]

9 hours ago, Troo said:

Any luck?

 

On 12/14/2025 at 10:15 PM, mechahamham said:

Possibly. It looks like your gamma is turned ALL the way up. It's not affecting all your UI elements, but most of them.

 

Could also be a memory issue.

 

I'd

 

a) Reinstall your video card driver after deleting all your settings and the like. It's possible for those settings to get corrupted and

b) Run Memtestx86+ to test your computer's RAM. https://memtest.org/

So according to mem test, this is what it found

 

Module 0:
  DDR4, 8192 MB, 64-bit, 3200 MHz
  DIMM 0 P0 CHANNEL A Micron Technology 4ATF1G64HZ-3G2E1
Module 1:
  DDR4, 8192 MB, 64-bit, 3200 MHz
  DIMM 0 P0 CHANNEL B Micron Technology 4ATF1G64HZ-3G2E1

0.000: Detecting usable memory (15789 MB theoretical max)...
12.015: 11392 MB Test starting on 16 CPUs...
12.031: Allocating memory...
18.921: Memory locking failed (might be reserved by other apps/kernel)
19.578: Test finished with no errors detected
 

[GM Impervium]

Hrrm...

If you can see what you're typing, try to run dxdiag from the windows search thingamagig, and save the results to a text file.

You can post it here, BUT, I recommend just DMing it to me on the off chance that the file contains personal Identifying info (like if for some reason you named your computer your real name or something like that). Though I imagine it might be tough to navigate the forums to do so.

You can try removing and re-seating your graphics card (if you're comfortable opening up your computer and fiddling with the insides, at least); if you have a substantially-sized one, it may be tilting out of place due to the weight of the fan. I just saw that this was a laptop, not a desktop, nvmnd.

Also, when booting up your computer, try doing so in Safe Mode (usually done by holding down F2 during startup, but different PC manufacturers sometimes set it to a different button), see if this still happens. If it does, that would point to hardware, as video drivers and other software tend not to be loaded during safe mode.

Edited Thursday at 03:05 AM by GM Impervium

[Bill Z Bubba]

What about the external monitor? Was the image fragged there as well? If, yes, I put money on a bad/dying video card. If not, if image is fine on external monitor but fragged on laptop screen, then it could be as simple as a loose cable between screen and laptop motherboard. A PitA to get to most of the time but doable.

[Jawbreaker]

12 hours ago, GM Impervium said:

Hrrm...

If you can see what you're typing, try to run dxdiag from the windows search thingamagig, and save the results to a text file.

You can post it here, BUT, I recommend just DMing it to me on the off chance that the file contains personal Identifying info (like if for some reason you named your computer your real name or something like that). Though I imagine it might be tough to navigate the forums to do so.

You can try removing and re-seating your graphics card (if you're comfortable opening up your computer and fiddling with the insides, at least); if you have a substantially-sized one, it may be tilting out of place due to the weight of the fan. I just saw that this was a laptop, not a desktop, nvmnd.

Also, when booting up your computer, try doing so in Safe Mode (usually done by holding down F2 during startup, but different PC manufacturers sometimes set it to a different button), see if this still happens. If it does, that would point to hardware, as video drivers and other software tend not to be loaded during safe mode.

DM sent!

[Jawbreaker]

11 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

What about the external monitor? Was the image fragged there as well? If, yes, I put money on a bad/dying video card. If not, if image is fine on external monitor but fragged on laptop screen, then it could be as simple as a loose cable between screen and laptop motherboard. A PitA to get to most of the time but doable.

Yeah plugged in Wacom graphics pad and everything looks normal on there

[Bill Z Bubba]

29 minutes ago, Jawbreaker said:

Yeah plugged in Wacom graphics pad and everything looks normal on there

 

In that case, yea, loose cable between laptop screen and laptop motherboard is likely. Googling make/model of laptop can probably find instructions on getting to it, or any local computer shop can probably assist. I've worked on plenty of laptops and it ain't the most fun thing in the world but usually doable. BUT... if you've never done anything like that before, I do suggest taking it somewhere.

Edited Thursday at 03:36 PM by Bill Z Bubba

[Jawbreaker]

2 hours ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

In that case, yea, loose cable between laptop screen and laptop motherboard is likely. Googling make/model of laptop can probably find instructions on getting to it, or any local computer shop can probably assist. I've worked on plenty of laptops and it ain't the most fun thing in the world but usually doable. BUT... if you've never done anything like that before, I do suggest taking it somewhere.

The odd thing was when I just unplugged the Wacom tablet, the laptop screen reverted to normal.

 

Thanks Bill, I have a local guy I've used in the past, I'd rather he do it than my gorilla fingers 

[mechahamham]

31 minutes ago, Jawbreaker said:

The odd thing was when I just unplugged the Wacom tablet, the laptop screen reverted to normal.

I think there's a good chance Bill is still correct. Unplugged connectors tend to leave their ends 'Floating' between the lower voltage values that signify 0s and the higher values that signify 1s. This could cause ALL KINDS of memory corruption issues. Plugging in that Wacom tablet may have pulled those values to reasonable levels.

 

I hope this all works out for you and wish you the best of luck getting it sorted.