Hey guys!
So, I've been struggling with this for a while now, since there is little to none info on the issue I've got in the internet. Perhaps someone here will be able to help.
I have a Eurocom X3 laptop powered by i7 4800MQ, the GPU is nVidia 780GTX, if it matters somehow. For almost a year, the laptop was functioning fine in any tasks, including gaming. Then, all of a sudden, one day it began showing artifacts on the screen. Hasn't been overheated or dropped or anything, just snapped into this condition. Since the laptop was still on warranty, I requested RMA, which was fulfilled - the manufacturer reported the CPU was tested and failed, so they replaced it with an i7 4810MQ. The chip itself looked the same as the faulty i7 4800MQ (there was a slight scuff mark on the mirrored finish of both chips), but that did not concern me - when it was installed and the laptop was tested, there were no more artifacts. That was the middle of November last year.
However, a few days ago the artifacts returned. Same as the previous time - no impact, no overload - just office operation with a movie in the background and snap - there they were.
The warranty is now over, though I've sent a request to Eurocom support - we'll see about their move. But for now, I believe it is essential to establish the reason for those artifacts, specifically what causes them to appear.
I've been doing quite a lot of testing today, including formatting the hard drive and clean installing Windows 7 x64, memory testing with Windows standard utility, and... found out, that the artifacts only appear when I install Intel HD Graphics driver (tried both 15.36.7.64.3960 and 15.36.14.64.4080 versions), specifically after the computer restarts at the end of the installation. When I uninstall the graphics driver, the artifacts disappear prior to the final step of the installer dialogue (asking if I am going to restart the PC now or later). The laptop is otherwise absolutely clean, except for the chipset driver (first tried the graphics drivers with Eurocom supplied version, being 9.4.0.1017, then updated with the latest 10.0.24 and tried everything once again).
So, the question is: can two CPUs with faulty iGPUs end up in one hands?
Or there is a simpler explanation to this whole situation.
Attached are a few screenshots for you guys (hopefully some guys will actually notice this thread =) to grasp the scope of the problem.