ASUS G73JH-BST7 Screen Flickering Problem

[x0trane0x]

Hello Guys, I have a problem with my G73JH-BST7
I bought this machine off Newegg refurbished in November of 2011.
Recently, the screen began to flicker forming random lines of usually the same color of what is being displayed.
The screen will freeze and unfreeze at random times as well.
I have reinstalled Windows, flashed the bios to v209, and tried the GSOD fix by updating the VBIOS.
Unfortunately, none of these things helped to fix the problem.
What I'm not sure is if this is a LCD problem or a graphics card problem.
Any help?

[dstrakele]

Since the issue you report is recent, try using Windows System Restore to restore your system to a time before this issue occurred.

What version video driver are you running?

[x0trane0x]

According to DXDIAG - 8.683.0.0
and when the screen is not frozen i'll see if there are any restore points to restore to.
I doubt there's any since I reinstalled windows.

[x0trane0x]

Unfortunately, there are no system restore points.
Are there any other solutions?

[dstrakele]

What version Display Adapter driver is shown in its Properties within Device Manager?

Who is listed as the developer of that driver?

When you reinstalled Windows, did you perform an ASUS Factory Restore or a clean Windows 7 install?

[x0trane0x]

Version 8.683.0.0
Driver Provider: ATI Technologies Inc.
The card is an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870.

When I reinstalled Windows, I used the F9 function on the G73JH.
So, I'm guessing that would be a factory restore.

[dstrakele]

Agreed - you did an ASUS Factory Restore. If you're experiencing this video issue immediately afterwards without installing any other programs or drivers, it is likely a hardware issue.

If the issue fails to display on an external monitor or LCD TV connected to your laptop, it indicates a problem with the LVDS cable or cable connection, or possibly the laptop display. If both laptop display and external monitor display the horizontal lines, the video adapter is most likely defective.

Have you monitored CPU and GPU temperatures with a utility such as HWINFO64 or SpeedFan? It would be useful to know the idle temps (no apps running) of your CPU and GPU in centigrade.

[x0trane0x]

The problem existed before the factory restore, for if it didn't, it wouldn't have restored at all.

The issue does not come up when I connect the laptop to an external source (in this case, my HDTV), so it would be a cable
connection problem or a laptop display problem?
What would you recommend I do to fix this problem?
And I will try to get CPU and GPU temperature information as soon as I can.

[dstrakele]

A Factory Restore (with nothing else installed) should've resolved the issue if it was a software problem.

The test with an external HDTV cannot distinguish between a problem cable, cable connection, or faulty display. However, I believe the odds favor a problem cable connection, followed by a faulty cable. If you're comfortable disassembling the laptop, you might check that out. Otherwise, you may need to have someone repair your laptop.

It still may be useful to check CPU and GPU temperatures to eliminate the less likely possibility that overheating is causing this issue.

[x0trane0x]

Speedfan:
GPU - 55C
CORE 0 - 47C
CORE 1 - 47C
CORE 2 - 50C
Core 3 - 47C

As I'm not computer saavy enough to attempt to disassemble my laptop, I won't try for now.
Also, what would be temperatures that indicate overheating for the G73?