Problems with vostro 1500/1400 - Vostro owners please post your problems here

Hi, all,

I have a Vostro 1500 with 8600m gt. I rarely play games on this laptop and every other applicaiton I ran on it was fine. But last month I tried some games, like WoW, Torchlight, AoE2(yes the very old rts from MS), then after sometime (could be 5 mins, could be 30mins), screen crashes or frozen. I have to switch to desktop then switch back if screen freezes. In the case it crashes, I got the MS blue screen of death or a reboot.

I checked the website and found 8600m gt is a defective product and caused many laptop brands to recall. so I called up DELL but was told that this model (vostro1500) is not affected by that issue, though they still agreed to send a technician to check up and eventually replaced my 8600m gt graphics card. However, this didn't fix the issue. Games still crash or freeze.

Now the only possible cause I can think of other than a defective GPU, is the temparature. I can feel the laptop is very hot when running games. other application like web surfing, text processing, not as hot and no problem occur. I tried to clean the vent and fan and added a laptop cooler (a cheap alluminium one), but still not much effect.

So uptill this moment, I have no other means to solve this problem. I could call up DELL and maybe get another replacement of the GPU module, but I suspect the same result. So anyone here can give some advice? My laptop warranty will expire in another 2 weeks or so. Is there any method to improve the cooling?

Thanks!

 

HI Friends
My Vostro 1500 charging problem. not charge the battary with Ac Adapter.i change Battary & Adapter. but the same problem with them only on with Ac adapter

 

Did you replace with an aftermarket battery? Sometimes this happens with them.

Bronsky

 

I had this model (1500 w/ GT8600M). If you have experiencing heat problems only when stressing the GPU, it makes sense that your problem is there. I would guess that the technician who replaced the GPU either put another defective one in or failed to make sure that the heat sink was properly connected to the GPU. I would ask to have them replace the GPU again or reproduce the problem while the technician is there. My guess is that he or she will replace the GPU again, but do it correctly this time.

Bronsky

 

I still own a Vostro 1500 and 1700. Both laptops use a different videocard. It's not soldered onto the motherboard but plugs into it. You might need to check your temps. I recently started a thread on replacing the thermal paste. My temps are back to where they were when I first got the laptop.

You could be having heat issues with your laptop. Have you checked them? Here's the thread I started. If you have any questions you can PM me. I've taken my laptop apart so many times I can probably do it blindfolded, LOL.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=466515

 

I think the GPU had thermal pads. I was wondering if the tec who installed the GPU had proper contact on the pads. But, the paste replacement is a great idea.

I had my 1500 until a couple of months ago. My bookeeper still uses it. I loved it and miss the keyboard.

Bronsky

 

The GPU does use a thermal pad. I left my pad on and just used thermal paste as well. I could have gone with the copper shim or bought a new heatsink from Dell which comes with a new thermal pad. You can also buy thermal pads as well.

Leaving on the thermal pad and adding thermal paste is working just fine. BUT the real problem was a thick layer of dust was on the heatsink fins and was clogging my airflow which caused temps to rise.

 

Anyone know anything about Vostro 1520's having problems with integrated graphics?

 

IIRC Dell redesigned the cooling system so the answer is NO, not an issue. And I own one btw. Don't overclock it and you should be fine.