8 beeps 'o death; tell me what you think of my solution

Hi all,

I got the dreaded 8 beeps last week in the midst of gaming, and being six months out of warranty, all tech support would say was: try to replace the mobo and lcd.

After doing some research though, and given that my screen still flickers white, I doubt the problem is the LCD. So, what I'm going to try is to replace the GPU, and attempt to plug-in a new screen into the 60 hz port on the mobo instead of the 120 hz port.

Current Specs (relevant ones anyways)
m17x R4
GPU: 675m
Screen: GN36T 17.3" Full-HD 1920 x 1080 120hz (3D)

What I'm going to try:
GPU: 7970m
Screen: Part number unknown 17.3" Full-HD 1920 x 1080 60hz (non-3D)

First off, what does anyone know about this potential fix? Second, if it might work, can anyone who has a non-3D m17x R4 send me their screen's part number? It's easy to find at dell.com/support if you enter your service tag, then click on system config then components and find the listing that looks like:

Liquid Crystal Display, 17.3, Full High Definition, White Light Emitted Diode, True Life, 3D, Secondary

except yours hopefully won't say "3D."

Note: I already tried resetting the BIOS with CMOS battery and of course I checked all the connections. If you have any other troubleshooting suggestions though, please let me know.

I'll post as to how this turns out, and keep you updated.

Thanks!
Bort

 

K6PJ1 1 Liquid Crystal Display, 17.3FHD, White Light Emitted Diode, Low Voltage Differential Signaling, AG, Z, Legend

 

The beeps suggest the screen is the culprit, but you can just as easily find out if it's the GPU or not by hooking up an external monitor.

I suggest you do this before proceeding with anything.

 

Sorry, should have included that in the things I've done so far. I'm not sure as to the exact reason, but it won't boot to an external monitor either. Immediately that made me think that the old GPU was for sure the problem, but then it occurred to me that because it won't past POST, maybe that's the issue? I'm not sure, but either way, it's getting a new GPU. The screen replacement is more about making the screen compatible with the new GPU, and also about trying the different port on the mobo.

 

If all of those things are failing, it could very well be the motherboard that is the problem. I suggest extending your warranty and letting Alienware handle it. You may even get a new Alienware 17 if they can't resolve the issue. A similar thing happened to me with the AW 17 not too long ago.

 

I wish I could, but they already know it's an issue with my computer and won't extend the warranty until the problem is fixed.

 

I had similair problems, and it was the motherboard. I found a new m17x R3 motherboard on ebay for around 350 USD and replaced it myself. Works perfect now, it was the GPU slot on the motherboard that failed

 

If you can see the POST screen and can't see image on an external monitor, the LCD is probably not the issue, or not the only issue at least, I would recommend disabling the graphics card with [Fn]+[F7] and boot with the integrated graphics card only, that'll help you figure things outa bit. I do have to say, it does sound like a faulty motherboard, as mentioned before in this thread.