M17x gone bang!

I have partially posted this problem before but would be grateful for some advice. I was playing F1 2010 on my machine. The fan was in full swing and it was getting hot. Suddenly it died leaving the lights on and the fan running. The only way I could stop it was top remove mains lead and battery and that is all it will now do. When trying to restart it will not boot and runs as it shut down...lights on and fan running but nothing else. I am only moderately savvy with these things. I have taken out the hard drive and it starts up exactly the same. I suspect I have fried the GPU but would this result in my symptoms?? If I have how easy is it to change the GPU. I have reviewed dismantling a M17x and it seems straightforward until you remove the keyboard with all sorts of warnings about fragility.

Before I return it to a repair shop any advice as to whether this is relatively easy would be welcome. ( and does anyone agree that the GPU looks like the most likley culprit??)

Thanks

PS Judging from the enormous number of posts I assume I am not alone in having problems with what looks like a really exciting piece of kit only to find it a great disappointment!

 

Hi there Bickley,

So sorry to hear about the above happening to you.
So there are still signs of life ey............ I would try pulling out the AC power adapter and battery. Then hold down the alien power head button for about 1 min. Put back everything and try again. Try this a couple of times if you like just to see if it boots up properly again.

Also have you done any OC at all in the bios or anything? If so try changing that back to default settings as well.

Cheers.

 

Which model? Sounds like GPU died.

 

Thanks Reborn2003. I have tried this 'fix' but sadly it has no effect. I have not made any adjustments to the BIOS. It is almost as if something has shorted so the 'dying' configuration is fixed in the machine. Interestingly my Alienware FX lights configuration is maintained and comes on when switching on. As you say it is still alive! As suggested it points to the GPU which I could change but am a bit daunted by the prospect!

 

wich cards do you own? CF? SLI?

 

Same thing happened with my R1.
Open it up and check (or smell LOL) if you fried your graphic cards.

And which model is this?

 

It is an R3 with a single ATI Radeon HD5870.

 

Sounds like a dead 5870 to me. Easiest thing and cheapest thing for you to do is RMA your laptop. It has warranty left I assume?