Need help! M17xR4, got motherboard replaced but still dead

Hello experts of NBR!
I have a bit of a conundrum. I will explain it in detail.
About 3 weeks ago, while playing csgo one night, the laptop shut itself down suddenly. I assumed overheat shutdown. But when i inspected, the power cord ( the part having led ring and plugs into the laptop) had a small melted hole in it.
I tried turning it on, it would even boot or show signs of life, on battery or AC.
One peculiar thing was happening, whenever i plugged in the power cord, the led on it would suddenly go off, and on unplugging it it would turn back on(?short)
I called dell tech support and they diagnosed failed motherboard.
About 3 weeks land R15000(approx 233usd) later, the motherboard came.
The technician installed it(very sloppy and rough, it was evident that he hadnt handled much alienwares)

Now when trying to boot after everything installed, still the power cord led went out.
Upon removing the 680m and trying to boot(battery and ac), got 8 beeps=lcd failure(i have 120hz monitor, i know it wont boot)
tried booting with an external display connected via hdmi, without 680m, still 8 beeps(battery and ac)
but on installing the 680m, getting the same issue of no power(battery or ac)

The technician contacted his head office and they diagnosed lcd and 680m failure both.
they quoted lcd for R8000(approx 125usd)
no quote yet for 680m, parts not available

I am not sure what to do now, its a 5 year old laptop, it it worth it?

I am thinking of sourcing the parts my self and getting a 980m that i have been postponing for so long.

Can any one tell me the part number or a link for parts for my laptop? Thanks
Any suggestions will much appreciated, thanks in advance.

TL;DR- laptop died>diagnosed as MB failure>replaced>still dead>no post with 680m(?short) and 8 beeps without 680m>dell recommended lcd and gfx card replacement

 

it was not the motherboard to begin with... it was always the gpu... if it was lcd, laptop would boot regardles it the gpu was faulty or not. and i put my hand in the fire if the motherboard is not perfectly fine...

they should return you the motherboard and money you paid for it and you can get a 680M or better here on the forum.

honestly a lot of dell techs (not all tho) are clueless monkeys and go replacing things without ever properly diagnosing...
I would love to get my hand on a couple of "broken" M18x R2 boards that techs "properly" diagnosed...

Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

 

Hi, I had exactly the same thing happen to my X8 after about a year of use. No visible damage though. I had spare PSU's so that was removed from the problem.

Eventually returned it under warranty to Eurocom. Although the guy was not very communicative on what happened they replaced BOTH GPU's and charged me for replacement fans as smoking had made them 'sticky'. I got the 'old' fans and a simple clean in alcohol was all they needed but not important to the issue.

Anyhoo, it seems a faulty GPU was pulling the machine to a dead short. Like you this is a 120hz machine with no access to the iGPU.

Dell will say panel as well as GPU since the eight beeps does not discriminate between the two components.

As for getting a 9xx card, it does require some technical effort and prerequisite OS requirements but if you're up for it it is a good way to extend the life of the machine.

personally I love my 680m. I OC/OV the hell out of it and it still runs AAA games at decent settings .

No help in sourcing except to say research Eurocom to see what parts/mods they have and info. More expensive than ebay sourcing but they do have some 'hand holding' that comes with a purchase.

Good luck.

 

@maxslo @MickyD1234
thanks a lot for replying
i will talk to dell again for taking back the motherboard

even i am pretty sure its a dead 680m

any ideas about the 8 beeps(lcd failure)?
the issue is, its and 120hz display, it wont boot without 680m, hence the confusion.

Do you think 980m is worth it or should i stick to 680m?
the issue is, the screws holding it to heatsink are worn out, no chance of uncsrewing it
can i get a 980m with a heatsink that will fit my laptop?
any issues to watchout for 980m install?

anyone you recommend or any online store links? any sellers here?
thanks again

PS: 680m was a beast, served well for 5 years, no complaints, overclocked like a beast easily +200 core and +500 memory. i would say well worth it!

 

Depends on how much you game... it is over 600€ tho, while the 680M runs at 200-250 range.
I have a spare 680M 4GB if you want to give it a try, where are you located?

 

The eight beeps is simply that there is no bootable display answering POST. Could be anything in the chain of components (inc the MB).

As you say, without a NV GPU the machine has no access to the intel GPU.

in my experience of card failures (I did own a 580m and a 675m ) the eight beeps always pointed to a card issue. Sometimes all it needed was a re-seat.

The best available heatsink is the R4 680m one you have. Dell used to sell them quite cheaply. I got one from them at around $50.00 delivered. Best thing was that it had all the pads and paste applied and simply needed assembling. A real no brainer!
personally I would upgrade to a 980m if I hadn't got another machine. There is very little downside as it simply requires win10 installed in GPT mode and a UEFI bios setting (IIRC).
Pain is the driver modding every time a driver is updated and MS try hard to stop you doing this.

Offer just posted, over to you...

 

For best results yeah, but it technically can work in windows 7 and 8 and in other configurations, I opted to not support them because they were not reliable as the HD intel graphics could eve prevent you from using a profile you create to load the 980M etc.. stupid stuff.

 

Thanks man, I have seen some of them but it seemed a lot of trial and error messing like you say.
Are you still selling GPU's/kits?

 

spare 680m ? freebie timeee just kidding...like your help man

 

Got the motherboard replaced, it was a refurbished unit.
I forgot to test the short circuit issue with my original motherboard and my 680m(with and without). Still not working with the new motherboard.
Turns out dell wont return your original motherboard, but is more than happy to suggest more replacements like the gpu and display
One the part has been returned to the warehouse, its good as gone. All they can do is give a 3 month warranty on the replacement motherboard.

 

for real? i'd pressure them. they ****ed up with their diagnosis in the first place. motherboard back or replace the gpu for free i say!

Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

 

well, they said according to my complaint of 'system not turning on/not receiving power', they have a protocol for stat diagnosis of motherboard failure, and the only option is to replace it. Because according to them, they can't test for any other part failure because motherboard is the component which receives power first and distributes it (which is what i was told by their Service Escalation manager). And any parts once replaced, you cant get those original parts again, they can only be replaced with a 3 month warranty(if you can prove it is a replacement part failure). They are sent to warehouse for diagnosis and repair and to be sold as refurbished parts.

 

yeah its that exact logic that ****s up the system... i mean how hard is it to plug in a psu to the motherboard once its bare to determine if it was really the mobo shorting or something attached to it... i mean its not like the mobo is actually the most expensive and hard to find part... no wonder why...

Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

 

BUMP

OK, it was finally the gpu(680m) causing motherboard short-circuit.
And i have finally got myself a gtx 1060.

Now the issue is, as the my 680m had died, it was not a planned upgrade, rather a necessity to get the laptop working. I was unable to change the settings in bios compatible for 1060.
Now it's giving me 8 beep lcd failure error. (which i am pretty sure of it isn't), which is the same error i get if i start it without the dedicated gpu and the intel gpu can't find a display as it won't be able to run and isn't connected to the 120 hz 3d display.

Stuck in a catch 22 situation right now. Can't access bios due to new gpu. Can't use new gpu due to incompatible bios settings.

Please help, i dont know what else to do. Is there any other way to access bios? If any one can lend me a spare or their gpu it will be much appreciated please help. I don't have a spare compatible gpu lying around.
Heck I'll even do free cleaning and a repaste for you (arctic mx4)
Also, not sure if lcd replacement will help. Dell quoted ₹8000(~233usd).

 

I see the conundrum and as you say a spare NV card (680m or lower) will get you into the bios. I believe you need to change the bios into UEFI compatibility mode?

Initially I thought maybe a bios drain back to default might help but as the MB is new it probably is already at default.
Sorry not much help...

 

Hello,

Even if you reset BIOS settings, default settings won't help you because those settings weren't good to run a 1060 GPU. You have no other issue than finding a NVidia GPU allowing you to boot, access BIOS and change settings so you can use the 1060. You need to get an old MXM NVidia GPU, or maybe someone can lend you one just to make your settings. Using unlocked BIOS would also be useful, since it allows to access advanced settings for graphics.

 

Yeah looking for a spare gpu. Found an old quadro k1000m(notebookcheck says its similar to gt630). Hopefully it will work. Is unlocked bios necessary? Should i install the a11 unlocked or the a12 unlocked?

 

the newer the better

 

Hello,

As far as I know there is no A12 unlocked, only A11.

 

Shouldn't need an unlocked bios for a 120hz model. Just normal access to the UEFI compatibility options IIRC

 

Ok, looks like I'll have to install the latest bios, as i dont know what bios the replacement motherboard has.