m5550 - I'm pretty sure my GPU died

All of a sudden - not even in a game - my screen went black. The computer didn't shut down, just a black screen. Turn it off and on again and it starts to load Windows, but the logo looks fuzzy and right before it loads the login screen, the screen goes black again. I boot into safe mode, and I can get into XP, but screen is messed up. Currently, there's red vertical lines made up of small rectangles going across my screen. Took apart my laptop and I could see some burn marks on the video card. I have had overheating issues in the past. I would be playing a game with the laptop on my lap, and it would overheat and shut off. This happened a handful of times. I do use a cooling pad most of the time now, but not all the time.

I just sent an email to the guys at mxm-upgrade.com because I've seen their site referenced many times while browsing here. I'm assuming they're a good company? I told them my case, and I believe I'll be looking at a 8600GS. I'm now awaiting their reply.

Any advice for me? It seems like the m5550 has had alot of problems which aren't unique to me.

 

Busted......good luck getting that fixed.

 

Welcome to the club
My 7950gtx fried like 2 weeks ago without any reason and no overheating issues (was around 65-70c while gaming at max). So at the end its all a matter of luck imo.

Atm im running in save mode using 16bit which for some odd reason removes the artifacts from the screen, so at least i can watch videos and browse the forums while waiting for my new laptop.

Good luck

 

That's why you buy a 3 year warranty. One of my m5550's video cards went out about 6 weeks ago. Sent it to the AW repair center and had it back with a new card in less than a week.

 

Alot of companys dont tell you to clean the fans which is the problem of most gpu burn outs.

 

In addition the M5550 had cooling problems so that might have "helped" your GPU die. I hate to say it but you're pretty much out of luck as the 7600go is a pretty old car and you'd be hard pressed to find it. Best bet would probably be ebay or buying a used one from a guy who has a broken laptop and is parting it out.

 

But the 8600GS is compatable with the m5550 right?

 

According to a thread on AW's Customer Support forum it will not work.

 

A forum member at Notebookforums.com named "AlienRod" got it to work on his m5550. I suggest you PM him for details.

 

Got the card today. Installed it fine. Boots into Windows fine.

Now I just need to figure out which driver is going to work with it.