Asus G50V now G50VT video issue

This will be a long one so I will put a TLDR at the bottom to sum up.

About me:
A+ Apple, Dell, IBM Certified tech with nearly 30 years experience.

About the laptop:
Asus G50v Republic of Gamers laptop. Purchased because of the upgradeability of the video card, HDD, RAM, and Processor. (Please if you are not familiar with this model, check it out before replying. I found this forum because of the particular issue I am having and 2/3 of the replies were unaware that this laptop is built as an upgradeable gaming laptop).

So whats going on:
I purchased a brand new Asus G50V back in 2008. It lasted a good while and one day * about 1 month past the warranty date it died. No lights no boot nothing. I tested the power supply with a multimeter and it was spot on.

I put it in a box and kind of forgot about it. My current laptop (which I am writing you on) is a 2008ish Apple Macbook Pro, and it is dying a slow death.

I dug up the old Asus and plugged it in. It actually turned on and would almost boot. No "BOOM" Asus Republic of Gamers on the screen, but the HDD/Numlock/Caplock flashed and the DVD Drive did a series of quick grunts. I called Asus and they were pretty helpful and told me it was most likely the Mobo. I asked them which mobo should I get because they were not in stock with them they suggested ebay and let me know any G50 motherboard would work.

So I ordered a G50vt motherboard because it would be able to be upgraded with up to a GTX260M video card.

I installed it just fine but it had a strange error:

TLDR:
I booted it up and the BOOM Republic of Gamers exploded on the screen and went to a flashing cursor. I had not installed a Hard Drive at that point. I turned it off and installed the HD and turned it back on. It did the BOOM and then i caught it before the bios started so I could configure the BIOS. It came up with the AMI Bios screen, got halfway down the page with the status updates and it said something like A(some number) not found. It then turned off.

When I tried to turn it back on nothing happened. I unplugged it and when I plug it back in the Quickstart is lit (lightning bolt) and nothing else. When I push the power button it flashes very quickly and will not boot.

I tried taking out all of the components in turn to isolate it. I finally took out the video card and it now boots (BOOM and all), but there is no video.

My question is I know G50v is supposed to be able to run all the way up to a GTX260M. Is there a reason that a G50VT cannot run a 9800M? If its forward compatible why is it not backwards compatible?

Also why did it work 2x (as far as booting) but now no longer functions with the video card?

Thanks for reading all of that. I was trying to be as descriptive as possible so you have a point of reference for help.

 

Another person with the "boom" reference. Coincidence?

I would say it is the GPU, did you apply thermal pads and new thermal compound correctly to the GPU before attempting to fire it up?

 

Haha its not me! Anyway no, I did not but it was literally on for 2 seconds. It still had the thermal pads & the compound from before so it was not naked at all. I hope its the GPU I need to convince the wife its worth skipping a new blender for.

Which GPU should I get? Can I get by with the G50 video card or should I get a G50VT card? The holes seem to be showing a G50vt configuration but the slot of course is the same.

Thanks, Ill let you know when I get a new gpu to try.

 

When you say the thermal compound from before? did you not apply fresh compound to the DIE before firing it up? If not you could easily have fried it.

Always apply fresh thermal compound.

 

I agree, I was only just testing the connections. I had torn this laptop apart to parade rest. So the initial fire up was to just verify I had all of the little ribbon connections and doo dads hooked up. If it fried in 5 seconds total time then its my bad for sure.

I have already ordered some arctic silver for when the new one arrives.

 

There is no telling really but a DIE without any contact to a heatsink can fry with ease. Unlucky at most however but if it was working and now is not it does not sound good.

That card should be fine however and I believe the 260M GTX works in it too.

 

I am looking for the 260 GTX but I will need a new heat sink because there are 2 screws in different locations near the DIE on a 260 vs a 9400. I will see if I can find a cheap 260, right now the cheapest I have found was nearly $300 bucks.

Thanks for all the help.

 

What's with you guys capitalizing DIE?





Are you still using the same RAM? Please tell me you tried using one stick at a time to rule out a bad stick.

Beyond that, if it's a new mobo and a new GPU, what is left? Processor? Battery? AC adapter? Optical drive?

The G50 will POST but will refuse to boot without an optical drive, you can see if removing at least gets you that far. You said you already tested the AC adapter. Have you tried it without battery?

C'mon, show us your A+ skills and list your troubleshooting checklist for reals.

 

DIE for emphasis. GIGO checklist already followed.

Bracketed it down to the video card. It is definitely the problem.

It wont power on with the card in.
It will with the card out (yet no video) ergo --> video card

Only thing is there is a massive thread here how a gtx260m from a G60 will work in a G50. Then, about 15 pages in; 2-3 new participants start discussing how it will never work in a g50, everyone ignores them and then it goes back to how to work on the BIOS and fix driver issues. At this point it might be better if I just went with the 9800m GS that came with a G50VT and call it a day. I dont care about frame rates that much to deal with the hassle of a gtx260m that seems to be the norm.

 

You will lose fan control. Just make sure the card is from a G51.

That thing is old man, old. I wouldn't spend much on it unless you really have to.

Here's the thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/446885-asus-g50-260m-swap-procedure.html

 

Yea I would like to find a 9800m GS to throw in it for less than $100 and I will call it a day.
Trick is to find an Asus one (they are MXM) from what I have read.

by the way I only used it originally about 100 hours total. It looks like it just came out of the box so I would like to fix it up, soup up the processor, ram and put an SSD in it, then drive it into the ground.

I like fixing up old things, like cars, so this is a fun project for me.

 

See the G50 section in the sticky, there is everything you need to know there. There is no shortage of stuff you can do to it, especially fun is the OLED software.

 

Wow that is quite a comprehensive list you made there. I dug through it last night and found some great info. Thanks for sharing I will use this in my struggle from this point.

I ordered a new heatsink (one with the offset 4th hole ) last night from ebay now I just need the GPU. Also ordered some new thermal pad material and of course some arctic silver to button this all up.

 

Where can I get a new video card for the g50VT? I checked ebay but the one card they have there is listed as a g50v part number and writing to the seller he said it came from a G50vt X1 or a g51v-X2. Which from what I have read are different cards. Plus the photo looks like th g50vt card?! I would prefer to purchase my part from a dealer or something that has some knowledge of the laptop.

 

You are really left with used parts, so ebay, craiglist, maybe the marketplace here if you get lucky, or some other forum for-sale section. I don't see any on ebay right now (but I didn't do an extensive search).

 

Found a cheap one on ebay. Payed a few bucks more than I wanted but it came with a 30 day warranty. Ill post my results when its all back to normal.

 

Hey everyone. Here is an update: I am still stuck

Where I stand now is I purchased a new G50VT Video card and installed it. I used arctic silver on every connection. Got a new G50vt heat sink and a set of screws. I installed the new card and heat sink. Placed new thermal pads on everything that needed it and arctic silver on the surface of the video die/north bridge and cpu. The only thing NOT a G50VT part in this now is the Monitor, (which I hear is identical), RAM which is 667Mhz not 800Mhz and the processor which is a 2.53Ghz vs a 2.8Ghz processor.

Here is what happens now:
It boots and I hear the boom. It starts trying to read the drives and CD. There is no explosion graphic on the screen nor is there any video. When I ran this without the card in it booted with a black screen and when it got to the point of the boot sequence where it would show the ROG logo it went white. Now with the g50 VT card in it boots but only stays black.

So is it the RAM preventing the video from showing up somehow? The monitor cables are all plugged in correctly and it was flawless before I started any of this so I can safely rule that part out.

Any tips or ideas would be appreciated.

 

** SOLVED**

I am installing Windows 7 Right now! For poops and giggles I hooked up one of my external monitors and it booted right up and showed the video. That meant I had not hooked one of the 2 monitor connectors right on the mobo. I took off the plastic covers and Lo & Behold there was 1 connector not connected.

IT WORKS! Huzzah!

ok now to get loading stuffs!

Thanks everyone.