ASUS Nvidia GPU replacement

Hi there,

I have an F3SV-B1 and recently have had vertical yellow lines, followed by blue/black dots and missing pixels followed by BSOD or restarts. I know that the 8600M GS is probably toast, and ASUS has already agreed to RMA this for me in Canada.

Two questions for Canadian ASUS service centre customers:

1) When ASUS replaces your GPU and mobo, do they have to wipe out and reinstall the OS? I cannot access my data to backup, and I don't see why they should need to do anything on the computer other than exchange the mobo.

2) Can you drop off your laptop personally and have it shipped back to your home address? This will save a lot of time for me. If so, what is the address of the service depot in the Toronto area (specifically Markham?)

Thanks for your help!

SNB

 

1. Purchase a 2.5" SATA external enclosure and borrow a friend's computer to backup your data. It should be a given that any data you leave on your hard drive will be wiped clean since it's always the easiest to perform a clean install to rid any software related issues on your notebook. Even if the issues isn't software related, it is often the first thing that a technician will usually do. If you get your notebook back without any data erased, then consider yourself VERY lucky.

2. Yes, many Canadian members on the forum have dropped their notebook personally at the Markham Asus service center. Their address is

802 COCHRANE DR, UNIT 2, MARKHAM, ONTARIO, CANANDA L3R 8C9 (it would still be better if you called them to confirm. 1-888-678-3688 (07:30-18:00 Mon.~Fri.)

You will need to talk to them about getting it shipped back to you.

 

I have had my GPU on my C90s died too. Stripped lines all over and srambled caracters in DOS mode and during POST. This is due to the memory modules from the GPU card being corrupted ( unrepairable by practicall means ) . I too have setup an RMA, and i hope they will exchange whatever they need to exchange to make the laptop functioning again without me having to pay a nickle, after all its still under warranty and it was due to GPU sudden failure. But it is set on the RMA policy that they can pick your laptop in your home and have it delivered to you at the same address, you just have to tell them that, at least here in portugal.

 

David and freelance,

Thanks for the replies. I called ASUS again and although they are willing to do what I propose, they will be closed for the Monday during the upcoming long weekend. I will have to ship it out from Vancouver now.

Has anyone had to get their GPU/mobo replaced? If so, did they reinstall the OS? The tech support was rather vague on this, they said that they will do it if they have to, but that they can put in a note in my RMA to avoid reinstalling if possible. The reason they gave is that Vista may not activate properly on detecting a 'new' mobo. What component of the new setup will Vista not like? The CPU is directly transferable, so it will be identical. The new GPU/mobo will be the same type, so is there a unique identifier to every mobo? I don't fully understand Vista's activation shenanigans, so if someone can explain how replacing a mobo for the same type will cause activation problems, I would be indebted.

In the mean time, I will get a USB enclosure and access the drive from another computer. I will leave the data untouched so that if they do not need to reinstall Vista, I will be good to go directly.

Thanks.

SNB

 

Just letting you guys know from first hand experience, if they do not have your mobo's there they will have to order it in, like they did for me. Let's just say these guys aren't the quickest...it took them 3 weeks to get the part and to ship it back to me, imagine university without a laptop for 3 weeks. As for wiping the hard drive, I just removed mine before sending it in.

 

Around these parts, either removing the hard drive on your own or having the techs do it while handing it in, is accepted practice unless the fault is HDD-related.
2 years ago, when I warrantied my F3Jc, the contents on my hard drive were left intact.

 

Thanks for the replies and for the idea of removing the HDD before sending it in. I am confident that the fault is NOT related to the HDD so I will call ASUS again to confirm if I can keep my HDD.

That would prevent the entire issue!

SNB