L702X GPU fault

Hi

I think i`ve narrowed down the problem with my l702x blank screens to a dodgy gpu. I`m getting random blank screens, screen freezes (in bios) , beeping at startup (6 beeps) and occasional corrupt screen it red or blue garbage.
It doesnt seem to be temperature related as it can be at boot up or after a few hours.

I`m trying to get Dell to fix it under warranty but although i`ve contacted support 3 times and they arnt giving me a repair date and I need the laptop for my business. I have next day support which appears to be useless.

Does anyone know if there is something I could try, I`m fairly confident when it comes to hardware and I suspect its a bad connection somewhere. Is it worth opening it up to see if the gpu isnt seated correctly? or is it soldered to the motherboard?

Thanks

Paul

 

If it is under warranty (which you have paid for) you should insist on Dell to fix it.

Unless I'm wrong the GPU chip is soldered directly into the motherboard so there is no much you can do to fix it in your own. What Dell would do to fix it is to replace the motherboard and send your old one for repair.

Did you confirm using an external screen that your GPU is indeed faulty? (I'm sure you did )

 

ok thanks.

Yes external screen cuts out, and i noticed if i`m playing music at the time the screen blanks the music continues, also I can enable/disable the wifi using the soft buttons. I also noticed in the bios when it freezes I can still do a ctrl+alt del and it reboots. So pretty sure its gpu related.

I had it working for 3 days last week and now in the last 3 days it has worked for about 2 hours. I`m now having to go out and spend the same amount of money on a new pc as I have work deadlines. I`m going to see if I can get a refund from Dell. This is the fourth problem i`ve had with this laptop, so pretty much had enough of it and the support is terrible.

 

If you use your laptop for business use, next time purchase a business oriented laptop and buy the On-Site warranty. Business laptops are better built than consumer grade, better quality parts, more durable, or at a minimum get On-Site repair so a technician comes to your home/office and replaces parts there and you don't mail it to Dell.

With Pro Support with Dell's business line, you can actually call up Dell and order parts yourself and just ship back the defective.

 

ok thanks for the advice. The XPS 17 is actually under the business section, so i`d of expected a £1300 laptop to be of decent quality, obviously not.
And yes business support wouldve been a better option, but when I bought it I wasnt using it for my work. I guess I shouldve upgraded the warranty.

 

In-home warranty work actually works out nicely too. The techs usually get the parts within 1-2 days of you talking with Dell, and they call and schedule a meeting immediately afterwards, so usually within 2 days you have a fix. Sooo much better than sending it to a black hole warranty warehouse where they might not even try to fix it, or they send you back a different system (this is not something particular to Dell, most PC manufacturers have crappy service like that).

 

Dell policy: Replacements may be refurbished. May you come other bad problems, please check with detail.

 

ok so now its been a week since I contacted Dell. On 4 separate occasions i`ve chatted with support they said they will send me an email in 30mins to tell me the situation with the dispatch for my repair. And yet I havent received anything from them.
I`ve also contacted customer services to complain , but again no response.

Any suggestions? Anyone have Michael Dell`s email?

 

[email protected] I believe. Not really his email, but it is high-level people dealing with that account. People seem to get good resolutions through there.

Did you happen to make sure they got your email correct? They have an issue sometimes with that...

 

Thanks , its worth a try.

Yes they sent me 4 chat logs and also a customer service automated response saying theyd received my email.

 

Then Dell is just being fail Dell...

 

Well it seems after 10 days without response Dell tells me today an engineer will be with me within 5 days. So much for next day support.

 

That's pretty messed up for Dell. 2 weeks is nuts, I'd be yelling after they finally come and fix it.