XPS 15 9550 Physically Check GPU

When I try to install nVidia drivers on Windows 10, the nVidia GPU is not detected. Dell changed the motherboard twice on this system, and I suspect they installed a motherboard without the 960m GPU. So, how can I verify whether the GPU is physically inside? My warranty expired a year ago.

 

They changed it how long ago and you're just now noticing?
If the CPU in the system is an i5 or an i7 then you have the GPU and it's probably a driver issue.
If the CPU is an i3 then you don't have a 960m.

 

The system had a working 960m GPU initially. They changed the motherboard a year ago. I haven't noticed before because I've been using the Intel GPU alone on Linux. Now I installed Windows 10.

 

Nothing shows up in device manager after installing the drivers? Which CPU do you have?

 

6700HQ
The driver installation does not go through because it can't find a GPU. I'm going to be changing the battery and cleaning the cooling system anyway, so I was wondering what to look for inside to check wthether the nVidia GPU is there.

Maybe the GPU has failed physically or disconnected, who knows.

 

The GPU is soldered to the motherboard. Trust me it's physically there.
It's either something odd with the drivers or a bad GPU.

 

I'm also kind of curious what it looks like

I guess xps 15 motherboards with i7 and without nVidia GPU don't exist, right?

 

Right, they do not exist. This is the same with the i5.

This is not a great picture but the GPU is on the right:

 

nVidia GPUs failures on the 9550 are very uncommon.
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That nVidia GPU is not removable. Well, a professional with an "industrial" heatgun could remove it but then the heatsink would not sit properly; that is very unlikely.

A few of the very lowest-end 9550s did not have the nVidia GPU but that is a rare configuration. I've only a handful on the Dell outlet. As noted by @custom90gt I never saw an i7 without the nVidia GPU.

However, nVidia drivers are always a bit wonky on any system. I might use DDU to FULLY uninstall the nVidia drivers then reinstall recent drivers. . .

 

Right.
i3 versions did NOT come with the 960m.
i5 and i7 versions only come with the 960m, you cannot get them without it.

 

Do I need to remove the heatpipe to see the GPU? If I do, would I need to reapply the thermal paste? I sure hope it's a driver problem.

 

You do need to remove the heatpipe to see the GPU and you should clean and reapply thermal paste if you do so. Doing so will tell you absolutely nothing however...

 

I entered diagnostics during boot and checked the vendor ids--no nVidia connected to PCIe.

 

Looks like you've got a bad GPU. You could always try a bios update to see if somehow that's corrupt but you may be out of luck.

 

So the GPU started to show up in device manager, after I re-pasted it.

Here's Dell's paste job

 

it looked like someone cummed on the cpu and gpu

 

About right for Dell, I assume something was being shorted if it has come back now, let's hope it stays!

 

electrically conductive cum, ok