Inspirion 9400 Geforce Go 7900GS: Replacement?

I've got a 9400 with the 7900GS and most likely some overheating from bad storage has frizzled my geforce and caused green splotchs of lines to display when i boot up. I've gone through the motions and am pretty sure its hardware based. I've looked everywhere and I can't seem to find information about replacing it with a new one since my warranty is gone and I've gotten no help from dell because of ******* outsourcing.

Are these suckers grafted on to the motherboard? Am I looking at a full MB/GFX replacement or just the card?

Any suggestions on finding them for sale? I've checked everywhere and outside of a couple on ebay I can't find these or the GTX's for sale anywhere, **** laptop gfx cards in general have been hard to find. I'm in singapore at the moment and no one sells cards for laptops.

If anyone can answer any of my questions or give me some tips on communicating with dell about buying a replacement from them or anyone I'd really appriciate the help.

 

Well, first of all welcome to the forums.
Second of all, please don't try to bypass the language filter...

Well, if you are sure it is a hardware problem you might be a little lucky. The 9400 can have their GPUs replaced, but you really should purchase a replacement part from Dell (couple hundred USD). I'm fairly certain you would not need to replace the entire motherboard, however check through the Dell manuals (search 9400 service manual at www.dell.com) to confirm that.

However, I do know the 9400 GPU can be upgraded; which means that it can be replaced to. You will have to have a Dell rep transfer you to Dell parts for help...that's the department you are looking for.

BTW, you can't find laptop GPUs on the market because *most* laptops are not upgradeable. Your laptop is, but the upgrade would still require Dell parts and/or help.

 

Sepnir have you found a way to replace the GEForce 7900GS ? I have the exact same Inspiron 9400 with the exact same problem ; random color dots allover the screen even in Bios. Graphic card must have heated and now I need to replace it as well. I didnt found any 7900gs on the dell website site

If you still read this tell me what you did plz

thanks

 

I can confirm the card can be removed - I've just taken mine out to clean out the fan. I also have the same problem as above, it's fried and is showing "snow" on the screen ... plus I get the NMI: Parity Error BSOD a lot lately as well. I need to replace the card but it is hard to find replacements... I guess I will be calling Dell.

You can confirm problems but hitting F12 on startup and running the diagnostics.

 

The only video cards Dell is showing as replacements on their website are a 256 MB Mobility Radeon X1400 (a significant downgrade from the geforce) and a card with no name and no specs beyond "256 MB."

This is ridiculously annoying.

Also, Dell will charge you twice as much (at least) for their refurbished cards as Ebay sellers.

 

Guys,

Has anyone found a good place / website yet to purchase a Geforce Go 7900 GS graphics card yet? Mine has given up the ghost yesterday and needs replacing.
I will phone up Dell tomorrow and let you know if I am succesful or not.

 

As promised, I contacted Dell only to be told that they outsource the warranty to third parties after 3 months and that company could not help me.

I have contacted a couple of companies and the costings are between £120 - £180 to get it fixed.

My 1 year warranty ran out in June so I am well miffed at spending all that money on a laptop and having to fork out so much again.

Next time, an extended warranty methinks!

 

Replacing a go 7900 gs in an E1705 is really easy and I know you can buy spare parts from Dell...

 

Well you can buy spare parts but they will replace them with "compatible" parts. They cannot guarantee what you get. The replacement will be refurbished and contains a 30 day warranty.

BTW, I have torn my laptop down for cleaning far enough to see the GPU although I havn't actually removed as never had to yet. It looks easy enough. If you need more info there is a full service manual on the dell support site.

 

Hi guys,my 9400/1705 7900gs has died,dell spain just gave me a quote of,1.030 euro to fix this faulty card,my laptop is two years old never used for gaming just general use,it would be cheaper to fly to the US, enjoy your great country for however long it takes to fix,and not give dell spain the pleasure of taking 1200 hundred bucks of me.

 

dell spain want 1.030 euro to fix the same problem,please tel me who in the uk will fix it for 150 pounds,thanks.

 

petethedriver, you can buy a replacement card for your system on ebay. Dell will overcharge you on any sale made after warranty terminates.

Your system is compatible with the X1400, 7900GS, 7900GTX, Quadro FX2500M, and 7950GTX. Your laptop used the same graphics cards as the inspiron E1705, Precision M90, XPS1710 and inspiron 9400.

Search on ebay for say e1705 X1400 or something like that, you should turn something up soon.

You can replace the card yourself it iss not that hard, and here is a guide to help you:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100005

Please note the X1400 is the cheapest card available for your system.
I ranked the cards above from least to most powerful, which is the same order as price. X1400 is cheapest, 7950GTX is the most expensive

K-TRON

 

A 7950gtx can also upgraded for 7900gs.

 

I 4got to mention,its the best one.