Help to identify component on MXM video card

The other night while gaming, my Sager/Clevo 5793 suddenly shut off and made a strange smell. The AC adapter started squeaking on/off unless I unplug it.

I unplugged everything, and after some trial and error, the laptop starts up with the video card removed (8800 GTX). I think I see some burn marks around a certain component of the video card, but I'm not sure what it is. Any ideas? (circled in red)

Only text on it is:

R68NV
0743W

 

It sounds like you're going to have to just replace the entire card. It's pretty much impossible to fix a GPU that has burned out. You could maybe try "baking" it, but it most likely won't work IMO.

 

generally, if you let the smoke out of a component........

I suspect that component is a Delta power distro chip doing dc/dc voltage conversion. Very commonly used in Nvidia cards.

If you have access to an SMD soldering station and very steady hands, you might be able to unsolder the burned chip and replace it.

Additionally, do some research on the Delta Semi web site to see if there is a pin/package compatible component with a higher power rating.

Take this on as science project, the chance of success for an amateur/enthusiast is pretty small.

 

Thanks for the replies - it appears that this "chip" only has two contacts - why do you say that this makes a difficult solder?

I'll do some research in the meantime, thanks for some ideas. Please post any additional info if you have it!

 

This appears to be a power inductor in an SMD package (which seems to be a DC to DC filter like you say), see:

http://www.cooperet.com/library/products/PM-4136 HCP0703 Series.pdf

http://www.delta.com.tw/product/cp/inductor/smt/download/pdf/MPL73.pdf

Now to figure out if this is the culprit.

 

Looks like you had the NVIDIA curse on your GPU...doesnt seem that serious, but good luck!

 

Question is, what caused the problem to start with? That might not be the only component that is busted.

 

Well, this happened after 3-4 hours of gaming, so of course the video card was hot and under stress. I think this is the component that went bad (reading up on this, inductors do emit smoke when failing). This explains the smell and the error... but Greg, yes, its hard to say if anything else is busted... I'm willing to replace this and see though. The laptop does turn on without the video card, so it's safe to say for now that the card is the culprit, would you agree?

I found a suitable replacement part for this power inductor: HCP0703-R68

but no place wants to sell it in quanities under 1,000. Ha ha.

Any of you guys know local places that sell these in quantities of 5 or less?

 

http://www.chiplook.com/stock/HCP0703-R68-R.html ????

 

It is worth a shot...

Try Digikey, see if you can find a power inductor with the same specifications or better (obviously make sure you are getting the right footprint too).

Crap, Digikey is out of stock. You might be able to find an alternate part ( this one might work) that is close to the same size. Try to match the DCR (less is probably okay), inductance (more is probably okay), and current ratings though (more is definitely okay). If the dimensions are a few 0.1mm's off...fine, so long as it is not taller than 3mm.

Without actually looking at the circuit, that inductor is probably being used in a DC-DC converter. I'm pretty surprised it would just burn out...are there ANY other components that seem to be damaged? Be careful doing this (if you choose to do it at all) but do any of the components on the GPU get unusually hot when the computer is turn on? Make sure you do not have the battery in the computer if you try this, since you can just yank the power cord out if things are getting hot. DON'T do this for more than a few seconds. I make no guarantees, and shall not be held responsible, for these comments.

 

You can probably request a sample. I had to do resolder a part that burnt out once (it had black marks and smelled like burning plastic, so pretty easy to identify the culprit lol) for an engineering project in undergrad...

 

That's right. In fact if you see a burned component, it is very likely that some other components may be burned as well (which may not be visually identifiable).


--

 

Be carefull when you try to fix it.

The damaged video card could cause damage to the motherboard, then you would really have a problem.

It might be a good idea to do what someone already advised, buy a new video card.

 

moelda and greg ross, thank you both for the links to possible orders. I will look into both of them. Funny how my google searches at 4 AM didn't come up with anything that good... I hope the chiplook contact gets back to me soon. Also, that digikey link looks pretty good (the values look to be in the ballpark like you say), so I may go ahead and have it shipped out also. Dimensions look fine.

sgogeta4, your idea to request a sample is brilliant. I will try this right away as well.

Greg, to get back to what you said about components getting hot - well, the AC adaptor doesn't even send continuous power to the laptop when it is plugged in. I'm guessing that this damaged inductor creates an short in which the juice "really flows" and drains the adapter over and over. Replacing it should regulate the power flow once again.

Now that I think of it, I did get a kind of burning plastic smell when the component died, which makes me think that the overheat melted the plastic housing around the inductor (it does look a bit bumpy). I hear you all when saying that more damage mey have been done to the board. I did some good reading, and this appears to be a somewhat common failure on video cards. Replacing it usually does the trick.

Could replacing this part really cause more harm that what has already happened when the part failed?

 

Just ordered a couple from Mouser.com

http://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail...iMZZMsg%2by3WlYCkUwDp9%2byHdxbxe%2bd3yvUAI/w=

I'll report back if this works.

 

let us know the outcome

 

Blaydes99 I had this exact same problem in terms of my 5793 shutting off and the adapter beeping when connected and the burning smell that is prominently in the heatsink. I took out my drive but haven't take the whole thing apart or took a look at the video card. But if it happened to you maybe its the same situation with me!

Please reply when you have any update and I will do the same.

 

Smood, this is a $2 component that converts the DC power for the GPU, and it gets really hot. Replacing the video card fixed my machine 100%, so I'm 99% sure that you have the same problem since you have the exact same symptoms.

Check out the mouser link, for less than $10 and maybe 3 days shipping time, you can solder the new component on there (only two solder points, its a very easy solder).

Did you already take out the video card to see if the AC adapter now acts normally when it's plugged into the laptop?