My NVIDIA 680M is gone from Device Manager

EDIT for those who haven't read all the replies:

I opened my laptop up and it turns out that I made a mistake and it's a 580M. Also, even taking it out, then re-securing it hasn't worked.



No doubt this has been asked and sorry if it already has, but no other thread I've checked has been able to help me so here it is. Warning: it's a bit long because I'm hoping more details might help with solving this problem.

TLDR: If you don't want background on my problem, skip to near the bottom

I got my m17x around Christmas in 2011 off of the official website and it performed fine for most of the duration. Occasionally some overheat issues but I just shut it down and resumed later.

Then last week, bam, I put my bag down for a bit and someone tripped and dropped their own bag on it. So I started up and noticed my resolution was all messed up, down to 800x600 I believe and I couldn't change it to anything else

I tried resetting it and it immediately crashed. I tried calling Dell support, but as I expected, after 3 hours of going through different people, I just got hung up on...yeah...

After a series of reboots and system restores, I finally got that issue fixed and tested on some games. Every game I played before such as XCOM, Starcraft 2, League of Legends, etc I could always run on the highest settings, no problem. Now, bam, load up and instant crash. After a bit, every 5 minutes my computer would just shut down even if I was just on microsoft word or google chrome

A friend of mine suggested a guy he knew who was great for electronic repair since Dell support shut me down so I figured, sure I'll go see.

I dropped my laptop off at the guy and he told me that he couldn't spot any hardware damage but there was a nasty virus on my laptop and he helped me sort it out. That definitely solved the crashing issue and I haven't had a crash since, but when I loaded up my games, I found horrible frame rate issues even when my settings were turned to low.

I went to device manager and found no problems except one thing: My Nvidia 680M was missing from Display adapters and all I found was a Mobile Intel R Graphics card. Not good, I hit Fn+F7, nothing even showed up, even switchable graphics didn't help.

And now that the background is taken care of, I ask what do I do now? I've tried a couple system restores and deleted drivers and reinstalled, but nothing. In fact, when re-installing Nvidia drivers, I get the message that there is no hardware compatable.

I'd say the only thing I haven't tried that I've checked on other threads for is manually open my laptop and check the card myself. Right now I don't have the means to do so and I also would need to look up a way to do so as well, but aside from that and possibly replacing the card, what should I do?

 

A) Your friends friend stole your GTX 680M - Visual inspection inside the notebook
B) You need to install drivers from Geforce.com to see the GTX 680M in device manager - Driver installation from Geforce.com
C) Your 680M have died - Call Dell

The notebook will still run because you are using the IGP ("Mobile Intel R Graphics card") if the 680M is gone/dead or missing driver. Poor frame rates in games means they are running on the IGP

 

A) Possible, but I'd have to open it up myself which I won't be able to for a few days due to time constraints
B) Already tried multiple times, every time it says that it can't detect any NVIDIA devices
C) Well...before I go through that process...again...any way to check whether or not the thing is dead when I do opt to open it up so that it won't be a total waste?

 

When I saw the thread title, I figured it was only using the igpu. But now that I hear that fn+f7 doesn't fix it, it sounds like a hardware issue. The card may need to be reseated, or could have sustained damage during the accident. There are a plethora of teardown videos on youtube that'll show you how to disassemble your notebook if you feel comfortable with trying yourself. If it were me, I'd just go through Dell and have them diagnose the issue and replace the card. I've never had an issue with tech support before, so perhaps you could try calling again and see what they can do to help. If you don't have accidental coverage, then this type of damage may not be covered... if it's an expensive repair, they'll usually offer to sell you extra warranty coverage or just charge you for labor. Good luck!

 

A) you been jacked - Get a precision screw set ASAP (Local store for maybe $5-10)
B) you been jacked and he swapped in a dead card - reference to option A
C) your laptop's pci-e slot is dead
D) your laptop needs to be reformatted and then see if it works - (Get spare hdd for the test-Reference to option A again )

Good luck with it man hope you didn't get ripped off.

 

It won't take that long to open up your machine to check if GPU is there, although I'd go ballistic if someone suggested to use someone's services and they stole my GPU. But is likely it could not be seated properly or just died.

 

I'm no tech expert but it sounds like it got knocked loose.

 

I got my m17x around Christmas in 2011
GTX 680M
Date of Announcement 04.06.2012

 

I was thinking to exact same maybe he made a mistake with his purchase date

 

all good advice above.

even though gpu should be screwed down tight it could well have broken the seal on the thermal paste.

firstly any idea of the name of the virus as it could still be there in the background. what antivirus and firewall do you have loaded.
a mini phillips screwdriver and i gues 6-8 screws and the base will come off.
just make sure the ram/hardrive and heatpipes are secure.

download nvidia inspector from my sig below and see if that recognizes your 680

alternatively youve been robbed of a 680. go kick some a$$

 

Also you can run Alien Autopsy or some other software that checks for an malfunctioning software

 

Its just 2 screws and the bottom slides off, then you can physically see if the GPU is there or not (its worth a lot of money). Might be a simple issue of the card being loose. Otherwise try FN+F7 which will switch between integrated and dedicated GPU. If that doesn't work, might need a driver install, are you sure you have the R4? It wasn't released until 2012 unless you have the R3? The 680m came mid 2012 ish. The R4 and R3 look the same.

 

Regarding those who are confused about my graphics card:

Well, now that I think about it, I'm sure I got it late 2011, but it looks like my version shouldn't have been available at the time now that I checked the release dates myself. Maybe I'm just mixed up regarding that, I don't know.

Anyway, I'm going to attempt to open up my laptop and check myself hopefully either tonight or tomorrow. If not, it might be a weekend.

 

It takes like 2 minutes to check. You don`t even need to remove the heatsink since you can easily see if a GPU is there or not by just looking at the board

 

You likely "had" a 580m, not 680.................that being said though OPEN THE DAMN THING UP, it takes literally less than a minute. Idk how deep the screw holes are on the m17 but I could open my m15 up with a pocket knife so I'd start looking for something asap.

 

Yup, I was mistaken, it's not a 680M but a 580M, my mistake (At least I think it's a 580M this time)

In any case, I opened it earlier today, nothing was wrong with damn card. I unscrewed it, removed it, re-placed it, and then closed it back up

Nothing changed. Won't show in device manager, drivers can't be downloaded because they can't detect it, etc.

I'll take any other suggestions. However, if I can't get this fixed, I'll probably have to call Dell support...again...hopefully if that's the case they won't hang up after 3 hours

 

if you unscrewed the gpu and replaced it i hope you cleaned it first and put new thermal paste on.

if you cant load the nvidia drivers then follow the manual walkthrough in safe mode in link in signature below.

 

Dell and AW support can be a huge pain in the , I've had extensive dealings with both and you either find yourself with a technician at your door the next day......or the more common scenario of arguing on the phone with somebody that can barely speak english. My suggestion for you is when you call support ask for a manager, if they give you some spiel about not being able to transfer you ask for their full name and ID number..........that usually did the trick for me.

Persistence is the key when dealing with warranty/support issues with Dell, the support is there once you get past the incompetent outsourced phone techs (and their managers) :thumbsup:

If you for some reason find that you are still being given the run around email the executive support team and explain your situation.

 

Well, to be honest right now I'm rather surprised...

My computer? Endless blue screens. I was furious. The suggestion for that? Inspect hardware changes.

So I re-open my computer, take the card out again. Then I take out the heat sink, re-place it, then re-assemble my computer then, no more blue screens.

Then suddenly, I load up device manager and it's there! My card is suddenly back!

Well, I suppose that settles my problem then. Thank you to those who were patient enough to listen to my rants. Hah...

 

Congrats! It probably was not properly seated in the first place