Gateway FX Disassembly Guide (Covers all 17in FX Notebooks)

If you want to clean up the GPU fans, you will have to dismantle entire laptop, as the GPU (and the fan) are hidden behind the back cover on the other side of the MB.

 

Can't thank you enough for this guide. My P6860 GPU died a month ago. Finally got the nerve up to tear it apart last night. Cleaned everything, heated the GPU up with a heat gun, put new Arctic silver on it and put it back together this afternoon.

Working like new for the past 2 hours. Can't believe this actually worked out LOL. I waited a month before tearing into it so I wouldn't be so upset if it ended up in the garbage

 

Well, looks like I'm one of the 3 that posted whose power brick stopped working after reassembly. Read through all the pages and haven't found that anyone figured out a fix for this yet.

Any ideas?

Thanks

 

OK Figured it out

The top left corner of the motherboard didn't snap all the way into the board that has the power supply, ethernet and 2 USB connectors.

Had to take it almost all the way apart again to find that but it was good practice.

 

I registered just to say thank you for a wonderful guide. My P6860-FX has been running hot (a lot hotter recently causing it to shut down in mid-game). When it doesn't die, I get GPU readings of about 96 degrees C maximum. (is that around 200+ F?) And my CPU was just below 90. (These numbers are only when the laptop doesn't die, I have no idea what the temps are the moment it dies, it must be higher.)

So I've half-opened my laptop before but only up till the keyboard, and I only got to the CPU fan for cleaning. Now I just had to really get down to it so I've managed to get to the point where you pop off the top cover. I got to the GPU fan there and felt pretty satisfied.

When putting it all back I hit a snag with the LCD where sometimes it wouldn't boot. The lights went up and went down every few seconds so I went back and basically wiggled the LCD cable / connection until it responded and slowly put the pieces back together.

Aside from that small scare, the laptop seems back to its amazing self again all thanks to your guide. The CPU's markedly lost about 15-20 Celcius while while the GPU is now lower by about 30 degrees C. (Max CPU: 75C, GPU: 64) I haven't fully tested it on various games so I couldn't be sure, but so far it has not died on me recently.

Thanks again for the wonderful disassemble guide. I hope I never have to do it again!

(my laptop is about 2 years old, I cleaned the CPU fans a year ago. Yesterday when I opened the laptop, literally massive chunks of black dirt came out of those vents, and they were heavily packed chunks not fluffy dust.)

 

I strongly suggest a laptop cooler for every P-78xx owner; not only it keeps the laptop cool, but it also collects the dust on the cooler instead of the laptop. I have had the P-7811FX for 2 years now (with a cooler from the start) and when I opened it up a month ago, there was hardly any dust within. The Zalman NC-2000 cooler however, requires periodical cleaning, but that is rather easy to do with just canned air.

 

I have never used a cooler and when I opened my laptop up there was not much dust at all. Just have to keep the laptop clean and not use it on the bed or carpet.

 

Well it is a fact that tipping up the laptop/using a cooler lowers temps significantly. It is also handy to run all the cords under it and I like the tilted keyboard and raised screen. I don't know that it helps with dust unless you clean the dust of the external fans often.

 

@azrickster Just had to sign up so I could say thanks for this amazing guide! Gateway and/or other notebook manufacturers should be hiring you to do their documentation.

My P-7805u was slowing down in games, and it took me a while to realize heat was the issue. This allowed me to clear the dust blockage that was rendering the fans useless. (Considering we've only had this for a year and don't have pets or smoke, I'm very surprised at how serious the dust issue was.) My sister has this laptop too and says she is having the same issues, so it looks like I'll have a second chance to put this to use.

 

Guys, I have a P7908u and want to do some cleaning at the coolers. I don't have compressed air here, and don't know where to get one... so I just want to open the laptop. Can I reach the gpu cooler by just removing all the screws or are there anything specific to be done?

Also, I think my GPU temps are kinda hot...

I reach 85, 87 at max, sometimes 90 at the most demanding, is that right? GTX 260M here.

Also, I always wanted to do GPU undervolting. Is that safe?

Thanks!

 

I own the very same Gateway in the disassembly guide. My laptop's charging port recently fried. I went inside to assess and right under the left speaker is a chip that has 2 usb connections, the charging port, and a dial up connection port all on the one small chip. Where the charging port connects to the chip is burnt and when plugged into a charger produces sparks.

I explained the situation to Gateway techs and they continuously tell me I have to pay 400$ to have the motherboard replaced. I know damn well its not the mb and I'm not going to pay 400$ to fix such a small issue.

Is there any other way to optain this specific chip so I can once again be able to charge my battery so I can use my laptop?

Thanks for your time.

 

Do you know for sure that something on the motherboard isn't also fried? Does the computer work?

 

I'm positive. Laptop works great, just can't charge the battery. Before the battery died, it continued to work as it has for the last year and a half. Any way to order specific chip? I would have no problem with installation, especially seeing as how I had no trouble stripping it down without using disassembly guide.

 

Well I still can't find anything on this... if anyone gets any info I'll check back. Thanks

 

Thank you so much for this guide! It helped me considerably. I opened my p6860fx to clean out the gpu heatsink and fan.

However, I now have a problem. Once I put everything back together, the power button does not work - instead, the system powers on using the "arrow" button just to the left of the power button on the media bar. Help! What have I done wrong? I see the ribbon cable going from the power button to the mobo.. But do you think something is in the wrong place? Does anyone have a pic showing the power button plugged into the right spot so I can tell if mine is incorrect?

 

Wow! This guide was so much help in leading me towards the way to my gpu and cpu. My fans were making a lot of noises so I thought I'd try to open up the laptop and clean the fans a bit. I found out that there was a bunch of dust clogged up all around my fans and heatsinks, so i cleaned it all out and computer works as good as new now. No strange noises or anything! Just one small problem though, my cpu fan appears to not be working all the time. It turns on and off at random times. Is that normal? If anyone could help me with this I'd appreciate it . Oh yea and my model is the gateway P-6831fx.

 

Fans turns off when temperatures are lowered to specific amount of degrees, depending on BIOS.

 

Hi Guys!
I'm from Germany, excuse me for my really bad english
I have this Laptop:
Packard Packard Bell I-Power GX-M-011-GE
Q9000M - 4x2 GHz (Motherboard: Godzilla 1.5)
4GB DDR3 by Samsung - 1066 Mhz (CL7)
Geforce 9800M GTS 1GB GDDR3 - @700,900,1700
320GB HDD - 7200 rpm

The case is identically constructed!

I have some Questions, the first is:
Which thermal past schould i use for the CPU?

The second is:
Can i buy better Fans, to improve the cooling?
If therer are some availaible, wher can i buy it?

And more
Can i remove any Components to improve the cooling performance?
What about Coolingspads, which is the best?

What steps are needed to clean the GPU Fan?

This are many Question, i am looking forward to an answer!

By the way: GREAT Guide!!!!

Korbi

 

1.) many here will attest to ICD inclusing myself. This can be used on the CPU and GPU and video mmory chips. Some have used it to replace the heat pad over the noth bridge. You cpuld for the CPU and GPU though use any good silver paste but do not replace the pad with just a thin silver paste.

You could do a copper shim, apr 1mm plate, over the northbridge and then use the silver paste.

2.) It is tough enough to find a fan replacement as stock. Find a better fan that works, please let us know.

3.) there are no specific components you can leave out, all are needed.

4.) you can again add copper shims. Again this is a specific mod and be carefull to have those shims stay in place! a loose piece of copper boucing around in there is a ball of smoke waiting to happen.

5.) carefully clean everything off to the point it looks never used. Personally I stay away from all solvents etc. I will use air and small brushes as need be.

 

Where can i buy that ICD, never heard of that
Which pad i schouldnt replace?

What are copper shims and what is a apr plate (sorry this are stupid Questins, but ive never heard about that)

Compressed Air - Boring
Ive blocked the fans an than i used the air compressor

It sucks, that no better fans are available, what do you think, does the BigBrother of my Laptop (same case) better fans (it has only a better Graphis Card - GTX 260M)?

The Question with the steps was beared on the Dissasembling
Which things i have to remove to restore the termale paste

Thank you very much for the Moment!

Korbi

 

Hi, ICD7 or ICD24, there are a few threads around here. I am not sure where you are that you can get it.

A copper shim is essentially a thin copper plate, approximately 1mm thick. You cut a small piece that will cover the heat area of the chip and use that instead of the heat pad with thermal compund on both sides of the copper shim.

All laptop fans I've seen are not all too great.............

 

Hello everyone... I have the Gateway P-7915u FX laptop and have been loving it ever since I got it. Initially, I did have the whole powermizer/audio/video issue, but I was able to resolve that with either registry hacks, and more recently, with the Nvidia Powermizer Manager. I think, though I haven't thoroughly tested it, that Nvidia's drivers have resolved that whole issue.

Anyways, I haven't done any upgrading to it, yet. My last (and first) laptop I did a number of upgrades to it and loved it. I wasn't going to even attempt to upgrade this one without a guide, which thanks to you, I now have. My question is this, do you believe that the BIOS and heatsink/fan combo for this laptop could handle a Q9100 upgrade? Thanks in advance for your reply!

 

No quad cores for our 7805's, only C2D's up to the x9100................

 

So, the P-7915u FX has the same cooling system and/or BIOS as the 7805u which limits it from using the quad core? That sucks... Well, considering that we can't adjust the multipliers in the BIOS, wouldn't the T9900 be a wiser upgrade due to lower temperature? Intel's website shows the following... P8700 is what came with my laptop.

Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor P8700 (3M Cache, 2.53 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) >
System TDP: 34.5W


Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T9900 (6M Cache, 3.06 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) >
System TDP: 44.5W


Intel® Core™2 Extreme Processor X9100 (6M Cache, 3.06 GHz, 1066 MHz FSB) >
System TDP: 53.5W

 

I am not to too sure there. The 79xx's may be able to quad core. The replacement boards available say they can replace the 7901h which has a q9100 in there.

The thing then is the heatsink. The original higher TDP HS has the short legs, if you have that one you already have the quad HS. It would be a gamble though.

When the 79xx's came out I first asked if anyone was willing to or had attempted a quad core but no one ever came back. The 79xx's were just never all too popular it seems. This may be a plus though. Where the 78xx's were a plenty and it justified having a modded board there may not have been that large a production run to justify having a C2D only MB made. This is all speculation and conjecture on my end............

Edit; the P78xx bios is different than the P79xx bios. There was never an update for the P79xx so the bios should be the same for all models and also should be C2D and quad capable. The last part again conjecture on my part.

 

Thanks, TanWare, for your prompt and informative responses. They make sense and so there is definitely a chance that it would work. When I have the money, I may purchase a Q9100 and attempt to upgrade this laptop with it. When I do, I will post on here my success or failure.

 

It may be cheaper to get QAVR Q9200, then it would be unlocked too. Unless you can just get a real cheap q9100 just to try it out.

 

I'll be replacing my DC board, it looks like once I have the top of the chassis off, I could stop at that point? The reason I ask, I'm not entirely clear on how the mount points attach -- to chassis, mobo, or both?

 

How do I reset the CMOS battery for a P-7811fx?

 

pull the AC and regular battery out. Remove the pannel for the CPU and remove the wireless card. underneath is the plug fior the cmos. Once unplugged turn it back over and hold the power button for 30 seconds.

Put it all back together and you should be good to go...........

Other option, if you catch it just right, turn on the laptop and before the DST table posts shut it down by holding the power button. A DST table failure will reset the cmos for you..........

 

Does anyone know where I can fins a DVD Bezel for my P-171X FX, I can use a slot or pop out type.

 

<update> Using this thread's guide to disassembling my laptop, I quickly succeeded in upgrading the thermal "paste" that was on my laptop's CPU (P8700) to my Arctic Silver 5. While I was at it, I removed some dust and pet hair that had accumulated inside there. The result is rather astonishing to me. The temperatures of TZS0, TZS1, Core #0, and Core #1 have all been reduced by approximately 20 degrees Celsius while under full load by Prime95 64 bit! Previously...
TZS0 & TZS1 = 97 degrees Celsius
Core #0 & Core #1 = 87 degrees Celsius

After Arctic Silver 5 & minor cleaning...
TZS0 & TZS1 = 74 degrees Celsius
Core #0 & Core #1 = 67 degrees Celsius

Not only that, the cpu fan is not even having to run at full speed yet. This gives me some hope that this system could handle a quad core cpu. What do you think?

 

Good to hear about the cooling. Which heat sink do you have? is it the one where the heatsink legs to the main board parallel the sink and are short or are they long and almst criss cross to the other corners leg?

 

Okay, so, I tore my box down, and, I was frankly sorta confused. Thermal paste is all messy and cracked and doesn't look anywhere near as good as azricksters.

Do I need to find a preformed TIM to fill that entire area of the copper, or, do I just clean that out and fill it with ICD? (see image below) It seems if I fill that entire "well", it's gonna goo up the board and not just the top of the chip?

 

do not fill with ICD. clean everything. On the chips GPU and CPU use a single ball about a little over a 1/2 pea size in the middle of the chip. For the NB and video memory chips if you wish there is a gap. on those chips a good pea sized drop. This larger drop will replace the pad and fill the gap........

 

Ok, just so I'm clear:

Clean all goo

I can remove the pad from the CPU heatsink, and use roughly a pea-sized ball of ICD as its replacement.


Clean the goo off the heatsink and chip (pictured above) and apply a slightly larger sized ball of ICD to the chip, and a smaller ball to the four smaller chips around it.

So, I don't have to worry about filling in the entire sunken area of the heatsink in my picture?

 

And thank you for the hand holding -- I've never taken apart much more than dell latitude business machines, this has sorta turned into an adventure for me.

 

Actually on the full contact chips use the smaller size drop. On the chips with a gap use the larger sized drop. This is the NB and memory chips. place each drop on the center of the chip and let the HS preasure spread it out............

Edit; yes clean al the goo first and the large drop of ICD will replace the pad for you over the NB..........

 

Thanks again Tan -- now I'm wondering if 3 grams is enough to do the job?

 

one tube of ICD7 should be enough for one full job.............

 

TANWare,

I apologize for not getting back to you sooner... I've been busy and not felt like opening up the bottom to look and see. I suspect I don't have the cooling combo for quad cores, but I may be mistaken. When I have a chance, I'll take a picture of it and post it on here to let you be the judge. Even if I do have the inadequate cooling system for quad cores, is it possible to order or purchase the better one, and replace it? I'd really love to both enhance the cooling efficiency of this laptop, as well as, get the most out of it as possible. I love this laptop to death. I still wish someone could give me confirmation of whether or not the BIOS would even recognize the Q9100 CPU on my Gateway P-7915u FX laptop. I find it hard to believe that with it being such a gem that an enthusiast hasn't already at least tried to upgrade it to a quad core.

hetrinity

<edit> By the way... why is there a second slot available next to the wireless card? Is it for a bluetooth adapter, cellular wireless card, or something else? I would've thought the bluetooth option would've been either integrated into the wireless card, or, somewhere else on the motherboard... not another addon card looking like a wireless card.

 

The 79xx and 78xx both have the extra 1/2 mini PCI-e expansion slot. I believe someone tried wireless/bluetooth there but the FN+F2 wouldn't turn it on.

I guess we could use it for a mini PCI-e storage card but I'm not sure if the high speed cards that turn it into a SATA would work.

If you really want bluetooth there are specialized mini cards that will do this for you. Easily found on fleabay and probably elsewhere too.........

 

TANWare, can you tell from these pictures whether or not I have the quad-core capable cooling system? Thanks in advance... 8)

 

That is the proper heatsink, that is the only differrence in the cooling system.........

 

Thanks for this guide. Printed it out and used it to completely tear mine down and put my MB and related parts into a new(to me) chassis. Also took my lcd screen out of the housing and put it into a new one. Well the chassis and lcd housing was used, but in better shape than what I had. My 6860 fell out of my truck at a rest stop during a move a little more than a year ago and some chunks broke off by the wireless switch and broke the switch on the chassis.

 

Guide worked like a charm. P79 board went in and now everything has been cleaned along with ICD for the heatsinks all around..................

 

Forgot to mention I popped the media bar by placing letter opener under the section covering the right LCD panel and pryed it up from there. Pulls up very easily that way...............

 

I have the P-7811FX and wondering what would be a good upgrade for the CPU? It is still running the P8600 at the moment with the 4gb of ram.

thanks in advance!

 

best upgrade is the x9100. if you are not interested in overclocking the T9900 is a great cpu as well................

 

I have a T9300 coming for my 6860.