P-series FX complete disassembly (getting to GPU heatsink)

I have a P-6831 FX, although this can be applied to anyone with a P-series FX laptop as they all have basically the same assembly. I've checked the stickies on this forum, as well as the official disassembly guide from Gateway, neither of which cover getting to the GPU.

Its getting to be that time where the GPU heatsink needs to have all the dust removed. I've cleaned out the CPU heatsink which is easy to get at (and was pretty damn full of dust), but the GPU heatsink is another story altogether. It seems that in order to the GPU section of the motherboard, the entire case would need to be removed.

So, to anyone who has a P-series FX laptop, does anyone know how to disassemble the laptop case in order to get to the GPU and its heatsink?

Thanks!

 

stickies in gateway forum, I believe.

 

No dice there. The stickies cover how to disassemble to upgrade CPU/HD/RAM, but not GPU.

 

use search. there was someone who dis-assembled with pictures also. as i remember he said it wasn't for the faint of heart as every inch and every wire has to come apart just to get to the damn gpu.

 

http://www.bigwheezy.com/7805/bt.html

That's my how to install a bluetooth module, it'll get you about 75% of the way to the GPU, essentially all that's left is removing all the screws from the MB and removing the MB from the case. You may be able to get close enough to clean out the heatsink just by going that far, but if not that should cover most of the hard parts of dissassembly.

 

Hey thanks Mike. Thats exactly what I was looking for.

I likely could have figured it out on my own, but I was hoping I could have some sort of guide to refer to. This will surely do that job.

 

when you get down to removing the motherboard i think you only have to remove the screws with white arrows pointed towards them, but it's been a while, and be careful because there are some screws hidden under tape.

 

Yeah, having done it three times it's a lot easier knowing where all the screws are so you don't find yourself yanking against one that got missed, that's why I decided to do a full write up with pics, I learned enough from reading other peoples posts to know where to look, but no one ever really documented how many screws exactly there were involved etc.

 

Don't be scared. I disassembled the 6860-fx, and it wasn't too bad. Just label all of those screws. I ended up with a couple that were in wrong places in the end.

 

Hey Mike,

I got a broken latch in my express card slot. Is the express card soldered to and part of the MB? In other words, can the express card slot be replaced without the MB or they are part of the same construction.

I really do not want to send my 7805 to gateway.

Thanks,

 

If memory serves the actual card connector was soldered in but I think the "cage" is separate, if the latch is part of the cage I think you can replace it, but it's been a while quite honestly. I'll look back through my pictures and see if I have a good one of that area.

 

I never had a broken latch before and found out that I was not the only ones. Wonder if Gateway-Acer using cheaper components? Failure due to metal fatigue I guess. Really have no idea what could be done short of contacting Gateway.

 

looking forward to pics.

 

What Mike said . . . I actually made the mistake of removing the screws to the cage when removing the MB and was nicely suprised when it fell off the MB