Dell XPS M1530 video card fried - What can I do with this thing?

The Nvidia video card on my Dell XPS 1530 finally got fried, like so many other Dell users'. For the most part, it would still boot up but the display would be very pixellated. Navigating the desktop is possible, but not all that easy. Just tonight I was able to get it to boot up without any pixellation. I fully anticipate this to not last though.

So considering that, I still have a working blu-ray burner, ram, processor, and hard drive in there. Besides maybe taking out the HDD and RAM, is there anything I can do with this machine to make it useful? I was hoping I could still make use of the blu-ray drive, but I'd assume that it would be pretty tough to get it to work on its own without a video card.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

 

You can try an oven reflow by baking the thing assuming the cause of damage is loose solder balls. There are heaps of guides on the internet but typically, these repairs don't guarantee long term results, I've seen superb survival rates beyond 6 months to 1 yr but beyond this the probability of recurrent damage increases. If the cause of damage is vRAM then theres not much you can do since replacing vRAM is a real , just the knack of re-balling the chips takes weeks of practice. However, you can get this done pretty cheap in asian countries so if you have a friend whos going to malaysia you can consider this.
Failing repairing the video card, you can try underclocking to prevent further thermal damage.
If you don't want to deal with the internal card anymore, consider an eGPU setup since your BD multimedia lifestyle for the machine is pretty much immobile

 

If you want to turn your laptop into ta profitable hobby, you can get a few tools to try and do actual BGA reball with a heatgun. You can replace the solder balls with leaded ones which really do last a long time i think.

 

Thanks for the suggestions. I used to be a hardware hobbyist 5+ years ago, but fell off. I'm really happy to see that eGPU's are now a viable option. Unfortunately it's gotten to the point where I'd rather put any significant amount of money towards a new computer.

By profitable hobby, do you mean I'd be able to charge other people to do the same sort of thing? I'd definitely be willing to learn and maybe keep this Dell as a side project. Maybe turn it into a HTPC down the line (My Boxee Box just isn't that easy to use).

 

Be very careful about this, IF you decide to attempt it. It's a rather barbaric way of reflow (no offense to Marksman!). When you bake it, you're heating ALL of the solder points, and not just the ones that need to be reflowed. A resoldering station is ideal, although you can get the job done with a heat gun - and even then, it's sort of a 50/50 shot.

If you're positive it's the GPU, you can look into replacements. Not sure how convenient that or a reflow would be for you, as opposed to replacing the thing altogether.

 

I've found oven reflows to work fairly consistently if you temp and time them right. I haven't seen them last very long on the 8-Series GPUs, though. Of course, your mileage may vary.

 

Exactly.

The problem here is a defect within the chip itself, not a loose solder connection.

You might get it to work for days, possibly weeks, maybe even a month or two, but it's a temporary fix no matter how you look at it...

 

~$300 for a motherboard/gpu replacement if you're interested in that side project ( here and here). obviously totaled though.

 

Reball it. You can use solder paste or buy solder balls but go leaded like mentioned above. It's a cheap fix that just requires a little skill.

To remove the GPU you will need:

#1. A heat gun to melt the solder below the GPU
Tin foil which you lay around the GPU area as to not accidently reflow nearby components. It is best to cut a hole slightly larger than the #2. GPU with just enough room to be able to lift the GPU away from the board once the solder melts.
#3. A large pair of tweezers or something similar to gently lift the GPU off of the board once the solder below it melts.
#4. Soldering iron and desoldering wick or other means to remove the solder from the GPU and board.
#5. Flux remover to properly clean and prep the GPU and board once the old solder is removed.
#6. Leaded solder paste or solder balls. I recommend solder balls as solder paste would require you use an exact GPU reball template which though not expensive is more of a PITA than solder balls.
#7. Flux paste
#8. About 2 hours of your time

If you don't have any of the above items you are looking at an initial investment of about $100 but it's a gift that keeps on giving as it allows you to make a good deal of money as you get proficient. You can fix XBOX RROD's, other motherboards, replace/upgrade CPU's soldered directly to boards ( provided the bios supports them ) and even replace bad memory IC's on various devices.

 

All of the above would make perfect sense if you could source a *proper* replacement chip. Without one, it's a waste of time and money.

Once again, the problem here is NOT the weakening of the solder joints, but the defect within the chip itself.

 

sell it off as is. look in to a new machine if you have general uses might i suggest the new AMD APUs and Fusions laptops.

 

You MUST ABSOLUTELY have a pre heater, i use either a SMALL space heater or griddle.

Exactly, also no need for a pre heater.


I use both methods the SMD station is a lot of work special if i need to reflow the GPU and vram even more so if it has SMD VRMs that i want to try and re-flow.

The biggest thing i must stress is that if you do it in the oven and it's a laptop part do it at about 425f (7-10 mins) and NEVER i mean NEVER move the card, prop the oven door open and turn the oven off and let cool to room temp naturally where it sits other wise you will jiggle all the parts while the solder is still liquid.

not always! the bump gates can technically be reflowed as well AND if you take the necessary steps to modify the cooling system, it can last for years. Furtherm ore if it is an 8 series i have to wonder if it's mxm in which case you could another card for possibly cheap.