Processor Fried??

HPG60-120US full featured. Owner gave to me. No activity when plugged in. Dis-assembly revealed a connector problem with the fan. Got another fan and mobo. Assembled... and have lights but no screen. HD light says it's there but not working. Installed Vista recovery disc, drive works but no go. Suspect CPU had an AMD TMRM70DAM22GK. Want to upgrade it to a ZM-82. Would the system handle the upgrade? Cost effective? 15 vs 55 thoughts?

 

CPU failure rates are extremely low. I'd say the motherboard, memory or hard drive are more likely candidates, but you never know I suppose.

 

Previous owner complained it kept shutting down until one day it just didn't start up. So the tested new board would be faulty? Bad memory would at least give a beep.

 

modern CPUs have a safety system built in them. If the temperature goes beyond a certain threshold the CPU will force the system to turn off to protect itself.

Your post is not very clear. Is the following correct?
1- you removed the old motherboard and installed another one instead.
2- the screen is not working with the new motherboard.
3- the hard drive is not allowing you to re-install vista.

Assuming that the above is correct I'll say that the new motherboard is not good. If it was in a working order the LCD should have worked.

Is the screen completely off or is it so deemed that you can barely see anything?
If the screen is working but too dark there is a possibility that the inverted inverter needs replacing.

As for the hard drive it all depend on the new motherboard. If you're 100% sure that the new/ replacement motherboard is good then there is a chance that the hard drive is faulty. If this is the case I would suggest to go to the hard drive manufacturer website and download their diagnostic tool. this will allow you to check the hard drive.

 

Safety systems only only prevent overheating, in extreme cases or circumstances it may not stop it. I have seen systems get burning hot in bags when they failed to shut down when the lid was closed. Hot enough that it needed a bios reset to get working again.

Even then other things can happen, I killed a Core2Duo not long ago. The laptop was sitting on a shelf idling and it just stopped.


In the case of the OP, it almost sounds like my Sony when the cpu in it died.

 

I don't know how much this will help you but I recently serviced a HP G60-235(very similar to the laptop you're trying to fix) for a friend. Same thing no activity when plugged in and I found the AC adapter to be the culprit. Usually there's a tiny white LED that lights up right next to the AC plug on the laptop if the AC adapter is working properly. I had no lights of any kind when I tried to power it on.

This laptop had the original old worn out battery which would last like two minutes so it was entirely dependable on the AC adapter.

So I tested the AC adapter with a multimeter and I found it dead. I got a replacement for him and the laptop's running fine again.

In your case try to run the laptop on battery only and if you get lights, try to power it on and off blindly. If that works fine then try to attach an HDMI cable connected to an external display/TV. It could be a bad inverter and this method might reveal it. Ask the person that you're trying to fix this laptop for what happened with the laptop right before it stopped working. It could help.

This friend complained about the same thing, the laptop would keep shutting down till he drained the battery so bad that it would not power on.

 

He has some lights, just no coming on. If it was the power cord you wouldn't get that much with a dead battery.

If the battery was dead and the power supply was bad, it would either do absolutely nothing, or would turn on for a split second or more and then go off.



I would go with the cheapest CPU and see if that fixes it. While it could be the motherboard, the cpu is cheaper and probably just as difficult or easier to change. If it fixes it, then you can consider upgrading it and sell the working one, or you will find the board is bad, and then you can decide if it's worth fixing. If not, part it out.

If the OP can get a cpu for $15, grab it and see. It's not like it's a lot of money to get a working laptop, and even if you lose it, it's only $15.

 

I'm pretty sure it has a damaged Mobo, that is extremely faulty in HP laptops due to insufficient cooling design.
The HP laptops suck a LOT! Everybody should stay away from their crap.
Reflow the GPU on the motherboard or replace the mobo itself.
Good luck with that junk, m8.

 

No, HP laptops DON'T suck. Old Nvidia chipsets definitely suck because they used faulty solder.
Get yourself an HP Elitebook with Intel CPU manufactured around the same time, you would be happy and it would last you for years.

 

I agree, but...
Say the OP spends $100-$150 on the board (going price) and then finds that it isn't the problem. At this point he is pretty much committed to fixing it just so he could sell it and make $20 for the effort. You can buy these in working condition for about $150.

On the other hand, he spends $15 to find out which part it is and if it's the board, he can decide if it's worth it or not. At worst he is out $15.

If it came down to paying $100-$150 for a board (which may or may not work) or paying $150 for a used complete system I can see pictures of working, I would buy the complete system. Combine the best parts of both and you are left with a good condition system you know will work. You can then keep the parts for spare or part them out.

For the price of them, they better last a few years.
You shouldn't have to spend $1000 to get 3 years out of a laptop, most HP I see are beat to death by the third year.

Also, go take a look at HP's reliability rating.