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    sony sz730 upgrade/repair advice

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by yesterdaysbuddha, Sep 6, 2011.

  1. yesterdaysbuddha

    yesterdaysbuddha Newbie

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    I have a Sony sz730 (same as a 780, but with vista home instead of business) that I would like to upgrade and repair as replacement really isn't in the budget. I was hoping someone out there has done something like this and has some pointers or suggestions. I have found some info on this and other forums, but this has spawned as many question as it answered.

    The upgrades I plan on doing are adding an ssd and upgrading the cpu. (I'm already rockin' 4GB of RAM). I can get an OCZ 120GB ssd for $110 after rebate. Not the best ssd out there, but for a system with a sata i interface I figured not too bad for less than $1 a GB.

    I can get a T9500 on eBay for about $150. It is an es version, but a bit of Googling seems to indicate that this is the same as the OEM so I will take the risk. I realize that it is only a 500GHz bump, but I think the increase from 3MB to 8MB of cache will really give me a boost.


    Now to the real issue. The Nvidia card has failed. No big surprise as it has been known for a while that the 8400M is flawed. It runs quite well on the intel card, but i miss the extra omph when gaming. I thought I might try a reflow, and if it did not work, just live with it. If it kills the MB I can get a replacement cheap enough. My first question is regarding "reballing". I have been reading up on this as an alternative to reflow. If someone can remove the chip, replace the solder balls and reattach it, can the chip be replaced with a better unit that does not suffer from the build quality issue that the 8400m (and 8600m from what I hear) does? Are there any gpus that are pin out compatible with the 8400m? Would the MB accept like you would swap a desktop video card or is the chip tied to the MB at a deeper level?
    Assuming that I get the nvidia card working using one of the above methods, is there a way to improve the cooling of the gpu? Do the heat pipes wear out and would it be worth replacing them?

    Sorry for all the questions, but I figure the best way to keep this project on budget is to get as much info as possible.
    Thanks!
     
    yesterdaysbuddha, Sep 6, 2011
    #1