How to: Replace your broken (8600M GT) graphics card (in the [I]FL90)

I can't. Why not go for a 3650 DDR2? A 3650 DDR3 will not be THAT much better for gaming, and the girls won't be loving it wither

 

Sry I wasnt really clear, Dr. Colossos
1. my old 8600 i tried baking it It worked! but then it lived for about half a day then died the next day so i ordered a new one hastily without reading warnings.

2. my second card was a 8600 from an acer. I googled frantically for the answer. I found this msg board and you reported that no other nvidia cards work with a fl90 because of vbios conflicts.

3. My new card is a 4570 ddr3 512mb from a usa seller from a toshiba sat L500. I bought a new mobo, put all my stuff on it then installed the card hoping for a nice smooth fresh experience. The computer turns on, it doesnt short, the fans run without a card in it, but when i put the 4570 in. The computer turns on no fans run and no hdd spins.

The problem cant be the mobo because it is new, it has to do with the video card because the fans spin normally without any gpu inside the laptop. You suggested a bios update which i dont know how to do (my next option) I am trying to rule out if it is a faulty/incompatable card before i do something drastic like a bios update.

Thanks for the help you are a pioneer in the fl90 revival scene!

 

Yeah, updating BIOS should always be your last option.

I think the 4570 you got is incompatible - Toshiba cards mostly are. I have no experience with them myself, but I read it once or twice. They might to the same as HP, namely whitelisting their cards/laptops, so that the only work with their stuff.

If I were you, I would try to find a 3650 DDR2 512MB card. This can also be in used codition, meaning not new, as I think it is a very reliable card.

If gaming is not important to you, then go for the 3450/3470, which sells for around 50€/$ new, 35$/€ used, also, very reliable.

As the old 8600M GT worked, you can rule out a motherboard defect.

Good luck!

 

makes sense. Any viable option for gaming? like sc2 level. I am gonna sell this 4570 anyway.

also what is this i hear about vbios flashing?

Also what if the 3650 is stripped from a toshiba or hp?

sorry for so many questions... i messed up 3 times already i have to be careful now lol.

 

Sorry, no clue what you exactly mean. The 3650 is okay for gaming, but depends on what you plan.

If you want to play the lastest games, get a desktop PC ... the best you can get for the FL90 at an affordable price is the ATI 4650 DDR2 - 100 - 150€/$ if you are lucky.

Might help yout out of trouble, but I could not remember any case where this was needed with an 3650 DDR2, nor do I know any case where it solved a problem. Same with system bios, this is your last option ...

Do not get one from these. Cards from Acers or MSI are your best shot. Or new cards with an ATI bios.

Good luck!

 

tytytyty will report back soon

 

So maybe someone else knows if DDR3 ATI HD3650 works with external monitor. Brand new ATI card from ebay maybe?? Someone has it in his laptop and can confirm??

 

My 8600M GT died in January. Weeks later I bought HD3650 256mb DDR3.
All went well, but I always got artifacts.
Then someday I discovered that I only get artifacts->BSOD when it goes into 3d. I got the computer stable using AMD clock tool at core 550 and memory 500 but the performance seems to be worse than with 8600M GT.

I used 8.11 drivers but now I have 11.8 installed and can't get back to 8.11 anyhow. I can't change my clocks with AMD clock tool anymore (resets after changing clocks) so I tried to Vbios using RBE which said the checksums didn't match (after flashing) but it managed to change clocks.

Now my question is, what should I do in order to be able to use at least normal clocks (600/700)? Temperature is 64 on idle and goes 80-9x while playing.

 

The artifacts/BSOD could come from too high temperatures.

64 in idle is not great, +90 is also not too good, and might even lead to artifacts - not sure.

Did you do any heat-sink modding? The FL90 comes with at least two different heat sinks. With one (as seen in this how-to), you need to mod the heat sink in order to be able to cool a ATI 3650/4650 properly.

Maybe your heat-sink is not touching the GPU chip entirely ...

Btw, are you able to get a signal on an external monitor? adiq90 is highly interested in finding that out ...

And maybe add a gpu-z screenshot ... I would like to know which vbios you have, and who the subvendor of your card is.

Good luck & Cheers

 

I also monitored my temperatures this time.

Was playing a 3d intense game while GPU-Z tracked temperatures and fan speed.

Max temperature was 90 degrees Celsius and max fan speed stayed 30% all the time.
In RBE I can't open fan settings tab either.

I plugged in another monitor also but I got a bad artifact and BSOD instantly. Means there is a signal?

Video card installing was done by my friend using this guide so I don't really know how the things are inside.

 

This is a gpu-z dump of the 3650 DDR3 card I had before using the 3650 DDR2, as I did not get any output on a external display (see, HP is subvendor, which means trouble as far as I know)



Did your laptop BSOD *immediately* when plugging in an external display and switching to it? Or did it take at least a couple of minutes?

So far I cannot see any suspicious things ...

Maybe its just damaged ..?

 

Well I managed to shut down the computer before BSOD, but all I saw was artifacts anyway.

I got my fan speed up with ati tray tool but it doesn't give much performance either.

Just played minecraft to test out temperatures. Closed it. 5 minutes later I am sitting on 94 C idle, fan speed 70-80%.
Also the problem with ati tray tool is that I have to manually set clocks and fan speed things all the time because clocks halve all the time I click apply which I need to click to save the profile.

 

After shutting down the game, and waiting for 5 minutes, you are still on 94° Celsius? That would be ... terrible! I could imagine that you are way above 100° C when playing games ...

With with tool are you monitoring temeperatues? I'd suggest you get gpu-z, hit the "Sensors" tab and check the checkbox "refresh when in background" and "log to file".

Also, get and install FurMark, if you have not yet - it's a 3D benchmark and has temperature reading and graph integrated.

Btw, do you see the artifacts right away, or do they come and maybe increase as you continue to play?

If you do some more tests, do not play/benchmark longer than 30 seconds, it just might kill your card - if it is not "dead" yet ...

Cheers

 

My theory is that I had set things so that after turning into 3d mode the clocks stayed high, but well, 94 is still too much.

Artifacts usually come in the first 5 seconds of being in 3d mode.
Also, when I could change clocks with AMD gpu clock tool, the last stable clocks were 550 / 505, when I changed either of them a bit higher, I could get artifacts (always followed by BSOD)

Tried furmark. At halved clocks (Bleh, ati tray tool problem) temperature was on 75 C but at 550/500 I couldn't see temperature at all. Gpu-z shows 90+

 

Do you get artifacts with Furmark as well?

Furmark normally would print temperatures, also clock speed if I remember it right - you could check there if the right clocks are set.

Anyway, maybe go find yourself another card ... 3650 DDR2 512MB is the best choice, but in-game performance is enough for todays games, of course - but neither is the DDR3 version ...

 

No artifacts when I use 550 / 500 clocks.

I might try to find some kind of desktop computer instead and keep this laptop for low gaming and other things then.

This laptop has been a real mess from the start. 8600m GT kept overheating all the time.

Thanks for feedback : D.

 

Actually, I am very very happy with my Compal FL90 for years - only the 8600M GT is a mess, but not only Compal had to find that out, there are way more vendors who had to find that out.

It really might be an overheating issue, I don't know ...

You could try to disassemble it, and check if the heat sink makes good contact ("clean" thermal paste imprint on heat sink), and if not, mod it.

Also, try another vbios ... but I am not sure what will work and what not ... if you have the time and nerv, try it ...

Good luck

 

Ok So I replaced my graphics card with a 3650 ddr 256mb. I now get a POST yay!!!! i can get to google chrome now, however within 3-5 minutes of idling i get extreme artifacts. The whole screen is rainbow colored. Dr. Collosos is this a heating issue, fan issue, or graphics card issue? I have old thermal pads on 4 pcbs and artic silver on the chip.

 

i modded the heatstink by scraping the metal away it looks to fit well. The fan is alittle quiet to me though. I hear the fan spin up when the laptop boots but i dont hear it while idling on the desktop.

 

Hi,

get GPU-Z (free download, try google) and report what temps you get (see Sensor tab).

If they are beyond 90° idling, than you have a problem ...

Report back!

Good luck!

 

when i reach the desktop it starts at 40c then raises 2c every second it starts to artifact and go crazy at 70c+ all the while the fan is not spinnning fast. I am going to buy new heat/thermal pads today and see if it helps

 

Totally normal to have a quiet fan at 70° - but you should not get artifacts at 70°.

How high do temps get?

Are you sure the card is connected correctly? It really should be when screwed in ... so you see, I am taking guesses.

Another thing you could try is to run in VGA mode, see what happens there ... for Windows press F8 after post, then select "boot in VGA mode".

See if you get artifacts there, too.

Cheers

 

running some tests it seems to stay stable and not overheat now.
Maybe add this tip to your original post.

Make sure the compound on the gpu is touching correctly via the "smushed" look.

Make sure to use new thermal pads on each pcb (black squares on gpu) to increase area of heat sink contact.

thank you dr. collosos this project was a success after many many hard trial and errors it is finally done.

good luck to everyone else.

reporting success with fl90
3650 256mb ddr3 with new vbios
artic silver 5 + thermal pads

 

what drivers should i use for this 3650 standard drivers send me to black screen/ bluescreen after post

 

Hi,

I am a bit confused.

1st: what vbios did you use? Can you upload it (somewhere)?

2nd: did the blue/black screens not occur in your previous post

3rd: what OS are you running? I always used ATIs drivers from their site ... try these maybe .. .there could be newer ones, but should not be relevant for you.

Good luck!

 

1. ati vbios fresh card from this guy Compal FL90 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 MXM2 Video Card | eBay

2. with standard drivers the laptop works perfectly, but everytime i try to install official drivers including catalyst it black screens so i have to reinstall my os again.

3. using vista 32 ultimate.

 

By standard drivers you mean the one that Vista installs or the default VGA "drivers" (which are no drivers anyway).

I am not sure what is the case. Why would you install the ATI drivers?

And could you maybe upload the vbios you got? I still have this old 3650 DDR3, would be nice to try to get it running in the end ...

Good luck

 

I get bluescreens when trying to install win7 64bit ultimate on the fl90 with 3650. I guess I will have to stay with windows vista 32 bit. Do you guys think this is a motherboard bios problem? I have not updated it yet, and I dont know my current bios version.

 

if you teach me how to extract the vbios i will surely do it.

Default vga works, the ati drivers cause blackscreens

I want to install catalyst for 3d applications like games/dream scene.

The computer works great. Heat transfer is good. Just make sure not to install any 3650 drivers and disable windows update from updating drivers as well.

Right now I am trying to figure out this driver issue so that i can go back to playing games.

 

Ah, okay, so you mean the default VGA driver. Sure, that is bad.

So you bought the card from that guy, and HE copied that new vbios on the card? I tought you had the vbios file, and you copied it on there ...

Either way, maybe ask that guy how to resolve that issue.

Are you familiar with Ubuntu/Linux? You could try that and try if the drivers work there in 3D mode.

You could also use really old drivers (after all, your card is "old"), maybe there is an issue.

Also could be, that the new vbios is just not compatible .. that would be bad ...

Good luck!

 

so should i flash this card's vbios? any experience with that?

I have tried every option aside from that. Reformat, reinstall, different drivers, mobility modder, old drivers, automatic drivers, omega drivers. It seems like the last step is vbios flashing. I am just scared because i never did it before. I flashed the mainboard bios, how different is flashing a vbios from that a regular bios?

 

It's actually not that big of a deal, but I doubt it will improve your situation.

Any chance of returning the card? I'd say that would be your best option ...

If you flash vbios, returning the card will be not possible, I guess. So first ask seller and yourself what to do. Once you cleared up your mind, I can tell you how to flash vbios ... but also, you have to come up with an vbios you want to flash on there !?!?!

Good luck

 

You think the card is defective? How sure?

 

I once had an ATI 3470 that black-screened once the OS loaded the drivers. Worked in VGA mode, died once the drivers loaded.

I sent it back to the seller, he said the card had a defect.

Still, I can't tell if it is broken or not, I just can guess. I am far from being a pro on this topic, it is just that I did a lot of repairs on the FL90, so all I can say is, that I have experience, but I lack the knowledge, hehe.

I just can say what I said before: Contact your seller. This is your best option to get any progress.

Good luck!

 

this is it! so it is defective thanks

 

Hi everyone,

I spent a good deal of the day in panic when I discovered that my trusty 8600m GT has gone comatose. The laptop LCD is split up in to 6 smaller and separate screens filled with crap, very low res and with many lines accross it.

It is basically completely unusable. The reason why i suspect this is a GPU and not an LCD issue is that I cannot even connect an external lcd. It does not even detect it when I plug in the external monitor.

In the likely scenario that the worst is true, I would still like to use the rest of the laptop which is working perfectly fine as it boots into windows and all that. THe laptop is by Zt Systems (which seems to have dropped out of the laptop game altogether) and is a
c2d 2.2 ghz,
4gb ram,
15.6 inch,
8600m GT 512 MB DDR II. ( the slow version)

1: Is it possible to somehow disable the GPU and use intel built in crap graphics?

2: Can I buy another MXM 8600m gt off ebay or something and replace the dead one with it? Although the first post seems to say that due to bios issues that will not be possible.

3: Through the first post of this thread, the website mxm upgrade, the only replacement seems to be the heavily priced amd 4670.

MSI GX620 MXM upgrade

Reason being that I suspect my laptop is based on a barebones MSI system and looks very similar to the diagrams on above linked page.

I would REALLY appreciate any help on this matter. I could look up an more info if you guys need it.

Thanks in advance.

 

Upload pictures of your laptop (3 x top, bottom, LCD lid opened) or give us a serial number or anything), either here or somewhere else (decent resolution!).

All what is said here refers to Compal FL90. The procedure might be easier for other model, maybe even impossible (hence, "easier" as well).

And yes, you are right, your 8600M GT died - I am 100% certain!

Cheers

 

Thanks for the quick response!


Here are the pics:


Also on the back of the laptop there is a MSI sticker with the model number written: MS-6837D. A quick google search turned up this, which is similar, though my proc is c2d 5850. (2.2 ghz) and the rest is the same.

Not sure if the pics are displaying properly, so alt links as well:














Any help would be highly highly highly appreciated.

 

100% NO Compal FL90 - so all this written here won't help you at all.

Of the looks of the first photo, it looks like your 8600M GT is on-board. So you would need to get a new mainboard.

This is the point where you have to ask yourself, invest in repairs (of a notebook which is out of warranty) or get a new one (better option, I think).

Sorry, no luck, I guess.

 

Thanks a lot for that quick reply Dr. Colossos. This really is devastating.
I spent the time waiting for the reply installing ubuntu on my crapola desktop p4. Well i guess atleast that was time well spent.

Is there really no alternate hope for this laptop now? As in, is there a way to disable the 8600 entirely and try to get it to run off any onboard solution that normal laptops have??

If even that is not possible, and there is NO other option besides wasting the whole laptop...is there anything that can be sold/salvaged or used elsewhere or differently?

Thanks once again.

 

Naaaah, no need to be depressed.

1. go over to the/a MSI forum - from the looks, I do not think you have a replaceable gfx card in there - but I can't really tell. The guys in the MSI forum will help you find a proper solution.

2. sure, you can basically sell every bit of your laptop on ebay - disassebling it and selling the spare parts would be the most rewarding.

CPU, mainboard (despite being "dead"), RAM, hard-drive (be sure to wipe it entirely, not just format it, LCD, casing, WLAN module, bluetooth modul ... you get the point. Selling as it is will give you approx. 100€, selling the spare parts ... 150€ I'd say (of course you have more work, too).

3. you can try hot-air gun resolding - you would need to disassemble down to the bare mainboard, and point a heat-gun onto the gfx-chip. Might work, might not, fact is, the damage might return (soon), so it's just a temporary fix.

4. You can remote-connect to your laptop, e.g. via remote-desktop connection or VNC, and still be able to use your laptop. Game-play is no option, but working is still okay. Obviously, you need a second computer for that, from where you work.

5. You might be able to get an USB video card ... try google/ebay/Amazon ...

Anyway, be sure to head to a dedicated MSI forum - they will be of more help than I am esp. with your "can I use the Intel video card"-question, as I don't know if you actually do have "two" video cards in there.

Feel free to post back here, too.

Cheers & Good luck!

 

Thank you so much for the advice. Atleast now I have some options to work with. I'll now also head over to the MSI forum and look into the alternatives you mentioned as well.

Once again Dr.Colossos, really appreciate the help you gave.

Cheers.

 

dr collosos. The vendor told me that i should try to install this

HP EliteBook 8530w Mobile Workstation- Download drivers and software - HP Business Support Center

its a bios. I think he wants me to install it to my motherboard, but i dont know if installing an hp bios to my fl90 board might brick it or not. He says it should work, but I want to get your opinion.

 

I would never install a BIOS from a different vendor - I don't say it does not work, but I would ber surprised if your laptop would boot afterwards ...

However, the link is quite general, I also saw video card drivers there.

You could try them, maybe ...

Keep your hands of the BIOS.

And you are wrong when you consider me as a pro on this - I am not!

So feel free to ask for other opinions.

Cheers

 

so im looking for a vbios or a video card driver lol this is confusing but i know for a fact to not install a mobo bios that is gonna brick me.

 

Yeah, you could try the video driver linked there.

I didn't see a video card bios there, and would be surprised if there would be one, as this is something no normal consumer has to get in touch with.

Good luck!

 

Dr.Colossos
Unfortunately, after a few repairs - 8600th Gf broke ...
and I have to replace - I have to choose

1) ATI HD3650 512MB MXM II --- NEW $ 99.2

2) ATI HD4650 512MB MXM III --- New $ 48.8

3) ATI HD 3470 512M MXM II --- NEW $ 63.7

which one to choose? please help select.

 

If you really can get the ATI HD4650 for 48,80$, then get that. Its the 2nd best card you can get for the FL90 .. or did you want today 148,80$, because 48,80 is freaking cheap! Be sure that it is MXM II, to MXM A or MXM B.

Other than that, if you want to play games, the 3470 will not do - only for old games or not-that-old-games but in very low resolution and details.

If you do not play games, the 3470 is the best shot, as it is the cheapest.

Were do you get this prices, if I may ask?

Cheers & Good Luck

 

Hey.

I have an issue.

As I mentioned a long time ago, my gpu broke on my fl90 and I purchased a new 3650 ddr3 256mb replacement, but when I replaced my gpu, and when I turn my laptop on, it turns the lights on, the fan goes for a moment, but no image on the screen. I have tried 2 gpu's of same type, but same thing with both. With my old fried gpu, the laptop does not turn on at all of course.
Could it be, that my laptop does not want to accept the ddr3 card, or could it be something else (my warranty company also verified that my gpu was over, not mobo).

 

Well, 3650 DDR3 is causing issues for some people - having two that do not work is quite odd, though.

Either you are really unlucky, or maybe there is another problem.

With the 3650, do you hear the Windows/Linux start-up sound? Does the DVD drive or HDD spin?

Hows about external display? Getting anything there? Could also be a dead LCD, or LCD cable.

Also try to use a bright lamp and point it towards the LCD - see something? Than your backlight/inverter is bad.

Good luck!