IFL 8600M GT Issue (or not)

(Title should be IFL 90, 8600M GT)

Hi there again.
Well, i'm quite depressed cuz I think my GPU died.
The problem is, today I left as always my laptop on sleep mode before going out for some hours.
When I came back, I turned it on but display didn't show anything. So I restarted PC (You know, holding power button 5 secs, and then start it up again). And display wasn't showing anything.
Ok, at first I though the entire laptop was dead, cuz it didn't even show the BIOS main screen that comes up when you turn it on, and it was blank screen for about 1 minutes or so. Later it began to have CPU usage and I could hear the Windows 7 start up sound. So i realised that it was not the bios but the GPU.
Now, the problem is, I thought that I could solve the problem using my TV as screen and I connected the VGA port into the TV but, it didn't show anything.
1. I saw that someone had the same problem as me and people said it could be RAM problem, it's not.
2. Heard that the wires which connects the motherboard to the screen could be damaged.
3. GPU dead.

And what it makes me more mad, I can't open the case at all cuz I have 2 screws that won't unscrew, I mean, They're 4 side hole or star ones and maybe of their build quality, while trying to unscrew them, they began to erode the hole and now it's a circle instead of a star.

So , any solution for both problems?
Thanks for reading.

PD : I'm a Spanish student who learns English at all so... sorry If I make any mistake.

 

Use a dremel or drill on the screws to drill them out. You won't be able to replace them later but at least you'll be able to get your computer open.

 

Weirdly I had very similar problem after installing fresh W7. It started going to some sort of stand by(the power button was flashing) but it couldn't be awaken. Not even the 5sec power button didn't help. I had to cut the power source to turn it off. Then it started but with no picture, just the sound. I turned it off, forced it, took out the power cord again, pressed the power button a few times and the it started normally, with picture.

This was all happening with W7 drivers. I installed latest nvidia drivers and since then no problems. Weirdly, the first time I installed W7, none of this was happening.

 

ofcourse your laptop won't give you image on your tv, the graphics card is still being used when you connect a 2nd monitor.

edit: in my first post I was mistaken by saying you could replace your gpu, you don't have an acer so I removed it.

 

grbac : you mean with w7 drivers, i was using nvidia ones , not the lastest but still nvidia drivers. i have been using w7 since october and nothing of this happend until yesterday. At the moment I have my laptop disassembled, checking if some of the wires which connects the motherboard to the screen are damaged but i don't think so-

Student@antwerp2009, i don't understand what do you want to mean. Usually when i connect it to the TV, it shows my background screen on the laptop and the TV shows the w7 interface and etc... :S

I'm going to reassemble my laptop and try again... Btw, i've just checked the gpu but i don't think that I can see where is the problem by looking at it

 

I'll bet it's a dead video card -- if it was just messed up drivers, you'd see the BIOS start-screen.

The laptop not displaying anything on an external monitor is further evidence of a dead video card, as opposed to the laptop's screen being dead.

 

I think that would be the problem.
Couldn't it be something related to the motherboard?
And btw, can't you boot it without the gpu? i think you wouldn't see anything if you disconnect the gpu from the motherboard. wasn't there something that the cpu would do the gpu task?

 

That's what I wasn't saying in my first post, I didn't have a BIOS start screen and after a few restarts, the screen was back and working at which time I manage to update the drivers. Updating the drivers fixed the problem.

So henxu, yes, this was happening with W7 drivers. I hope you have the same problem as I did, my NB is working perfectly again.

 

Meh. Even though that might be thr problem the OP should still change his GPu because I do not see how a W7 can completely lock up a GPU to the point were a hard reboot keep it asleep... Hd3650 are pretty cheap those days too .
Now for the stripped screw, you can put some super glue on your screwdriver and try to glue it to the screw and unscrew it that way.

 

Well, I can find 2 variants of this card.
I exclude the 1Gb DDRII one because almost all people think that's very odd.
So I wanted to buy the 512mb DDRII or the 256mb DRIII, now, the first one costs me around 50€ insetad of the second one which can costs me around 110€. I don't really think that paying an extra of more or less 60€ for a bit (or maybe a lot) of perfomance would be worth. (Prices on eBay).
And Yes, I tried that before disassembling all the laptop but , it didn't quite work. The screwdriver got a lot of glue and it took me hell to take it off.

 

LOL yes super glue is an effective way to get the screw out... until you want your screwdriver back without the screw glued on...

 

I had the same problem with my screws. All I did was drill right through, taking the head off. Then once the panel is off, use a pair of pliers to take out the thread. I have two more stripped screws to remove so I can replace my hard drive.

Oh, and I'd vouch for getting the GDDR3 version if at all possible. If it's anything like the 8600m GT, the DDR2 is a huge limiter. The core is much more capable, but it's bottlenecked by the low bandwidth. Still, if you get the DDR2 version of the 3650, it will be a noticeable improvement.

 

@Azone, yes, I know, 0.6GPixel/s is a big difference between both cards.
But it is 60€ more expensive. I don't really know what to do.
Fact.
My laptop is almost 3 years old, don't know if it can hold 2 more years.
From there, If it can be useful for 2 years more, I would upgrade it to the GDDR3 version, and upgrade also the CPU.
But I don't know... Maybe I'm going for the 256 one, and see what happends.

How are both compared to the old 8600M GT? I think both of ATI cards are better huh?

Wow, Btw, Azone, 256 posts :S hahah

 

Yeah, I understand your situation. If you just want to keep your computer running, the DDR2 HD3650 isn't a bad choice. It is definitely faster than the DDR2 8600m GT, but depending on the application, a bit slower than the GDDR3 8600m GT. If the performance of the 8600m has served you well, then you won't be disappointed with the DDR2 3650. The GDDR3 3650 is noticeably faster, but costing over twice as much as the DDR2 version may not be worth it.

Essentially,
8600m GT DDR2 < HD3650 DDR2 < 8600m GT GDDR3 < HD3650 GDDR3

All in all though, both cards are an upgrade, and easily more reliable than the 8600m GT. So, you really can't go wrong either way.

 

I'm not sure how this is possible either, but it happened to me too: I was installing Linux in dual-boot with W7 and the screen froze forcing me to do a hard reboot which gave me nothing but a blank screen -- no BIOS, no anything. I figured the 8600M GT had finally died, but then I tried turning it on again after 10 minutes or so and it worked just fine (my Linux installation got corrupted, but that was expected). There is something fishy about how the Compal BIOS interacts with W7 or maybe something gets stuck in the RAM that prevents it from booting (that's the only way I can explain why a hard reboot wouldn't fix it, but it worked 10 minutes later).

That said, the problem of the OP doesn't sound like this -- it sounds more like the GPU died. henxu, if the laptop is 3 years old, you might want to simply consider a new one. The 3650 is better than 8600M GT, but it is still an old mid-range card so it's not that much better.

 

Yes, I've considered that option, but actually I don't have enough budget to buy a new one, maybe 1 or 2 years later. Anyways, if it performs better than the old 8600M GT, it's ok, I don't really need extreme gaming perfomance

PD: Ok, btw, last question before I purchase (finally, the 512mb DDRII version, cuz I think It'll hold likely 2 years more, and I don't need gaming perfomance, if I can play D3 and SC2 (when they come out) I will be more than happy) how can I know that it's not the screen the thing that is dead?

 

Connect the NB to external monitor. But I think you did that already.

 

Yeah, the first thing I did.