Clevo M860TU

Product:
Clevo M860TU (Bought as "Guru M860TU" from notebookguru.de back in December 2008)
Configuration:
CPU: Core2Duo P9500
RAM: 4096 MB DDR3 1066 MHz
Display: WSXGA+ matt (NonGlare)
GPU: Geforce 9800M GTS
DVD/R: Sony AD7590S
HDD: 160 GB WD Black Scorpio FFS 7200 U/M
Fingerprint Reader

Problem:
Starting some months back every now and then the display would go black, but the laptop seems to still run in the background. Not only the display but also connected video devices would turn black/off.

The problem got more annoying some weeks ago, since then the display goes black nearly immediate after I do some graphical stuff.

Occurance circumstances:
Not Fine:
- Starting a youtube video
- Starting a video (example a MPEG1/2 file)
Fine:
- Starting Windows, doing nothing or opening some folders etc
- Playing music on its own (mp3)
- In "Safe Mode" audio does not work, but opening the same youtube video as above plays the video fine (w/o sound)

Tested:
- Operating system was reinstalled.
- Reinstalled Graphic drivers, and other drivers (Chipset, Audio, ...), also tried some older ones (as far as possible)
- HDD was replaced
- Opened the notebook to check for pollution of the fans - all fine.



For me it looks either like a broken GPU, as the display, audio, etc actually seem to work fine.
Or a broken driver setup - because what suprises me is, that youtube worked in "safe mode" (even though without audio)

Any suggestions what it could be, and what might be a way to fix it?
(I know it is quite old, and therefore fixing costs should not be too high... )

Thanks and Regards
Max

 

Just letting you know that because the laptop is so old, trying to find replacement parts will probably be prohibitively expensive. That being said it does appear to be related to the GPU. Not sure if that model has one you can swap out or not?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Damn, forgot to give a hint at the problem in the topic, changing the topic is not possible, am I right?

@clayton006
According to: http://tim.id.au/laptops/noname/clevo m860tu.pdf
It can be dismanteled to change the GPU

And according to: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/kobalt-nexus-clevo-m860tu-video-driver-crashing.765148/
there are other cards like the 260gtx

 

As long as you don't see any artifacts, it seems that your GPU is okay, but may run too hot! Did you check your temp with HWinfo and have your CPU + GPU ever been repasted?

 

@CaerCadarn CPU/GPU never repasted. Will check with HWinfo

Additional info:
- It is a 9800M GTS (I think there is/was also a 9800M GT available)
- When the youtube video "fails", then apart from the screen going black the audio will start to stutter / go interference like (but it will keep running as long as I keep the notebook on)

 

HWinfo reports the CPU to run @ 45-50°C and the GPU to @ 45-50°C while idling (browser/explorer/hwinfo)

 

Started a CPU stress test with Prime95 for around 5minutes, pushed the CPU temp to a max of ~65°C, no issues.

 

Just tested with an old Ubuntu (15.04) I had here, just running from CD, no installation (also means only default drivers)
Video, Youtube, etc. all working fine.
But: Was not able to check temperatures..

 

So, I repasted both CPU and GPU.
First impression, the issue got better, but is still present, it just takes longer until it blacks out.

 

Hm, then the graphic cards maybe just about to fail. But tbh it's not wort to replace it. You could grab a GTX 260m. But they are sold for about 80-100€.

 

Yeah. The video card is dying, time to get a new one.

 

Ok, thank you for your help.

I am already looking for a replacement, but the MXM2.1 cards are really getting quite rare.... no new ones and quite expensive used ones.

 

9600M and 9650M should also be compatible. The M860TU was also sold with the 9600M. Also for future reference the 9600M also works in the M570TU (I tested it a loong time ago).

 

congratz on having a gpu that has lasted this long.
my m860tu is still going strong and used every day but my 9800GT died after 2 years but luckily i always take out extended warranty and it was replaced the same day with a 260gtx which still runs perfectly.

the one thing i would say if you do decide to look for a 260 is make sure it is not a alienware/dell card as these dont work in clevo laptops (or they didnt use too), maybe someone had found a work a round for it to work.

the other thing that i remember back then was the ribbon to the screen wore out for some people and this also caused the black screen but it doent sound like that as yours stops after a while. might be worth moving the lid backwards and forwards next time it happens just to check.

the only other thing i can think off is the baking method which hundreds of people did which brought the gpu back to life by reballing the solder on the chip. reports back then was from 2 weeks upto over a year of a working gpu after the oven trick. no idea where my links are now to the webpage but it was on overclockers website that the original link came from.