Clevo P750DM-G (2016) GPU Failure

Greetings,

My Clevo started having crashing issues without any error reports in the event log. About a week ago it just died and simply would not start up anymore. Here are the specs:

• Clevo P-750DM-G
• Intel 6700K 4.0GHz CPU
• GTX 980m GPU
• 2* 8GB DDR4 2133MHz RAM
• 500G Samsung 850 EVO OS Drive
• 1TB 7200 RPM SATA III (storage)
• Windows 10
• Bigfoot Killer Network Card

I sent it back to Prostar computers. They told me that the GTX980m had failed. To give some context to this, the issue started not too long after I hit my computer. As in, while playing VR on it, I struck it quite hard with a controller. It shut down immediately as a result. Not long after my HDD became corrupt. A couple months after I started getting the crashing issues. My bad.

Anyway, the issue is that a new GTX980m will run me around $700 according to Prostar. While the HDD would only be about $60. I honestly don’t understand why the GPU is so much more expensive than a regular GTX980 or 980m. They tell me that the price is without markup and directly sourced from Clevo. Is there a way for me to replace it myself for less? Why is this GPU so expensive... matching the price of a brand new RTX2080? How easy is it to do the replacement myself with a cheaper GTX980m found on the web? Where do I get the compatible Clevo card? Is it possible to buy a better graphics card and install that myself? I’m not super tech savvy, but I can safely say I am comfortable taking my clevo apart and installing a new part with a guide. I am still within my 3 year labor warranty with Prostar so I would prefer them to just do it and run the tests. But, that $700 price tag might just not be worth it. Please let me know what you guys think. I’ve thought about getting a new computer. But would also really like to have this for a few more months and then sell it (fully functional).

I know Ultra Male (formerly Phoenix) has helped me tremendously in the past. If anyone could make him aware, that would be stellar.

Any input would be much appreciated. Thank you!

 

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Bump

 

They are talking straight up ******** on the price. A 980M can be had for as little as $250 on eBay. Hell you might as well just buy yourself a msi gtx 1070 mxm for $400 and stick it in that machine and watch it fly. Refer to my thread on how to upgrade it if you really want 50% or 2x better graphical performance.
The benefit of your machine is that it literally accepts any card you plug into it no matter if it’s a 280m or a gtx 1080 it will boot to a screen. First gen p750 and p770dm are very upgradable. Don’t worry about vendor either. Msi or Clevo it will work.

Do not go through with that $700 repair. Just buy yourself an mxm 980m or 1070 or 1060 and the rest is plug and play.

Let me know your decision.

@Ultra Male your thoughts?

 

Depends on the country.
e.g. Any work they do may require mandatory warranty on parts and labour which substantially changes the costs. It also tends to be a VERY bad idea for a reseller to be sourcing replacement parts over ebay, especially when they have to warrant it. I've worked on warranty hardware replacement for quite a while now and it's just not worth the risk if the part from ebay fails. You could be left with an upset customer (understandably) AND have to deal with the nightmare scenario of warranty with an eBay reseller. An officially sourced part (e.g. from Clevo or a reputable store with their own warranty terms) is often far more expensive but usually all that would be offered as a business.

For a relatively old machine DIY is probably a better way to go. It's surprisingly simple and the service manuals are available for the P750DM. Plus you can install PremaMod and re-paste while you're at it.

Long story short, if you want it done properly and still have a warranty path to fall back on, Prostar's option is the one to go for, expensive as it is.
If you want to save money, roll dice on an eBay GPU and replace it yourself (which may also void the remaining Prostar warranty).

 

Having new parts supplied by the reseller is quite different to 2nd hand cards off Ebay.

 

The amount of mxm cards I’ve bought of eBay, only one of them failed maybe out of 50 I bought. That was due to a vbios issue. I learnt my lesson never buy a vortex gtx 1070 as it will always get code 43 above certain drivers. Just look at the sellers rating check if the card is not stated as faulty and pull the trigger, it can’t be any easier than that.

I built my p870dmg from the ground up solely through eBay and it had 0 issues. Same with my p770dm-g and the same with my p750zm-g.

 

Ebay experiences can vary by region.

 

Hey there @Eralius. Long post here, please bear with me.

First, we get that $700 is a big chunk of change, especially when you shop around. That it's going through an official channel here and a parts & labor warranty come with it are reflected in that price, for whatever it's worth - but please don't feel pressured to go through with it. We want you to do what's right by you, ultimately.

Second: Although parts costs do hinge on our supplier, we're willing to work with them in an effort to help out our customers. If you're still considering going through us for this (no pressure!), follow up with our support team to inquire or let me know your RMA number. We won't see $250 out the door as you might on eBay, but we'll work with what we're given and pass that along to you.

And third...

Thanks for that... I think others have already pointed out the nuances with comparing eBay to OEM or any official channel. To add to that: We make a genuine effort to be transparent about potential costs even before anything arrives for service. We're not out to rob anybody.

@Eralius - Please don't hesitate to follow up with us. We're on board with helping however we can!

 

I’m actually glad you replied, it shows that your genuinely do care which is rare of big companies nowadays. For a service like this I’d pay up around $300 to be fair. @Eralius its up to you to decide.

 

Hey Guys,

I really appreciate everyone’s responses. Thank you @DaMafiaGamer for assuring me that DIY is a great way to go. Thank you @Prostar Computer for being proactive and taking the time and effort to post and work with me here! I will send you my RMA number and let’s see what we can do. I would like to go through you guys. But, like I said that price tag is just really steep. @DaMafiaGamer so is it just as easy to pop a GTX1070 MXM into my laptop as a GTX980m? Would I need to modify anything? Would it work with my current hardware? That does sound like an interesting avenue. I will contact Prostar and see If that price tag can be adjusted and proceed to weigh that against the DIY approach with the same graphics card or a 1070. I’ll let you all know what I decide.

@Ultra Male Any suggestions?

 

Yep it is just plug and play, as far as I know there was no heatsink mods necessary, at least not on my p750zm or p771dm-g.

 

So long as you get the right card and monitor the pads are making contact to the vrms.

 

Alright guys, it's been some time but I am here with some updates. So unfortunately Prostar computers couldn't really give me any kind of discount. I mean they brought the price of the GPU down to $650 but I couldn't justify it. So, they still have my computer as there were a few other issues with it like the D-drive, the casing was damaged and some other minor issues. I should have it back upcoming week. It's unfortunate it took so long, considering I really need it but I can't change that and it's partially because of the repairs I wanted. Anyway, I'll be installing my own card at this point and I would love some guidance. What I would like to know:

• I would prefer a GTX 1070 MXM if I can smack that in there. Apparently there are different sizes... a smaller variant by Eurocom (Reference: https://www.notebookcheck.net/Euroc...-card-to-fit-into-older-laptops.257520.0.html). In addition this card should cost me over $500. Just want to know which to get and where to source it from and if it matters that much
• I would still like to compare the GTX 1060 and 980m card prices. Where do you guys recommend I get them from? And what are the right formats? Just to be sure?
• Lastly if I could get some links to installation guides, that would be awesome!

I believe that is all. If anyone has any recommendations or anything to add; it is always appreciated. Thank you guys so much! Hope to hear from you soon!

 

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MXM cards dont really have official sources as such so places like Ebay and the odd reseller site is about the lot.

 

You know anything about the sizes for the 1070? Apparently there is a smaller format per the link above. Do I just get a regular MXM? No bios updates/modifications?

 

Define regular mxm, nvidia no longer releases a reference. There are a variety of shapes and some that fit better than others.

 

Well, that’s a good question. I guess there’s not. I’m not as well informed on the subject as you are . I’ve just been perusing trying to find one that fits and am not clear on which ones would. Or which 1060’s would for that matter. Just want to get my computer working at this point haha. Maybe a 980m will be easiest. @DaMafiaGamer @Stooj @Ultra Male You guys got anything?

My understanding is that the card has to be a GTX10xx MXM 3.0b. But even then I’m not sure they’re the right dimensions when I do find those. Here’s a 1060 I’ve been considering: ( https://www.ebay.com/p/NVIDIA-GeFor...-0-Type-B-for-Alienware-Clevo-MSI/16028487546). I can post some more links in a couple hours and check with you guys to see if those will be compatible. Much thanks!

 

In addition I would love to know the following:

• Do I need to get a G-sync capable GPU? My computer technically has G-sync and had it on the last card.
• Do I need to buy anything in addition to the card? Like thermal paste?

Plugging in a graphics card is new territory for me... so I really want to get it right.

 

You don't need a G Sync GPU, you just won't be able to use it with a new card.

AVOID the Eurocom GTX 1070. They are sourced from a Chinese company called GeCube and they are notorious for dying. I don't even think Eurocom sell them anymore anyway. There is a newer version of it by GeCube which is more a standard MXM and seems to have a beefed up VRM design. I don't know of anyone trying one though, but you can find them here: https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...iAA2go&id=573568242587&ns=1&abbucket=3#detail

If it will fit, the best option is the MSI 1070 as it has the best VRM and they do not die very often. I'm not sure if this will fit in the chassis without modifications though.

The MSI 1060 is pretty much standard MXM 3.0 so that will likely fit and *should* be compatible.

Any non Clevo card is going to need .inf modding to install the drivers.

@jaybee83 may know more about that chassis

 

Okay,

Well I definitely want something that I know will just work when I plug it in. Like literal plug and play. Unfortunately, I think I’m just going to have to go with the $650 replacement from prostar. It’ll kill my account right now... but it seems like there’s too much unsureness around getting my own card. I found a 1060 kit for $480. But, it says it will not work with 9xx card Clevos: https://rjtech.com/shop/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=30463 . There wouldn’t be any chance they’re wrong and it’s actually fine would there? I think I gotta go with Prostar. The trustworthy 980’s I’ve found online are even $800. I don’t get why they’re so expensive! But it is what it is.

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B07HRN1SQZ/ref=olp_f_new?ie=UTF8

Would this work and is it reliable?

 

That would likely work but require a work around for installation of drivers.

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-GeF...for-Alienware-Clevo-MSI-US-Ship-/202549476828

This seems like a good deal and has a 30-day return policy. Does it have G-sync though? No mention.

More importantly... is it worth the risk of it not working instead of going with the Prostar 980m replacement?

 

while the msi 1070 is a good card in terms of VRMs / max wattage, ull have to give up/destroy one of the machine's M.2 slots in order to make that annoying tab fit... i checked that option myself a while ago and discarded it due to that

@erelius: the .inf mod for drivers isnt that difficult to implement (plus u only need to do it for new gpu driverd, so fire and forget) so dont't be afraid to go for a 1060 if you find a good deal. iirc all pascal cards are gsync enabled, but dont take my word for that.

@Prema any input on this?

980M cards are only super expensive if you buy them brand new. look around the NBR marketplace and u might score a better deal from a trusted forum member, in case you decide to go the maxwell route.

Sent from my Xiaomi Mi Max 2 (Oxygen) using Tapatalk

 

I believe mobile G-Sync is a switch buried in the BIOS somewhere and not actually GPU specific. Funnily enough, the Linux driver doesn't even bother checking for it and will just function as long as the panel is recognized as supported.

Probably a good idea to get some good paste anyway. Kryonaut is my go-to.

 

that depends on the gpu generation i think. with the 900M series, there was a vbios in addition to a hardware part on the mxm board itself, aside from panel support. not sure with regards to pascal and turing though.

 

MXM-b 1060 is generally a good choice for user seeking to replace a 9xxM.

MXM-b 1070 I would only ever suggest the refreshed version (with all MOSFETs soldered into place) and only with stock 90W vBIOS (no power mods).

Plug'n'Play GPU upgrade driver:

https://premamod.wordpress.com/2017/08/15/j95-nvidia-inf/

Forget about g-sync

 

External g-sync will still be usable of course, just not on the internal panel.