Dead 6990M - Upgrade or Buy new?

So it's been a great 2 years running my mythlogic laptop for practically everything, using my desktop less than 5% of the time; however, I've been an unfortunate victim (like many it seems, after poking around the boards) of my GPU dying a blue vertical line, failure to boot windows except in safe mode death

So here is my quandry:
I contacted Mythlogic and to upgrade my system to an 8970M (the only option offered) would be $450 for the card, plus shipping to & fro. I like the idea of an upgrade, have a 0% chance of doing it myself; but I also have that option via newegg preferred account (and only that) if need be - to buy a whole new laptop.

Some added background info: my gaming has waned recently, focused mostly on LoL / Skyrim / Indie games and soon to be honed solely to FFXIV:ARR. I tend to run settings on high and turn off shadows, so a mid-high gpu should be fine in my case.

Does that price sound fair or should I look into something new? Has anyone else had a similar quandry and would throw some of their decisions it would be a great help

Any feedback would be most appreciated.

 

If your system is still going strong and treating you well for all intents and purposes (other than the GPU), you can save a lot of $ and get a top of the line card in a system that is still pretty good by modern standards (I'm guessing your system is the one in your sig). Buying a whole new laptop with a decent GPU will cost you a good $300 or more.

With what you would pay for a new system with a mid-range GPU, you could even upgrade a few more components in your current system if you wanted - such as RAM and/or the SSD - and still have a great system for a comparable price of something new.

 

even if you scoured the web for a great deal, youre still looking at around $1,000 for a new mid level laptop. I'd go with the upgraded card.

 

That's pretty much where I was leaning - upgrade the gpu/ssd. The laptop with the dead GPU is the one in my sig and I planned on tossing in a better SSD while they fixed the GPU, its just $450 just for the card seems a bit steep after thinking on it for a night (most I've ever paid for a desktop GPU was $310 years back).

 

yea, mobile cards are quite steep. On the plus side, the cards in our sagers are replaceable/upgradeable, instead of being soldered onto the motherboard. So when something like this happens, you can at least save the machine. Downside is there is quite a limited market for these type of cards, so they cost us and arm and a leg. The price we pay for high end mobile gaming. Good luck with the new card!

 

Have you tried baking the card? Mine died last week and I was able to revive it by baking it for 7 min at 385F. The performance is the same and it even runs cooler than before!!!