GPU issue on NP8660-Please help!

Hey all, so I have an issue with my NP8660's 9800M GT video card and I'm hoping somebody can point me in the right direction. A few weeks ago I started noticing random screen flickering upon start-up and using various programs, etc. Yesterday when I went to my computer that I had left running, I found it off. I tried starting it up and after the loading bar on windows vista, windows wouldn't load to the login screen. I first got a blue screen that said something about the graphics driver and the computer restarted. After subsequent attempts the screen would just go black when attempting to load windows and I would have to manually power off. I tried booting into safe-mode and it worked immediately. Then I thought about the weird flickering visuals I was noticing, the blue screen and the fact that I had to send it in previously for the GPU which ended up just being the thermal paste. I decided to try uninstalling the GPU in device manager. After doing this I was able to boot into windows perfectly fine using the onboard graphics. I phoned the company (XoticPC) that I purchased the computer from to get an RMA # to send it in for repair and found out that my warranty expired. So what I'm really trying to figure out based on all this is:

1- Does this sound like the problem is a fried GPU?

2- Since my warranty is expired, what would be the best (Most cost/time efficient) way to go about replacing the card (or possibly even upgrading while I have the opportunity)?

3- If I decide to replace it myself, which GPUs of equal or greater performance do I have the option of replacing mine with? And where (preferably online) can I purchase these mobile cards?

Any help/comments are greatly appreciated! Thank you.

 

1. Yep, doesn't appear to be a driver issue. It could also be an LCD inverter or panel issue. However, since you had a BSOD relating to the issues described, I'd say it's the graphics card.

2. If your notebook had an MXM slot you could swap in a replacement card, however, I don't know if that specific notebook has one. If so, then a motherboard replacement would be in order.

3. Again, I don't know if the NP8660 supports replaceable/upgradeable graphics, even if it did/does, it might be too costly to buy a replacement part for it to actually be worth replacing.

 

Thanks. I'm pretty sure it does have an MXM slot, but where would I purchase a 9800M GT?

 

First you need to find out what kind of MXM card your notebook supports. Even though MXM is supposed to be a standard. Some MXM cards aren't exactly compatible with certain MXM slots. Plus, there's the added problem of finding MXM cards for purchase. You could try eBay.

 

One thing is, though, I don't think the NP8660 comes with integrated graphics, so I think you're actually booting with the basic windows driver on your GPU, which would put this squarely back as being a driver problem... Or maybe the issue is a partially damaged card, that can't handle being pushed.

 

Judicator , it doesn't have an integrated card... only has a dedicated MXM card... it might be a monitor problem so try booting using an external monitor... if everything's ok , ur screen might need replacing or something in it will.. if not , time to get a replacement GPU... you can get a 9800M GT , 9800M GTX but i would try getting a GTX260M or GTX280M so u get an upgrade in a way as NP8660 supports these cards.

 

Which was my point; if the card was completely fried, it wouldn't have booted up just fine in safe mode, since there's no integrated card for it to use. This means that the problem is either actually in the drivers, or that the card is possibly only partially damaged, and can't take the stress of being run at higher resolutions than the basic resolution allowed by the base VGA driver that windows loads for safe mode.

 

It seems to be that the card is partially damaged then. I'm able to boot into safe-mode perfectly fine, but in order to boot into windows regularly I must first uninstall the 9800m gt driver while in safe-mode. When I log into windows it then says under display adapters in device manager, "Standard VGA Graphics Adapter." I tried plugging in my external monitor, but it's no longer able to be recognized in Display Settings (It uses a DVI connection). Also my display settings won't go past 640x480 resolution and 4bit colors.

At this point I'm fairly certain the issue is with my GPU, but before I shell out a lot of cash on a replacement, how can I definitively determine this?

I've been looking on ebay and found a GTX 260M:
http://cgi.ebay.com/NVIDIA-GTX-260M...eo_TV_Cards?hash=item19b9a801e2#ht_739wt_1165

Would this be reasonably easy to install myself and should it correct this issue?

By the way I purchased my NP8660 as a preorder when it was first released. I don't know if that makes any difference as far as if there's been any revisions etc. that are of consequence in replacing the GPU.

Thanks again.

 

ouch the price is steep... try rjtech.com.. they'll have GTX280M for the price .. they will also be able to instruct u to buy which GPU for ur laptop... because they're biggest US resellers from Clevo laptops...

 

The "easiest" way would be to find a friend with a MXM 2.1 card that they'd be willing to loan you for a quick installation and test. If the borrowed card works fine, then your problem is, naturally, your existing card.

Installation of a new card in the NP8660 is generally fairly easy, I believe another member of this forum, theriko, has the service manuals in his sig.

I know there were revisions to the NP8660, however, I'm not sure what those revisions completely entailed... I know at least one of them was to support quad-core, though. Again, your best bet, if you haven't done so already, would be to have this discussion moved to the Sager/Clevo subforum; I'm sure the people there would know much more about this.

Sean's suggestion isn't bad, and in fact, you could send your notebook into them to be serviced, but they might only want to repalce it with another 9800M GT, even though they do sell the same GTX 260Ms in 2.1 format (or at least they used to, I'm not sure what their stock on these is still). Actually, they would probably know if you could upgrade to a 260M or not, for that matter.

Still, I think your best option, unless you're in a hurry, is to have this moved to the Sager/Clevo subforum and see what responses you get there. If you are, well, calling RJTech, Sager, or whichever reseller you originally purchased your machine from (if they're still around, and aren't... troublesome, like PCMicroworks) would probably be faster.

 

If you would like this moved over to Sager/Clevo just use the report button (triangle) and we will be glad to move it for you.

 

RJTech sells GTX 260M for $390.

All you'll need to do is update your BIOS.

 

It says it comes without the heatsink, will I be able to use the same heatsink as my 9800m gt? Also could anyone give me a link on how to swap out the gpu? Thanks.

edit: Also if anyone has instructions for updating the bios that'd be really useful too.

Thanks again.

 

This is a graphic failure. I know this because i also own the np8660/M860TU and had the exact same problems.

Things to note:
1)After taking out my graphics card to reset it (just to try it) i noticed that my thermal paste was no longer wet looking, it was dry and cracked...Looked like mud that had dried out in the sun.

2) I also had artifacts on loading and was only to load into windows using safe mode.

What i did was bake the graphics card. Yes i know...this sounds crazy...and unreal...and stupid. I did this in November of 2009. (THIS WILL VOID ANY WARRNTY)

I have taken pictures of the process and will post this in about a week.

However this is a SHORT term fix...the card has failed and this will only get you far enough to order a new card.

As of a week ago i have ordered the gtx 260M to replace my card and at that time i will take more pictures on how to switch them out so that people can see the entire baking/replacing process.

But yes the gtx 260M will fit in your np8660/m860tu with a bios update, or so i have been told by numerous people.

 

GTX280M might also work if u can get MXM2.1 version...but this is good news

 

I have a Quadro FX2700M for sale. It's the professional version for the Clevo M860TU / Sager NP 8660. And i'll buy it for only $300, if you are interested PM me

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=460158

 

GTX 280M works too, but you have to mod it to fix since it not made for M860TU (lack of backplate on the GPU).

 

well thats good because GTX280M would be a super upgrade over 9800M GT..

 

I was just contacted by RJtech about my order of a GTX 260m. Seems they are having problems locating one.

 

Update on NP8660 with (apparently) burnt out 9800M GT GPU:

So since Rjtech no longer has any GTX 260M cards in stock my choices have now come down to:

1. Spend approx $450 by purchasing the card on ebay and installing it myself

2. Purchase the card for $530 from Xoticpc, pay $45 for installation plus shipping and tax fees (Probably totaling about $650 or so)

My dilemma is whether or not it's worth it to pay an extra $200 or so to have the card installed by a professional. My main concern with installing the card myself is with updating the bios. I've read that if this is done incorrectly your laptop effectively becomes a paperweight. Another issue is that although I am 95% certain the problem is a burnt out GPU, there is a small chance that I could purchase one from ebay, replace my current GPU and still have the problem persist.

So I guess what I'm asking is, could some members weigh in on what they think I should do? I'm fairly technically competent and it seems like a waste to spend an extra $200 to have it installed, but I can't afford to completely destroy my laptop by screwing up the bios update. If anyone could link me instructions for updating the bios and replacing the GPU that I can review to try and make a better informed decision, that would greatly help also. Thanks again.

 

I would go to safe mode and back up your precious data. Then, flash the BIOS yourself. It's not difficult, though I can guarantee your heart will sink while your laptop beeps away during the flash.

Installing a new GPU in a Clevo machine is not difficult. Just follow the service manual. You can find it in theriko's signature. Make sure that you apply the GPU memory thermal pads correctly, as well as applying thermal paste to the core.

 

Service manual in sig - just to make it easy for you

 

Thank you theriko for those service manuals. They should help me out quite a bit.

Also thanks ettornio for the tips. The service manual didn't mention the thermal paste, but I figured I'd have to clean and reapply that. Now about the "gpu memory thermal pads" to be honest I have no clue what they are and since the service manual didn't mention them either in the dissembling the GPU section could you elaborate a little on that or shoot me a link for more info?

On another note, something strange happened with my laptop today. Lately since uninstalling the video card my laptop has been running at 4bit colors in the lowest resolution possible. However, today when I woke up I found it powered off and after turning it on when windows booted up I immediately noticed that it reverted back to 1920x1200 resolution and 32bit colors and my GPU was installed in device manager. But when I tried to convert and burn a movie to dvd using ConvertXtoDvd (Something that was still operating perfectly fine while my GPU was uninstalled) I got a blue screen error. I tried this three times in a row and it happened every time. Also when I tried watching the movie using VLC media player my screen started glitching out then blacked out and then blue screened yet again. Now I'd just like to make sure, this isn't any indication of something other than the video card going bad is it?

Thanks again.

 

Well, that behavior could still be the card. Usually the solder connections fail due to cracking from repeated expanding while hot and then shrinking as the GPU cools. If the connection only so slightly off, it may work intermittently.

Before you toss out that card, have you considered "baking" it?
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=437683
Basically, it reflows the solder. It's worth a shot if you are just going to throw the card away anyhow.

Also, here's an explanation of thermal pads:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_pad_(computing)

 

Thanks for the info, I'll give the baking a shot this weekend.

 

Just wanted to express that I'm going through the same problem currently.

Also going to give baking a shot this weekend after I move in.

 

Heya - I'm kinda sorta faced with the same situation. My GPU hasn't quite given up the goat yet (is that even a phrase? What the hell?) but I've noticed some graphical artefacts appearing now and then, which leads me to believe that it's about time to think about an upgrade.

I've just mailed the people at MXM-Upgrade.com about the possibility of putting a Mobility HD 5870 in the M860TU, but I don't think this is possible. The HD 5870 uses an MXM 3 Type B connection, which is a little larger than can fit in the M860TU's MXM Type III-HE slot

 

Your options are:

9600M GT
9800M GTS
9800M GT
9800M GTX
GTX 260M
GTX 280M

 

and the Quadro FX 2700M

 

and the Quadro FX 3700M, of course 9800M GTX, GTX 280M and 3700M not officially supported.

 

Gts 160m too