How to confirm if a 7970m is dead? (p170em)

Hey guys,

I have a Sager 9170 (P170em).
A couple of weeks ago, my system froze (CS:GO) and I had to restart it. Upon restart, windows (7) froze at the windows logo. I entered safe mode and loaded diagnostic mode to find out if some start up item was at fault. Turning off my Wifi Drivers seemed to let me boot normally. However, just as I would start a game (Cod4) windows froze after 1-2 secs of gameplay. Again, I am unable to boot past the windows logo. This time merely removing the Wifi Drivers didn't work. Disabling the 7970m from the device manager did the trick.

I have tried to format my SSD and reinstall windows 3-4 times, but anytime I try to install the 7970m drivers, windows gets stuck on a black screen with blinking cursor (Upon Reboot).
Bios detects the card properly (7970m), and there are no artifacts. Prior to this episode, the card was functioning just fine with no symptoms for failure. Another thing I noticed is that when drivers are installed, the GPU fans seem to run non-stop (similar to when running a heavy game). Also, in the device manager, I can see an error on the device (Code:10 This device cannot start).

Cutting to the chase, while I know my GPU is probably dead, is there anyway to 100% confirm this? I say this because the suddenness of the whole incident, the lack of any artifacts etc, seems very odd to me.

Also, what are my options from here onwards? I have tried contacting my reseller (Xotic) but have not heard from them yet.

I found a replacement on Ebay for $200, but it was for Alienware, and I'm not really sure how far bios tweaking will get me. Secondly, me being in Pakistan, delivery of goods via online shopping is a hit and miss sometimes (I'm currently waiting for my Homido to ship for over a month =/).

Another thing I came across that I'm actually tempted to give a go is GPU Baking (Desperate times =D). Again, due to the sudden death of the card, and the fact that it has no artifacts etc., I have this gut feeling that it should somehow be fixable. Besides, what do I have to lose? I have another GPU (8800gt) lying around that doesn't work anymore, I can always test on that first. Although I know both results will be mutually exclusive, it should still give me some experience on exactly how bad things can end up (eg: In case of explosion, avoid baking next GPU!). Anyhow, Any tips would be helpful!
Alternately, since baking a GPU is supposes to basically re-solder some points on a card, is it possible for someone with electric repair equipment (electic repairmen) to fix this with a greater chance of success?

Moving on, given that baking GPU is probably not worth betting ones life on, and the high cost of replacement, I have already bought a desktop for gaming purposes (i7 2700k, gigabyte sli mobo, 8gb ram, 750w corsair PSU, all for under $300, and a new g1 970 oc for around $400). Now to emulate the gaming laptop experience (and possibly gaming on the phone), I am looking into game streaming. Nvidia seems to have some good options for android, and Steam seems to work well with Steam titles. Anyone with any experience in this matter might sharing some tips and tricks?

All right, Sorry for the long and unorganized post. Any advice/help is welcome!

 

Depends; a rework station would fare better since temperature will be better controlled. But really; don't bother and use an oven (fan oven, preferably). The reflow window is 235-260°C, so put in MXM, heat to 240°C and keep it in for, say, 15 minutes after the at-set-temperature sound/light (should be able to spot colour-change of the joints when it's 'ready'). Let it cool off on its own; don't use refrigerator because you can't wait to test it; sudden temperature changes are awfully bad due to different thermal expansion coefficients of the various materials. Same reason why it's better to add pcb first and then heat up, rather than putting it inside a pre-heated oven; gentle cooking.

Ah, and you mentioned ' fan spinning 100%'; gpu temperatures aren't off-the-scale, are they?

 

Have you tried any previous versions of the drivers that might be available? Or was there any changes or programs you installed shortly before this all started happening?

 

Thanks for your input. Another problem I have with baking is that my kitchen oven has no temp control nor temp reading. You think an estimated bake (like baking a cake) will work or should I buy a laser thermometer first?

What color change should I be looking for? My plan is to put it in the oven and let the temps increase. If I know exactly what I should be looking for, I'll stop heating it as soon as I detect the process. Any video guides out there you can recommend?

 

I tried the Omega drivers and the latest beta release. Both seem to have issues.

Also, do you think my ssd could be a problem? Usually windows does not load my wifi drivers on first boot. A restart always fixes this. I might try removing the ssd and installing on the regular HDD, though I have little hope it will help.

 

HDD is certainly the first thing to check. For accurate temperature, get something like this: Digital Thermometer (-50 to 350℃). A lot better than guessing and for $4.64 ... for videos just check YT.

 

Where did you buy this card? by which resseler?

 

Yea, I'm thinking of ordering a laser thermometer from Amazon.

 

I bought it from Xotic