Is my 5720 gpu toast?

Thats a lot of artifacting.

Probably from overheating damage if you do not clean out your fans/vents once every two months.

 

I haven't done it in a while...

I mean, i did use an air compressor every now and then to blow through the fans and the exhaust but i just got the guts to open it all the way when this started happening...


Is there anything i can do on my own to fix this, or is this one totally damaged? What puzzles me is that it recovered once, even after these artifacts, but now it wont.

 

overheating damage is improbable as the gpu will shut down itself to prevent overheating (unless ur computer is very old) . this maybe a driver error. did u try reinstalling windows. or maybe due to magnetic effect (if u r using a crt monitor)
pls include all details of your machine when u post.... the above post is highly inadequate. just two pics wont tell us anything

 

It's a sager 5720,

pentium m 780, 2.26ghz
2gb ram
1920x1200
7800gtx go
7200rpm 100gb hdd


It was working fine, a couple of knights ago and i've played civilization 4 on it, nothing intense but still 3d.

The next day the screen started dying, i've had a similar problem a couple of years ago and i think that part that regulates what happens to the screen once the lid is closed died. After that, the screen wouldnt turn off once the lid is closed but i had no problems like that.

After the screen, i started seeing artifacts, and evenutally a bsod.

These artifacts happen much before win boots up. I've tried reinstalling the drivers, it hangs somewhere mid way (screen dies), and ive tried reinstalling win, but to no avail.

 

have you done any temp monitoring (with programs like RivaTuner)?

if you videocard has gone past 90 C degrees then it overheating for sure.

There is not guts needed to open the bottom... it easy.
- open the panels to get to the fans and vents
- get flashlight too look through vents (main place that gets clogged up)
- use Q-tips and a lot of compressed air to blow out the fans ... mainly focus on vents.

 

I've already done it, i took apart the heatsing from the cpu, and then the heatsing from the gpu. I applied as5 to the gpu core, but i left those mushy blocks over ram intact.

It was really clogged up, so it's probably permanent heat caused damage?

 

yea...that is probably the case.

if the heat was high for a long time without airflow... permanent damage is to be expected.

you should check your temps when you're gaming to make sure theres no overheats.

you can still buy another videocard from vendors like:
- www.eurocom.com
... or eBay

 

Does it make any sense to buy a new, or even used video card since that can cost up to a third of a new notebook price?

One ebay hit gives a price of $600, although it's the d900k version not the 570. A pumped up 5793 with a 8700 is around $1800 .

I've had my sager for almost 3 years now, it was pre-ordered right when it came out, if i said that it's showing signs of wear and tear that would be a small word.

I still wish it lasted for another couple of months or so if a new generation comes out. I had a 5790 for a month or so but it was stolen so rather than getting a replacement right away i was hoping for a new generation to come out.

 

May be it's time to sell it and get a new one.

 

I`d sugest getting a new one.
Even a gateway FX for ~1200 $ will be better than your system and the card(8800M GTS) will be twice as fast.

 

Are you sure that now its the time?

I'm still kinda bummed out because my 5790 was stolen, if i get a 5793, that's basically the same thing that i've had, albeit without a 8800gtx. I was hoping that i'd wait for mobile quads, not the desktop version thats already available in that behemoth of a 9XXX sager.

 

lemme ask u a question. doesnt these chips have failsafe temp monitoring installation so that they shut off in case of overheating ??. i dont think theres any machine in exception to this. then how come this damage is due to overheating........... I DONT THINK SO

 

So what do you suggest may be wrong with it? They are known to fail even with all those precautions, this seems like a memory chip has been fried.

 

infact i was not suggesting but asking........ i am new to this topic however from what experience i have the GPU and CPU does shut down on temperature extrimities. however if ur sensors are not working properly this might not be the case. this can also be caused due to some manufacturing defect on the chip that didnt show up first..... hmmm i have given this topic quite a bit thought. however nothing comes to my sluggish mind

 

Well, there was a TON of dust, which i couldn't blow out with an air compressor. It was stuck between the radiators from the two heatsinks. I wasn't gutsy enough to disassemble it right away, but once i did... i was surprised i didn't find a cat inside.


So my gpu is definitely toast. There are people here who fix motherboards and they were able to fix desktop gpus that had the same problems like this, maybe they can fix mine as well.

I live in Europe... the forsaken part of Europe, so getting a new sager isn't all that easy.

 

here is a small list of Europe Clevo sellers:
(UK)
- http://www.novatech.co.uk
- http://www.rockdirect.com
(France)
- http://www.pcw.fr/
(NL)
- http://www.laptops4u.nl/
- http://www.xxodd.nl
(Germany)
- http://www.mycizmo.com/
(Sweden)
- http://www.ggsdata.se/

 

Wow, these are all like, 30% more expensive than sager.

 

The North American Clevo distributors seem to have a better deal since they sell so many in quantity.

 

Also check Kobalt COmputers and Rizeon

 

I'll stick to sager.

Are more mobile quad cores on the horizon?

 

if you wait until Summer... Clevo will release at least two new models:
- M570TU (refresh of M570RU... but with new Montevina platform, e-SATA and HDMI)
- M860TU (15.4" with Montevina and 8800M GTX)

 

Mobile QC are in Montevina are expected to come out Q4

 

hey did u try booting using an external monitor ???. does these problems occur there also ??

 

Yup, the same thing. My memory is toast...

 

Did u tried to format it and then do a clean install of Windows? Maybe it's still a driver problem ....

 

its physically damaged for overheating... even the OP said that the vents were heavily clogged with dust when it was opened up.

 

yeah, I have the exact same 5720 configuration as you do. I thought at first just blowing into the vents with compressed air would keep it from overheating and I was wrong. I open it up once every 2-3 months now and give it the complete treatment.


If you ever experienced a significant decrease in FPS while playing games, thats a good tell tale that the GPU is overheating, and as soon as you start seeing that decrease you should plan to open the computer up and blow it out. If you were playing very graphic-intesive games in a very warm room with not a lot of airflow, that can do it too.

I'm truly sorry to hear about your laptop, just try to keep in mind that performance Laptops are like women. They constantly need to be maintained. With your next laptop, try to stay on top of the preventative maintenance a little more. Remember that it doesnt usually void your warranty to just take the bottom off to clean it.

 

doubt it will fit but i have a 8700 card from a 5791 im selling... 200+shipping if it would help you out at all.. i dont know if it will fit but lmk.