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    NP8660 video card?

    Discussion in 'Sager and Clevo' started by LEB, Dec 9, 2009.

  1. LEB

    LEB Notebook Enthusiast

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    First off, yes i have posted about this before, and I have tried searching for answers but can only get very vauge instructions.

    np8660, with the 9800m GT video card

    Quick overview:
    -Got the BSOD while playing a game.
    -Error said something about video card error and that it was going to do a memory dump
    -On restart it displayed a bunch of lines, boxes, and i couldn't read anything
    -Restarted again and all i get now is a blank screen, I can see the HD light doing work and all the normal lights come on, but i can't tell if it is fully booting or not.
    -Yes i always cleaned dust out of the vents but i never monitored temps and never changed the thermal paste after 1 year of hard gamming.
    -I opened it up, the card did not smell, and i saw no obvious sign of anything melted, or burnt, or whatever, however the thermal paste was dry and cracked and the processor thermal paste still looked wet.
    -Put it back together and still got a black screen even after hooking up an external monitor.

    1)Is this (with a 90% certainty) a video card death? :confused:

    2)I have seen that you can upgrade the video card on the 8660 from the 9800m GT to the GTX 260M. How do i update the bios before i put the card in? (which is not possible because the screen is blank) Or can i put the card in and then update the bios?? :confused:

    3)I have looked for the files to update the bios but can't find exactly what to do. Can someone please link me a specific way to upgrade the bios using whatever method is best?

    -I know this is long, but i'd like to know what to do before i spend $450-$500 on a new card. Please, any help you can give me is greatly appreciated!!
     
    LEB, Dec 9, 2009
    #1
  2. Gophn

    Gophn NBR Resident Assistant

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    sounds like overheating... probably from thermal compound drying/cracking. temp monitoring would have flagged that.

    did you clean off the GPU thermal compound and re-apply a new batch?

    you can contact Sager and they will give you the latest BIOS.
     
    Gophn, Dec 10, 2009
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  3. Blacky

    Blacky Notebook Prophet

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    It is likely that the issue is related to bad video memory.

    There is some chance that you could bake the card and get it working again. If not, then indeed your GDDR is bad and you need a new video card.
     
    Blacky, Dec 10, 2009
    #3