P150HM - Won't Start up / GPU Failure? / GPU replacement?

Hi guys,

So I got an issue with my P150HM since this morning:

Specs:
Graphics Card: AMD® Radeon HD 6970M 2GB GDDR5
Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.0-2.9GHz
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3
Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED AUO B156HW01, 95% NTSC Matte Display
(and a bunch of other stuff...)

Error:
1. It starts up - shows up to Windows boot logo, then screen stays dark
2. Safe mode boot works
3. If I uninstall GPU Driver, system also boots up in normal boot. When I re-install the driver, it gets stuck again

My thinking so far - GPU is damaged/broken?

My question:
1. Does that make sense? Is my thinking right?
2. How could I test the GPU?
3. If broken - how to replace and with what model ( 6970M seems to be hard to source?)
4. If replace - what would be easy to install without modding the thing overly


Thanks so much for your help guys!!!!

Cheers,
THTD

 

If safe mode works it has to be a driver issue. Otherwise safe mode wouldn't work either if the actual card was bad. U prob wouldn't even see it post for that matter. Try a different driver all together

 

Thanks for the reply!

So I was running whatever the latest from AMD Catalyst was. I would be very happy if it was only a driver issue.
Now the question - what drivers would be worth testing - and more so, why would the latest from AMD not work..?

 

Thanks for the pointer - checking this now.
For others with same issue.
So far I am looking at:

AMD 14.4 drivers from AMD website causing windows boot failure. [Solved] - Video Driver - Graphics & Displays
Boot Failure after installing amd catalyst - AHCI - Windows 7

 

Yea if the card "works" but after you install the driver the card doesn't "work" anymore (you can't get to windows), its still a dead card. Thats normally how the AMD's die. So I would start hunting for a new GPU.

 

I am still somehow hoping for one of these:

Catalyst 14.9 Known Issues
[404829]: Horizontal flashing lines on second screen in a clone mode with V-Sync on using AMD Mobility Graphics with Switchable Intel Graphics
[404508]: Display takes a long time to redraw the screen after an S4 cycle
[405432]: Mantle driver will TDR when running Star Swarm on the loading screen
[404660]: GPU gets stuck in a low power state after it was previously stressed to max power
[403032]: Severe flickering observed on default launch of SimCity 4
[403449]: Playing any media sample in full screen in the 2x1/1x2 Fill SLS configuration leads to TDR
[400573]: Intermittent application hang observed while launching Aliens vs. Predator
[400693]: While running performance test, crash is observed with fault module atidxx32.dll
[401386]: Severe corruption and flashing light observed with specific game settings in Grid 2
[401289]: Flashing lights in Batman Arkham Origins game main menu
[xxxxxx]: Driver installation randomly crashes or hangs
[xxxxxx]: Intermittent black screen or BSOD on reboot after driver installation
[406933]: AMD Catalyst™ Control Center intermittently crashes or fails to load


I have tried quite a few options and I am stuck. This appears to be the issue.
Question is - is there any way I can test whether the card is dead?

To add to this. I have uninstalled the AMD drivers and running Standard VGA without hiccups (except for low resolution).

I tried installing the 14.4 and 14.9 and later as well the 13.2 (which failed to install as opposed to not booting up after install).

What is a new card that is easy to install and how much would that cost? (i'm in the UK now)
(would this work? http://www.ebay.com/itm/261577058807?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&fromMakeTrack=true)


Thanks so much for all the help!

 

So it looks like I will HAVE to replace it. (bothers me as I am not 100% that the card is actually faulty). Anyways... it has to be done...

So the question now is: What card fits into the laptop? I am very confused with the versions out there. I essentially want this to be as hassle free as possible, and HDMI must be working.

Any help/pointers are very much appreciated!!

 

I think 7970M or the 680M is the max upgrade for this model.. I would suggest the 680M...

P.S: I'm not 100% sure so don't take my word for it...

 

with the 680m ull definitely have hdmi functionality. as for the 7970m, reports are varying depending on machine and vbios version...

 

Yea the BEST thing to do is grab a 580M those will work obviously. 680M's will work but have to have the right vBIOS version on them, and if you don't have anyway to flash the vBIOS before sticking it in you have a chicken + egg problem.

 

Awesome. Again thanks for all the help!

So would these fit?
580M: Nvidia Geforce 580M GTX N12E-GTX2-A1 2GB DDR5 SDRAM Card MXM 3.0 | eBay

or even 680M
NEW GENUINE ALIENWARE M18X R2 GRAPHIC CARD NVIDIA GTX 680M SLI 2GB MXM 20HTK | eBay

If these are not the right ones, what do I need to look out for?

How can I tell which Bios I would need?

@mythlogic - you guys don' t happen to have stock of any of these? (Shipping to UK)

Lastly, I read that potentially baking it (called 'reflowing') may be worth a shot?

Cheers guys, really appreciate it!

 

Ok will try baking - do I have to use thermal paste? Found mixed opinions...

 

remove thermal paste before baking, then re-apply when installing the card back into the machine. also, remove any paper stickers, plastic covers and foams on the card

 

Thanks!!! I'll report back once done!

 

Sooooooooooooooooo, that was a long break...

Took a while to get the different things, and mostly, I was on vacations hehe

So, I actually did try it. Took out the card and took of the paste (took of CPU for repasting too)

I was not very careful removing the paste (IC7) which led me to think i actually broke the GPU before even baking it for good.

However, it was in the oven for about 8min on 180 C and letting it sit another 5 min with oven turned off and another 5min with oven with open door to cool down gradually.

Plugged all back in - and voila - miracles do happen - boot and running smoothly. First rebooted on OEM drivers, yet now updated to most recent Catalyst and all is well.

Hope to get another 3-4 months out of it

Thanks guys!!

 

Looks like a cold solder joint.
Excellent salvage work Thehansthedampf and yeah don't hassle the Hoff :thumbsup:

 

Thanks

Also - maybe worth adding - i used arctic cooling mx3 to replace my IC7 and no issues so far. repasted gpu/cpu with in.

 

lol MX-3.. Arctic Cooling MX-2/3/4 are junk in comparison to ICD.. Your temps are gonna go up soon .. Seriously next time repaste with ICD..

 

Have you had any performance issues after baking? See my thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/very-weird-problem-with-p150hm.770923/

 

Well aware but so far so good.

As per above, nothing bad happened yet. The laptop is on a cooler though (CoolerMaster sth...). I would not be surprised if it does die in a few months though.
Temps are normal for CPU/GPU (given both were repasted). Important to note that I rarely use this for heavy gaming these days so it is not a lot under heavy load. On the other hand, SC2/Heroes does put a bit of strain on the system (at least SC2 on the CPU).

 

Hi all, thought I'd report back in again. Card has just yesterday fried again. I will not be baking it again i think but need to consider my next steps. mostly whether I will replace the card or build a new system.

If I were to replace it, could someone remind me, was it the Dell or the Alienwares that were the same fit - I cannot remember
i.e either this http://www.ebay.de/itm/Dell-AMD-Rad...t-X-Bracket-/321841755929?hash=item4aef437719
or
http://www.ebay.de/itm/AMD-HD6970M-...n-M6600-V60-/141743765378?hash=item2100963782

problem of course is that they are used and also doomed to fry again at some point.

 

best to stick to clevo cards. it can be confusing sometimes since they advertize the cards to be compatible to clevo/alienware/msi, but thats because alienware and msi machines are a bit more forgiving than clevos. alienware cards are a nogo, msi might work, best chance is a clevo card. so make sure to ask the seller from which kinda machine the particular card was pulled from

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

thanks man!

anyone any idea where to get new clevo cards (for not outrageous prices) - i doubt it but worth a shot?

 

one option would be from clevo extreme gaming (CEG) on ebay or directly from their website, they also give you a 12 month warranty for the cards:

http://www.ceg-hardcorecustom.com/category/mobile_gpu_amd

http://www.ceg-hardcorecustom.com/category/mobile_gpu_nvidia

 

Do you know of any similar shops but located in the U.S.? I'm not really too fond of ebay and I'm also looking for a GPU replacement.

 

u can try rjtech, for example: http://rjtech.com/shop/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=167

but they only provide a 90 day DOA warranty IIRC

 

hey
after some research eurocom has some deals. but again they are pricey.
http://www.eurocom.com/ec/upgrade(1,277,0)ec
ebay is good for cheep and used.
also the market here has some options.
I