W230SS motherboard into W230ST Chassis?

Hey Everyone,

I'm in a bit of a jam with my current W230ST. Basically, I purchased my W230ST in June 2013. A few months (Sep/Oct) after using the laptop the Nvidia card died and I had to resend it in for them to replace the motherboard. It took almost a month to get fixed and another month to get to me. I was deployed on a ship so the shipping was understandable.

Now fast forward to present day, it looks like I'm having the same issue with my Nvidia card on the W230ST. I've done research and also chatted with Tech Support of my reseller. And they concluded that the Nvidia card is dead again and I have to send it in again. My issue is that I'm once again on a ship and I don't want to have to wait for so long to get it back and the other issue is that my warranty has expired.

Some questions:

Will the W230SS motherboard fit into my W230ST chassis? The reason to my madness is that I've been burned twice by the Nvidia card of the W230ST. Though it plays everything I throw at it, it doesn't have a good history of longevity for me. I don't trust it.

If it does fit, how hard is it to replace the mother board? I've built desktops in the past, so I've got some experience but never took apart a laptop to that level.

If everything is possible and successful, how will windows 8 react to a new motherboard being installed? Will I have to reactivate it?

I'm really hoping that this is possible. I'm sure it sounds crazy. I have over 6 months left on the ship (with port visits in between) and I would hate not having my laptop for gaming.

The current laptop is working fine, expect the video card. With the Intel graphics I can game a little, but sadly, it's just not the same.

Also on a side note, when I sent my laptop in on the first Nvidia card issue. I received the laptop with everything erased. Just a fresh install of windows 8. All my music, movies, games, etc.......ALL erased. So I was also in a ship deployment during that time with 6 months left with no form of entertainment. I was very unhappy.

Please let me know your thoughts.

 

The main changes were to the GPU and display connector, you may need a new screen cable and panel.

 

Thanks for that info. I didn't think about the screen panel and cable. Do you know if the W230SS has had any known issues with the Nvidia card like W230ST?

 

Have had no issues so far, but only use it for hardware acceleration in CAD-like programs, no gaming.

Noticed that most parts are labeled "ST" on my W230SS ... port layout's the same as well. My guess would be "yes".

Took it apart; no different from any other laptop . Sorry ... not as easy as a desktop; lot more work, but certainly possible. If someone put it together, anyone else can take it apart, eh ?

Panel in the W230ST is a N133HSE-EA1, same as the FHD screen in the W230SS. So you can keep the screen, connector on lcd-side is identical (part of the lcd, after all). Not sure about the cable though; the pinout may differ. The W230SS cable connector on mb looks like this:

Spoiler: W230SS cable wiring

Compare this pin-out to the one from the ST service manual. Cable part nr. for the W230SS FHD is "6-43-W2301-010-K", so if the pinout differs; get that and you're good to go (display-wise, that is).

Lovely project :thumbsup: .

 

Thanks for your informative response, t456. I will definitely look into it.

I've tried to contact clevo, but they haven't responded to my inquiry on the cost of W230SS motherboard. There is a reseller website that has the ST and SS motherboards at the same price. They also sell barebones systems for a little bit more. Now, I'm trying to justify the benefits of a barebone system appose to just the motherboard purchase.

 

The barebone would be a LOT easier and you could sell the plastics/heatsinks.

 

That has crossed my mind. According to the RJTech website, The SS motherboard is $425 and The SS barebone is $659. This doesn't include shipping. This is more than what I want to spend on such a fairly new laptop.
Currently, I still have not received a reply from clevo. Does clevo sell things cheaper or do I have to go through a reseller?

 

Clevo don't tend to deal direct with customers. I would go through your reseller.

 

Just an update. I went ahead and purchased a W230SS motherboard and installed it into the W230SS chasis. I have everything up and running!! The only thing that I found that was not compatible to the SS motherboard was the CCD cable (web cam). The ST has a 6 pin CCD cable but the CCD port on the SS is an 8 pin.

According to the W230ST parts list, my web cam (Part #: 6-88-W540C-4902) isn't offered on the SS parts list. So I will probably need to replace the webcam and associated cable. The SS parts list offers 4 different web cams and different cable:
UVC CAMERA (Webcam) I just need one of these:

• 6-88-A11SC-4900
• 6-88-W540C-5102
• 6-88-W940C-5100
• 6-88-W940C-4900

CABLE (Wire Cable for CCD 377MM 3.3v (HL) W230SS)

• 6-43-W23ST-010

I've checked out JRTech but they do not offer those parts on the website.

Anyone know where I can find these parts?

All in all I'm pretty happy, especially with an updated Nvidia card. I just hope the GTX 870 doesn't fail like the 765 did....twice!!

Thanks to everyone's input.

Edit: added cable part #.

 

Stripped ccd and its cable from my W230SS when disassembling the panel (need the space for tracker). Send pm if you want them.

 

Gigglegut- I did the same thing and swapped out my 230st with 230ss, were you able to get the cable and CCD?

t456-Do you still have that cable, if Gigglegut didnt take it?

 

Ask him this way @t456

 

Yes, @Gigglegut has my ccd+cable now. Had to ship it to a navy ship, but it arrived and was plug and play.

This one will work, too; Clevo W650SJ ccd+cable.

Spoiler: CCD connector, Clevo W650SJ and W230SS