Sony comes clean on faulty 8XXX series Nvidia Chips!

I'm glad to see someone with the same issue that I have right now. My SZ640 with 8400M GS gets incredibly hot when I play 3D games and the power goes off itself in 15 min or so. Updating graphics driver and cleaning dusts off the cooler don't solve the issue at all. Does anyone know if that's related to the faulty nVidia chips issue or something else? Any possible ways to fix it?

 

No, I don't think it is. The problem is not that the chips overheat, the problem is that with heating and cooling cycles the bumps bonding the chip to the substrate develop stress fractures and fail. Then the screen gets all weird with green stripes, flaky display, black screen, or Vista does a BSOD with complaints of the driver failing. But not overheating. Getting the machine hot like this can hasten the creation of the stress cracks though.

Are you using STOCK drivers? Are you doing any sort of overclocking? Does your machine have vents on the BOTTOM, like on my FZ model? If so you MUST keep them free. I cannot use mine directly on my lap without blocking them. So I have a small piece of MDO board cut to just larger than the machine that I use to give it a hard surface that won't block the vents.

Gary

 

its odd that they dont cover my NR21z it has an 8400m gt which runs at very high temperatures and will probably fail in the next year or so. luckily i have a 3 year warranty but thats no the point.

sony need to sort themselves out people pay more for their supposedly better quality. ok the laptops are built well enough but the customer service is terrible it took them 3 months to register my laptop under my name, how hard is it to access a database and write down some details.

 

Apologies if this has been discussed already,

BUT

does the 3 year warranty extension for the nvidia chip now mean that the GPU is covered for four years from purchase date ?

 

I have exactly the same problem with my SZ as other posters. It showed the same symptoms exactly as theirs. Getting really hot and then after a few months it started turning itself off; only mine went one step further and after powering down over several days, the nVidia chip set then DIED. stopped. the Sz will now only boot in stamina mode and I cannot find any trace of the nVidia in device manager. its as if it no longer exists. regardless of the position of the stamina/speed switch the intel graphics chip is all that works. the sz is of course now running much cooler.
I have been fighting with Sony to try and get a repair because of course I am now out of warranty. - (bought late 2007). They swear that the problem is not the nVidia despite their problems with all the other models. To me its obvious that it is the nVidia that was running too hot! and has probably now burnt out, as the SZ is now running at near normal (hand warm) temperature.

As it is an integral part of the mother board apparently they are saying that they want € 850.00 before picking it up to repair. OUITRAGEOUS!!!
I refuse to buy that. I can go to PCWorld and buy a new MacBook for the same money.
ANybody got any further news on how to pressure Sony into doing the honourable thing with our SZs. As some other poster said this was the top end expensive model!!

 

Please don't double post.

Gary

 

Apologies - didn't know where to put it. In case the thread was 'cold'.

 

My SZ650N was working OK but since 2 months or so started to show green stripes, Vista froze and i have to manually turn it off, getting really hot when using the Nvidia mode...
I believe my Vaio is out of warranty (bought second hand in Ebay one year ago) and I live abroad, in a country where sony has no tech support available.

I've heard about hardcore technicians doing some kind of Video processor fix, kind like the one people performs to Xbox 360 faulty video chips...
Was like taking the video processor out, clean the area and resolder it with care and good quality tin. But this kind of fix is costly in this country (Dominican Republic), like US$250 or $300, more or less the cost for a new motherboard in Ebay...

What do you guys recommend in my case?

 

my screen looks like it has dead pixels and its spreading i have a fz-4000 do you think this can be the cause?

 

Im calling the service center here locally and see if they will take it tomorrow for repair. Will/can Sony upgrade the 8400 chip for a fee? No sense in getting another 8400 if they are prone to failure, especially when new VIAO laptops are coming out with higher performance chips that should be in stock.

 

I doubt there's an upgrade as the chips are specifically used on particular series of mobos.

 

The replacement motherboards come with a new version of the 8400 chip which does not have the thermal expansion issues that the previous versions had.

Gary

 

Talked to a guy in India last night, said my model isnt covered by the extended warranty but they will fix it for $280. If Im gonna pay Im gonna ask for the motherboard from a faster model that uses the same case, should bolt up right you would think. Id like to see the internals of different models of the VGN-AR series to see why I couldnt use one or the other.

 

You might want to go to the Sony Esupport site and check the list of machines to be CERTAIN if the info you were given is correct.

Gary

 

Just because it looks similar outside and shares most of the same parts, there may be other considerations. Sony is not likely to put a newer mobo in, unless they also install that same models cpu. More importantly though is that there may be other things that changed, and while they may fit or not, they may force you to upgrade as well, such as cpu fan. There is still minor things that change, like an extra daughter board, or tab, requiring new side plates, or base plate. Minor changes can cause lots of issues and Sony isn't going to do a custom upgrade where it is a Frankenstein system. If you want a board upgrade, odds are you will have to upgrade everything that was different between them (minus drives and ram capacity).

If you really want this, start studying parts breakdowns and watch Ebay. I have done this twice, one was a drop in, the other required replacing the entire lower case and board.

Most factories use a specific tool set to test a system, and when you start mixing parts it introduces unknowns. This is why when you send a system in for repair, it almost always come back with a wiped hard drive.


Also, do not count on your particular boards replacement getting the newer chip.

 

And why would that be? Nvidia is no longer making the chip using the old problematic compound. Sony said the reason for the extended warranty was because of the bad compound in the chip. So why would they continue to use chips with it?

Gary

 

New old stock.

As supply dwindles, they may resort to the older stuff, they may even if supplies are not limited. As long as it comes back working and lasts through any new warranty they are covered.

If you read the fine print on many warranties, they do not even guarantee you that you will get a brand new replacement part, even if your product is a month old. Many companies send out refurbs or even tested, used items to replace new D.O.A. items. I actually worked (past tense) for a company who did this. Send us your dead on arrival cd-burner, and get a dusty, scratched, used but working one back. Many extended warranty companies use whatever they have laying around for repairs.

 

I understand the concept, but since Nvidia was the one who recalled the chips, Sony had no incentive to retain any old stock. Nvidia was paying for the retrofit. All indications are that folks were getting newer chips.

Gary

 

I have a vgn-sz750n with the same video problem (vertical lines, crashes), but after contacting Sony and explaining my situation, I got the "sorry, you aren't on the list" reply. To make things worse, my warranty has expired. Anyone have any suggestions on a fix?

 

Sony Service centre are thieves.

I sent my FZ11S because my screen went blank. When I phoned Sony Services, I was told may be it has Faulty Graphic card.

Few days later they emailed me saying that the Hard Disk and the Screen inverter has failed and it will cost £540+ to repair the laptop. Despite numerous emails about what test they have done I was told that they have tried with new Inverter and HDD and it works. Without these it does not work.

I wrote to the Managing Director of Sony Uk explaing that the laptop was just outside warranty period and their product should not fail so quickly. 4/5 weeks later I got phone call from sony that they will give me 25% discount on the repair bill.

I refused to get it repaied from sony and got the laptop back from sony and took it to the local repair shop. For £25 they tested the HDD and the inverter and found them both working fine. They said that it was the screen which was probably gone. I bought a used Lcd Screen from eBay for £40 and replaced it. The laptop is working fine NO problems at all. When I took the old screen outI found that the wires fro the Inverter to the Screen Lamps were burnt. That was the only thing wrong with the Laptop.

I have emailed sony many time to get the repair/testing log from them but they would not reveal it. Another thing I have noticed with sony repairs is that they like to talk to you on the phone but would not confirm anything by email.

So beware of what Sony repairs say. Sony should be ashamed of their Service. I would never buy Sony again and would not recommend any one esle to buy Sony. So far I have pesuaded 3 of my friends not to buy sony.

Do a google search for Compaints about Sony repairs and see how many dissatisfied Sony laptop owners are there who feel cheated by sony repairs.

 

Every customer I know who has dealt with Sony was told the hard disk was bad. It did not matter what it was sent in for, it always needed a new drive. It also didn't matter if it was under warranty or not.

I think it's just faster to replace the drive than to do a restore (which is true) and in all honesty, less expensive when you figure labor rates vs. what Sony pays for drives.

 

Hello, I joined the forum to post about the same problem on my Vaio SZ58 (2.4Ghz C2D, 3gig, 8400M GS, Australasian/Oceanic model). First off, I uploaded the error onto Youtube for everyone to see (skip to about a minute for GPU error part): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qXdHy2QyrsQ

So here is the full story: I bought my laptop from Sony Style in New Zealand (which is where I'm based) for the full price of $3699 NZD, sometime late in 2007. I had zero problems with the machine, but over time it must have sucked on heaps of dust which made the fan inefficient, and overbearingly loud. I never dusted the laptop out or opened it other than to place some RAM.

For about a month or so, I used the Stamina mode to keep the heat down, because my laptop turned itself off for the first time after playing Age of Empires 2 for about 20 mins. I played the game heaps before, but this was the first time it shut down unexpectedly. It was also extremely hot on touch. This prompted me to take it into the service, but Sony in NZ sends all of their past-warranty laptops to an Authorized Service (mine expired 3 months prior to fan making a noise) which is where I went to get my fan replaced. Anyway, it took a while because the part was ordered from Singapore and Chinese New Year was delaying the shipment about a week. Fast forward to a few days ago, when I picked up my laptop with a new fan. When I got home, I switched the laptop on to monitor noise and temperature (it was quiet, and sitting around 55-65 degrees Celsius under full load, and Power in Win7 management), and after about 10 minutes the screen suddenly berserk and degraded in ten seconds. A bunch of vertical lines started flashing, and after a restart a same thing happened, just like in the youtube video I posted.

After restarting in Stamina mode, there is no problem. So definitely the faulty 8400M GS! I took it to Sony today, and I'll be posting what happens as soon as they get back to me, which is likely early next week. Stay tuned!

 

This is the second board replacement for this particular laptop, VGN-FZ290U the first of which was a failure within a months of the purchase date. The laptop went in 28 days ago and Sony's sub-contractor is still waiting for "back ordered system boards." I had an extended warranty and don't expect to see my laptop within the 30 days of back ordered parts that forces Sony to initiate what they call a "parts assistance procedure." Not sure how the extended manufacturing warranty reads but if I have a feeling that if I didn't have an extended warranty it could likely be another month before I see my laptop again.

Good luck if you need a board and chip replaced. By the way, I was told that they attempted to "glue" the Nvidia chip back onto the board after it had "peeled" away. That didn't sound reassuring.

 

How do I know if I have a faulty Nvidia chip?

 

If your Vaio is one of the models listed in the first page of this thread. Your Nvidia GPU is a 8400/8600 G series.

 

Well after 2 1/2 years the Nvidia chip finally went bad in my FZ190. I went to start up my computer and all I got was green lines and weird characters on the screen. I called Sony support and within a week they had someone come to my house for the repair. The tech replaced the motherboard and everything is working fine again.

Also of note, I didn't take any measurements but it sure seems like my FZ now runs a lot cooler as well.

 

Sorry for all but all of a sudden my display card got a problem that’s what I have been told by the guy who was trying to fix my computer, and he added that the card has been displaced and he re fit it again  but obviously he doesn’t as after few days the problem came back and I decided to wait till I get some1 professional to fix it up.

So for now am using my new F Series yet am not so happy with the screen colors.

Will updates you soon I fix up that problem.

The problem just came all of a sudden, the computer fall in the ground once n it was on but i took it out of power and turn it on and all was ok.

Later after a month or something i was traveling and was trying to run my computer during the flight when the low batteries message came on but the computer didn’t hibernate as it supposed to do it went off as the power cuts.

came later home trying to open but no hope, u can see the power led and all the power related items work like u can open the dvd even turning on and off the wifi , connect anything to usb and there is power.

then i took off the Ram and the hard disk and re fit them again then the computer started later, but last for another 3 days before it did it again, and before it went off allot of noise and dots came on the screen as if the power surge is unstable yet its fine and a message show up u got a problem with the display card, then restarted the computer and that’s it, but this time removing and re fitting the ram or the hard disk didn’t work.


went to that guy, he said the graphic card is not removable, but look like it lost its sealing to the motherboard, true i felt he is not honest, but he brought it back again, but again after one week it went off again.

then i opened the lap myself checked everything and took off each cable from its socket and re fit all then surprisingly after fitting everything the computer work, but only for another 2 days.

Now i left it a side and ordered the F series as i have allot of work and decided to wait until i get some pro help

i posted both of the above in the FZ owners thread n i have been guided here.
I have been using my VGN-FZ25M for alomst 1 1/2 year and it was perfect and as u can see all of a sudden the screen just turned to balck, i dont know if they will fix this problem for me but i got that computer from a trip while in dubai?

 

Softarno,

Contact SONY as soon as possible. They extended the warranty on the FZ models that have the NVIDIA chip, to cover the problems with those chips. You may be able to get it fixed by them.

Gary

 

i am also user sony vaio vgn-sz55gn. the case also same, nvidia not working anymore, i already send email to Sony Indonesia but until now no answer...Fxxx Sony

 

The SZ series are not currently covered under the warranty extension.

 

Well im not seeing the Sony CW series on the list and it would appear that I too on a brand new CW am experiencing these issues.

 

Doubtful that this is the issue. All the newer models and even some of the older models came from the factory with newer chips from Nividia that do not have the sustrate problem.

Gary

 

i has a vgn-nr21z with a nvidia 8400m gt and the black screen, but isn´t in the list. any idea of solution??? thank your

 

Thanks for this trick" Fix Your Graphics Card By Baking In Oven ". Now after tested 1 hour no more white line, random pixels....nvidia now is back ...n still under tested

 

Last night my FZ190 came down with a bad case of the Nvidia chip blues. I initially got a BSOD re: the video driver. Bad sign. Rebooted and the VAIO logo from the BIOS had the dreaded green vertical lines of dots. Worse sign. Windows tried to boot and had a black screen. Terrible sign.

Called Sony this morning told them what was happening and they said I am under the extended warranty and that I did not need to send the machine to them, they are having a tech come to me! JOY!!!! Now I don't have to worry about pulling everything off my hard drive.

I was able to start in safe mode and uninstall the video drive and can at least use the machine until the tech arrives. It runs hotter since the CPU is now doing all the graphics work. But at least it works, sort of.

Gary

 

Hurrah! Got a call this morning from the local repair service Sony uses for onsite repair and the guy said he'd be here in one hour. I explained that I had imaged the drive before I uninstalled the driver and that the issue was not visible without the driver (except for the green dots on the bios screen which Sony does not use as one of the triggers for saying the Nvidia chip had failed). He said no he didn't need to see the issue but WOULD need to see if it worked after the motherboard swap. So we agreed I should restore my image and await his arrival. By the time he got here, one hour on the nose, I already had the memory, hard drive, dvd drive and most of the bottom screws out. I'd spread out a thick towel to work on and had an assortment of little cups for the screws from each sub assembly. He was pleasantly surprised. I also asked if I could look over his shoulder as I just bought a replacement wrist rest/trackpad/speaker assembly on ebay to replace my badly worn wrist rest. He was fine with that, even going to the point of showing me things I would have to do for that replacement job that he was not going to have to do. NICE!!! He was about to replace the thermal pads under the heat transfer pipes when I asked if he wanted to use some alcohol to remove the old stuff so we'd have a better mating surface. He said sure and handed me the pipe to do while he continued on. I was quite impressed with how readily he accepted me as a peer and allowed me to participate. (It didn't hurt that I mentioned I owned the first computer store in Cincinnati in 1976.)

Bottom line is, the machine is fine and running about 10 degrees Celsius cooler due to the removal of some significant dust bunnies from the heat pipe fins. I'd guess I was about 75% blocked, even though it was just a thin layer. I am idling at 45c as I type this with the GPU at 56c. That's 10 degrees less for BOTH. Sweet. And the issue I had with a "funky" wireless switch are gone since the switch is part of the motherboard.

Thanks Sony. I take back all the bad things I said in the past two days.

P.S. I found out there are some dip switches on the motherboard that tell the machine what sort of display is present, so it would be feasible to replace the display with a different type (ECO vs nonECO for example) but only IF you knew the proper settings. I asked if there was a document specifiing this. He said no, they are just instructed to match the settings of the motherboard they take out.

Gary

 

Hi, my UK Spec FZ-21S has developed the green stipe issue after 2 and half years.

Does anyone know if the extended warranty also grants UK spec machines? Has anyone claimed the warranty sucessfully in Europe?

Cheers

 

The warranty extension applies to UK models too. More information here VAIO Support Europe

 

Hey guys,

I've got a VGN-SZ71 with a 8400 NVIDEA Graphic Card. Since today I got the following problem: green vertical lines, "artifacts" and windows not loading or only in safe mode or only if I use the STAMINA Mode.

What are my solutions to solve this problem? I am out of warranty since 3 months. Is there any repair service that is good that solves that problem permanent in Germany / Europe? Will you ever buy Sony again? Shoud I mass-phone / email Sony and hope for a free repair?

I am kinda dissappointed that I have a 2000€ Laptop, and SUCH bugs and then a very bad support! I mean its THEIR fault?

 

For those in the EU needing 8400 repairs, particularly SZ owners, try this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sony/451511-sony-vaio-sz-graphics-problem.html

and this link:
Video board M/B REPAIR SERVICE for Sony VAIO VGN-SZ SZ - eBay (item 260607992494 end time Aug-21-10 06:56:08 PDT)

Sony WILL NOT fix your 8400 in an SZ. Neither will most manufacturers at this point of any effected laptops. Sony is oddly the exception here it seems for those they acknowledge as being effected.

As for Sony and the SZ, even if they repair it, they will put in another faulty board, they have never acknowledged the SZ as having the problem and likely never will. We will likely never know for sure unless someone does an engineering diagnostic with a microscope as Nvidia says not every chip has a problem, Sony says our model doesn't have the problem, but some industry experts say all of them have the problem. Based on the number of failures, which seem to be rising, it's possible we do have a bad chip, but it could also just be that their time is up. Hardware fails over time.

The service mentioned seems to actually replace the chip and improve cooling. Is their service great? I can only go by what was in the thread, but it can't be any worse than Sony who wants almost double that to just put in another faulty board. Ebay'ing a used board is also more expensive, and nets you a board that may die even sooner than a Sony replacement. You can also try baking or reflow, but I don't recommend that unless you are willing to buy another board when that finally fails as no one will touch it to repair it once you do that.


In the meantime, you can try replacing the thermal compound and clean the fans and heat sinks, but this is unlikely to fix it. Also see if it alters when you move the screen (this indicates a broken wire, which is a relatively simple fix). Beyond that, just use stamina mode. Which I recommend SZ owners do as much as possible anyhow.

 

Thank you the information and sorry about the late thanks (I was busy configuring a new laptop LOL)

 

Three days ago, I booted my VGN-FZ190 and got a "display driver error" message. The screen then became eratic. First it froze and got blurry. The first attempt to re-boot yielded colored lines and squares. The next attempts yielded only a black screen, with no Safe Mode option. I then decided simply to turn the thing on, patiently leave it alone, and hope for an eventual recovery mode message. Instead, the thing got hot and failed altogether. Now, when I turn it on, I hear only the disc drive sputter. Neither the C drive nor the fan activate.

I took the device to a local SonyStyle store. There was a "technician" present. He immediately suggested that the motherboard was bad and that a replacement would cost $700, at least. He said nothing (NOTHING) about the NVIDIA GPU problems and recalls, although this should have been "old hat." I knew nothing about the issue at that point, but was not eager to pay $700 either, without further investigation. After all, a low-end new model costs roughly $700.

I then visited this forum to learn about the NVIDIA Geforce 8xxxx series problems. My Sony has a Geforce 8400M GT CPU with the problem, which Sony came to recognize in a Support notification issued last October, roughly one year after NVIDIA belatedly confessed in its SEC disclosures.

I phoned the Sony Support number for the CPU problems. The representative at first tried to cast doubts on my suspicion that the graphics card was to blame. However, since I had researched others' experiences with the series, and my symptoms were consistent, he finally ceded and arranged for a field technician to contact me. I am still waiting for the field technicians call to make an appointment.

Meanwhile, can other forum participants confirm whether Sony will always "make good" on this repair, or can the technician appear and then allege that something else went wrong or try to charge the $700.

Since the failure occurred before I was aware of its probable cause, or the free repair offer, I persisted longer in trying to re-boot the machine than would otherwise be the case. Some informed forum participants perhaps quit as soon as the graphics display went awry. Others may see a different failure history and continue to see simply messy graphics each time they reboot. Does anyone else have a case where, upon turning on the power button, they see the power light, hear the disc drive sputter, but no longer hear either the hard drive or the fan? My guess is that a bad motherboard might impede any other functions, but does anyone else witness precisely what I do?

 

The tech works for a third party and could care less. Once Sony agrees to dispatch a tech your concerns are pretty much over. But if you want to be safe, do what I did. On the morning the tech is to arrive place a large thick towel on a nice well lighted surface. Flip the machine over and remove the access door for the memory and the hard drive. Remove the memory and the hard drive. Then remove all the screws from the bottom of the unit. And stop there. The tech is not going to go thru the process of putting the machine back together to run any sort of tests.

I did this for two reasons. First, my GPU failure was intermittent. It would not always boot with the issue. But after it was on for a while, it would fail. I didn't want to go through the hassle of the tech not seeing the failure initially and then giving me grief about it or having to wait for the machine to warm up and then fail.

I also had two ulterior motives. First, the techs are notorious for not being careful about sitting the machine down on a surface that may scratch the top of the case, hence the thick towel. I also wanted to carefully watch the process, because I had plans to take it apart again latter to replace the scratch up palm rest and touchpad that resulted from 3 years of 10 hours of use every single day. AKA normal wear and tear.

When the tech arrived, I told him I had prepped the machine for him and even had a bunch of small cups for each set of screws. I was up front with my desire to watch and the tech was kind enough to show me the trick, possible pitfalls and even the steps I would have to do to replace the palm rest that he did not have to do for a simple motherboard swap.

The lack of hard drive and fan sounds are not typical of a NVIDIA failure. All the more reason to do as I suggest. My tech said he is not required to see the symptoms only to verify the machine works AFTER the repair.

Gary

 

Is this to make things easier for the tech, or to prevent that the hard drive be inadvertently subject to a system restore that zaps anything other than the bare OS? Will the tech reinsert the drive and RAM when the rest of the MOBO work is done?

Will system backup software work if I put the noteook's hard drive in an external case. Obviously, I can't do it with the drive inside the notebook, untill the "fried" MOBO is replaced.

The onset symptoms of my problem were definitely consistent with the NVIDIA card issues. But can the solder stress or flaws also precipitate an outright short circuit that ruins both the GPU and the MOBO, or are there adequate circuit breakers to prevent that? I'd hope.

 

It is to make it easier for the tech, and to make it less likely the tech will want to boot up the machine before he does the repair. He will put both back in as he is required to make sure the machine is operational before he leaves your premises.

There is no such thing as "the hard drive be inadvertently subject to a system restore that zaps anything other than the bare OS". Such a restore has to be initiated purposefully.

The system backup software on the drive will NOT work with the drive in an external enclosure.

The solder stress flaws would not ruin the MOBO, just the chip itself and as I told you before, "no disk or fan activity" is not consistent with the usual NVIDIA chip issues. Again, this is why I suggest you do as I said and have the machine already partially disassembled when the tech arrives. Once the MOBO is replaced you worries are over.

Gary

 

Hi,

I have the same problem too
At first my laptop screen starts to flicker and turn black and gets extremely hot very easily.
Now my laptop screen still flickers and gets hot and no more pictures after few seconds of trying to start the computer.

I just recently found out about the Nvidia Chip Recall.
And I called Sony yesterday and now I'm awaiting for the tech guy to come to the house.
I don't know how to take the laptop apart, will I get screw by the tech of running tests on my machine?

Do they just replace the video chip or with the motherboard too?

 

My Laptop has had the green lines, random characters popping up from the Nvidia GPU Failure for about a year now. I first took the computer to get looked at by my Uncle, and he said it would be too expensive, because i would have to replace the whole motherboard. He gave me an external USB graphics card. I didn't know that they repaired it for free until this week.

I could've had this fixed a year ago if I saw this thread earlier!!!

I called in eSupport this Monday and they said they would call back to schedule a time for the tech to come replace the motherboard.

 

I think the motherboard & graphics card are integrated.

 

Wow. That's fast. I called Sony several days ago, but have yet to receive a phone call from the tech person to set up an appointment, and am beginning to wonder...

Dumb question: Is the CPU also integrated into the motherboard. In other words, is there a risk that the replacement may come with a "standard" chip that is slower than the 2.4 GHZ core 2 duo one that cost me extra in 2007? The 2.4 GHZ speed is "minimum spec" for my AVCHD video editing, and would be incapacitated with one that was slower. Does the repair service utilize a "one size fits all" MOBO with an inalterable (and maybe slow) CPU chip?

 

Don. The CPU, Bluetooth (if present) and Wireless modules are all separate pieces. The tech will remove them from the exisitng system and put them onto the replacement MOBO.

Think about it a minute, do you REALLY think any company could legally do what you are suggesting?

Gary