dell xps m170

Destination · 18 Nov 2012 at 12:29

My GFX card in this 7 yr old dell appears to be having major issues.
Dell don't seem to support it anymore.
Where might I find a suitable replacement part?

tigerstyle · 18 Nov 2012 at 14:13

Isn't this the infamous Dell/Nvidia(Nvidia?) gfx card ****up?
If it's lasted 7 years you might just have to take it on the chin and buy new!~

Destination · 18 Nov 2012 at 15:54

It was an nvidia card, why, was there an issue in production back then?
I wasn't aware of it, i think my version was a 6800go or similar, with a higher spec released a year later being a 7800 or something.

Buy a newlaptop do you mean, rather than just replace the card.

tigerstyle · 19 Nov 2012 at 01:50

It's nearly impossible to replace laptop gfx cards unless it's a strange format that very few use. MXM cards.

The Nvidia/Dell thing was a big deal a few years ago, a lot of duff gfx chips were used. http://www.techspot.com/news/30994-dell-issues-update-to-prevent-nvidia-notebook-gpu-failure.html

Destination · 19 Nov 2012 at 13:34

ah good info thank you

Meetgrinder · 19 Nov 2012 at 15:13

Think the issue was with the 6800gt. My old XPS M1530 has one (found out after I bought it, but it was cheap and has lasted 2 years so ok so far...). The 'solution' was to heat the gfx card up on the motherboard (reball it? Is that the right phrase?).

Seen pictures of some plonkers sticking their whole laptop in the oven and wondering why it comes out a melted candle wax style mess, on fire and filling the whole house with black smoke

I was crying with laughter when I read that thread

Destination · 19 Nov 2012 at 21:29

Heat it to improve the heatsink contact, is that what they were doing?

tigerstyle · 20 Nov 2012 at 02:01

Hikari Kisugi said:
Heat it to improve the heatsink contact, is that what they were doing?

More technical than that, heating it to very specific temps for specific periods of time to melt the solder holding the GFX chip to the board! No success guaranteed

Destination · 20 Nov 2012 at 22:15

Oh that is rather more complex.
Well the gfx board is actially quite easy to remove from the laptop, i've had the whole things disassmbled in the past, but doubt it is worth the money trying to track down a replacement board for that laptop now, it was top of the range, seven years ago, but times evolve so swiftly.