problem with daughter GPU - replacement possible?

Hi folks,

I wonder if you could help me, pls. I currently have 2 nvidia 7950 GTX in my 9750. Since a few months I have problems with the daughter GPU. I baked it 3 times since then (like mentioned here in the forum) and afterwards it works for a few weeks. I wonder how long this will work, till the GPU is baked to death?!

That's why I asked Alienware/Dell Support via email, what solution they offer. And guess what - no solution at all. As the notebook is "only" 3 yrs old and I´m still really happy with it (& of course it was really expansive (over 3k€)) I don´t want to buy a new one.

Here in the forum I read "old" threads about changing the GPUs to 8700s, or 8800s. Is this possible and are there still cards to buy somewhere out there at a reasonable price?

Thanks for your help!

 

3 years is pretty old when speaking about computers.... as for the Gpu's..,they are available, but not for "reasonable" prices. especially now, since there is a slew of buyers for the 3870s( which would be the best upgrade you could put in your 9750) 8700 isnt really worth changing to your better off sticking with the 7950gtx, the 8800 fetches about $400, and a 3870 will prob get around $300 these days. i do think that someone in the market place is selling a 7950gtx slave card fo like $150. that would prob be your bet bet ATM.

 

First things first:
1. The 8800 doesnt work in the system it's the wrong MXM type
2. The 8700's are downgrades on the 7950's

What are the symptoms to your problem? How have you verified it is the daughter card and not the parent card causing the problem? Remember of course that M9750 Daughter = Primary and Parent = Secondary. So if your having issues when enabling SLI for example and think that your daughter card is broken then you would be wrong. In matter of fact any SLI issues will be indicative of problems with the Parent card.

The 3870's are the best upgrade option, but they are difficult to get a hold of and if fitted incorrectly can overheat very quickly in this system.

If you want to repair your current card properly however I would advise that you find a local pc repair shop which has a reflowing machine and can properly reflow your card for you.

 

the area-51 m15x's 8800 cards would work but they are bound to have the same defect as your current so go ATI they are your best option and should offer a nice speed boost

 

No 8800 will work properly in this system. The socket isnt the full length one across the card and all 8800's have the full length connection. Type HE I believe it is called whereas the M9750 has Type III sockets. The Type III ATI cards work in the m15x because it has a HE socket which is backwards compatible with Type III cards.

 

of course it is "old" from the technical point of view, but it still meets my requirements, so why throw it away? And I spent a lot of money (at least for me at is a lot) to get some kind of "long-term-solution", as far as this is possible in the case of technical equipment.

I baked it three times now, and everytime it works afterwards. I guess this limits the cause of the symptoms, which are some kind of matrix sytle background during the BIOS screen while booting and resulting in a black screen (of death) between the "Windows is loading" and the "log-in" screen.

 

i have an M9750 that is used by my mother now, and she really only needs a single GPU solution since she doesn't use any 3d applications, so i have the daughter GPU available.

 

You obviously failed to read my post. The Daughter Card is the primary/master card, without it the system WILL NOT drive a display or function. You cannot just use a Parent or secondary/slave card to drive the display as they have different BIOS versions.

To the OP - I would recommend as I previously did that you find a local computer repair shop with a reflow machine who can properly fix the solder joins in your card. Alternatively you just have to keep an eye out for a new card on eBay or the NBR marketplace. As stated HD3870's work, but failing that a 7950 occassionally comes up now and then.

 

well sorry for trying to be helpful.

i was under the impression he needed a secondary gpu card. calm down.

however, you can actually use a secondary gpu as the primary card. i did it. you flash the bios.

 

kk i don't know that much about mxm format the only mxm card i ever had in my hands where my 4850's and evne then the m17 has to unidentical mxm socket like one is type III and the other HE

you can but it's not recommanded

in the m17 flashing a secondary to primary result in driver issue i don't know the result in the m9750 but it remain a bad idea unles you know very well what you are doing

 

first - thanks to all for your answers and help!

If I get you right, best solution is to go for ATIs 3870?! So I reopened my case at Alienware aksing them to offer me this solution. I wonder if they are going to sell me the card(s). It seems, that some guys (was it here, where I read that?!) have been lucky to get them from Alienware for about 300USD.
Do you know any other shops, where I could get them - just in case?
Or is ebay the only chance?

Again, thanks for your help folks!

 

eBay, Alienware direct or the marketplace on here are about your only options.
I must reiterate my warning again though if you dont do the install *perfectly* the cards will overheat in the M9750 (Some people have had them hitting well over 100C in this system).
You wont get a pair for $300 you might get one but certainly not 2! for 2 your looking at $400-600, if your going down the 2 route then you'll also need the crossfire cable.

Theres one on ebay at present $399 buy-it-now Link

 

what do you mean with "perfect install"? as far as I can see on the pictures, the holes for the screws and the GPU itseld seems to be on the exact same place, they are on the nvidia card. So the old heatpipe should fit, or is there something else I should know?

 

I mean that you have to reposition the memory heat pads as the memory chips are in a different position. You must also have perfect high quality thermal paste application.