C90S Easiest and Best GPU replacement?

Ok my old C90S was still serving me well up untill this morning when I switched on to dead screen, no beep, no good.

Looking at all the posts and after a few basic tests its pretty obvous to me that the 8600 GPU in there is dead. I will cook it later but need to get a replacement ordered in fast.. theres just too much set up on that box for me to discard it just yet and if the cook works I know it will only be temporary.

So I see the 9600 thread but you have to build your own heatsink! No thanks.. I need a quick replacement. Is my option only another 8600? It would be nice to have a more reliable, cool running card. Not too bothered about running high spec games anymore. I use the c90s for all my work now (web dev).

Im hoping for a quick answer from this great forum .. Im out of a job at the minute!

 

Without modding the machine, I think the 8600 will be your best bet but even that will be tough to get a hold of with it being an older card.

 

Wow so c90s really was a failed attempt at a desktop style modular barebones. Not even one gfx alternative!

Ok I will hunt a 8600m gt 512 but has to be new considering the fault. If 9600 and a copper plate is easier to find I may give it a go.

What ended up being the best processor (all round)
for this box?

 

Nonsense the best card is the 4670 512mb GDDR3 card. I have one and it needed 0 mods unfortunately not a viable option for you as not a purchasable part usually. Mxm upgrade though sell the 4650 GDDR2 part now which will rival the 9600M GT and even outperform it in newer titles. The good part it will fit perfectly although you might need a fan mod as for some reason the fans go to full speed with 4xxx cards. That mod isn't hard though. For reliability and cool running the HD 3650 is another card to look at. Similiar peformance to the 8600M GT and no mods needed to the heatsink.

The best CPU is the E7500 2.93ghz capable of 3.2ghz OC or the X6800 extreme 2.93ghz (probable 3.5ghz + limited only by heat and power)

I would suggest getting the x6800 and use some decent thermal compound like ICD 24 thermal compound. Using Throttlestop (just type into google) you can fully use the unlocked multi and go way past 3.2ghz

The C90 wasn't a failed desktop barebones attempt. Only Asus gave up on it. Here in the community we have proved the 8600M GT, 9600M GT, HD3650, HD 4670 (both GDDR2 and GDDR3) versions all work no problems at all. The 9650M GT and GT130M also worked but proved too tricky to run at full speeds.

So my recommended spec for the C90S would be 4GB ram, X6800 (unlocked with throttlestop), 4650 1GB GDDR2, Panasonic UJ 220 blu ray read/write @ 2x, asus C90P 150W adaptor to round it all off.

The C90P - see my sig thus far If you have any questions I am happy to answer them as I have owned both machines and can probably give you some insight.

 

King of Interns: I see you have a C90P.. just want to make sure you know that I am running C90s which has more crippled spots.

what about this card
4670 GDDR3 1GB?
ATI HD 4650 M96 DDR3 1GB MXM II Vedio VGA Card LS-5001P | eBay

or this card:
Nvidia GT240M 1GB DDR3
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Asus-C90...754?pt=PCC_Video_TV_Cards&hash=item20ba707192


Also you say HD 3650 is easy replacement but it comes in
DDR3 256MB
DDR2 512MB
DDR2 1GB

Do they all play nice? And DDR2 1GB has got to be better than DDR3 256MB right?

Some say things like
BIOS VERSION: ATI, Acer, HP
Is this irrelevant when choosing?

 

Yeah I realise you have the C90S. Components wise the C90S is identical to the C90P. Only the chipset is different so the C90P can take newer CPU's and 8GB ram.

You stated you are not interested in gaming so I would recommend the HD 3650 512mb GDDR2 card. Reliable, cool and cheap.

The GT240M is a nice find. If you want the best performance I would purchase that card. In GDDR3 varient which it seems to be nearly as powerful as the 4670! Then again will run probably hotter than the 3650 so will need to make sure cooling is up to the job. I did hear though that the GT240M is very cool as it is 40nm vs 55nm 3650/4670.

Any GDDR3 card will be faster than a GDDR2 card. So 256mb GDDR3 will outperform even 1GB GDDR2.

I recommend you look up "C90S Unleashed" by the forum member Angel Marinov. The search function isn't great though so just type it into google and it will come up. That thread is amazing and lists everything and I mean everything you need to know to make the most perfect and stable C90S from wi-fi to GPU to cooling all the way down to CPU and ram. Really recommend you read it from top to bottom very thoroughly.

 

I've been following the Nightwalker thread for a couple of years now, thanks to everyone for educating this (newbie-like) hack! What a fun, beautiful machine this is! So, if someone would be so kind as to suggest if I'm looking to upgrade performance on my C90P, am I better served upgrading to GT240M or upgrading via Express Card slot ViDock some GDDR3 or GDDR5 desktop GPU? Anyone? Thanks!

 

The GT240M seems like a good one to try. Phoneon has showed success! Nearly as powerful as the 4670!! What CPU are you running? In fact what specs do you have in general? You must be the only man running a C90P like me!

 

Hi, King ! Thanks again to you and all for your awesome participation in this thread. My CPU is Q9550S, 8600M GT DDR3, 8GB RAM, 128 GB Crucial SSD, and Windows 7 64. I use this as an all-around desktop replacement, word processor, music player, video player with external Bluray drive, it just does everything I need it to. BUT, if I really want to push the envelope, and play some serious games, do you know anything about performance for an external GPU via Express card such as I've mentioned? Greetings from USA!

 

Yeah I spoke to nando last month here is what he said:

"Can do: x1

Maybe: x1E, x2, x2E

Not possible: x1.Opt

x2/x2E requires that you have mPCIe/expresscard slots as port1+port2, port3+port4 or port5+6.

The best performance would be from a x2E link + ATI card requiring that you have accessible port1+2.

See first page of thread for more details. ( http://forum.notebookreview.com/gaming-software-graphics-cards/418851-egpu-experiences.html)

Nando "

Hope this helps

You seem to have a nice setup. I was tempted by the Q9550S but instead went for max power otherwise your setup seems similar to my own. I recommend getting a GT240M GDDR3 1GB card while they are available they look like they would fit the C90P GPU heatsink well so you at least have decent midrange performance on the road then look into egpu options Nice one on the SSD. My next next upgrade after the attempt on putting a 4850 is done.

Just wondering what temps do you get with your Q9550S? I assume you undervolt it as well. Who knows maybe we have to swap if I haven't got the power for both X3380 and 4850 lol Also OC wise based on my own success am I right in thinking you are good for a 3.1ghz OC at 365 on the fsb?

 

Thanks for the link! It gives me something to think on, as far as what road I'll take. Sorry for no screen shots, as far as my CPU, stock volt/freq. Cores 0-3, in order, idle: 46C, 40C, 44C, 46C. Avg. 55C, 48C, 53C, 55C. Max 60C, 50C, 60C, 60C.

I'll really have to do some soul searching as far as GPU upgrade, my temps Avg. 68-74C now (boy, my temps under the first couple driver releases were through the roof, 85C and above, Avg.!) I've really had better luck than most, it's 2011 and my 8600M GT still lives! You hit the nail on the head as far as characterizing the "midrange" performance, and that's as far as either the 240M, or that minimum suggested Desktop card HD5750. I guess it comes down to do I max this thing out or save my pennies for the new machines coming out end of year or next Thanks again!

 

Very good! Shows how low power it is!. You ought to undervolt too! Probably cut a good 10C off load and 5C of idle temps always worthwhile doing!! Presently I run 29C/25C/27/27C at idle and around 65-70C load at 3.5ghz

It wouldn't be hard to see you cpu idle 20-25C and load at 40-50C! Even at 3.1ghz

 

Hi KoI,

I've bought 4GB of G-skill Ram and a 120W adapter.
I've the C90S, like we spoke before but i think i'll buy the C90P motherboard here :

Wholesale c90p motherboard - Buy Low Price c90p motherboard Lots on Aliexpress.com
and i'll put my previous processor : an E8400 which is waiting for me in a box somewhere.

But, for the graphic card, i don't know what to choose between the GT 240m or the HD 4670 or the gts 250m, can you help me with this and send me some links to buy them (maybe i'll take the cheaper one) and some forums where men succedeed with those cards.