GT60 2OD-026us GPU Undetectable, Fan max speed.

This is copied over from MSI's Forum, Link

So as the subject has mentioned, My notebook's GTX 780m GPU is undetectable. This went down 5 months ago, I remember my notebook sitting turned on, idling on the windows desktop next to me as I was doing work on another computer. Out of no where the light on the power button switched to its amber state and the fan kicked to full blast... strange...

The Issue:
-GPU cease to function, drivers refuse to install
-Windows Device manager displays an Unknown Device labeled "PCI Device"
-Fan running at full speed, worried about damaging the fan if I use the notebook for extensive amount of time.

What I've tried:
-BIOS update
-Updated the Firmware
-Updated Chipset Drivers
-downloading latest drivers, Installer failed to detect suitable hardware?
-swapped HDD with another windows partition.
-Removed GPU, nope. Clean the pins and Reinsert/Repaste card, still nothing.

What I havent tried:
-swap with another GPU (where the heck am I supposed to get one with out risking $$$)
-Flash vBIOS
-Contact MSI Support for RMA (I'll explain why)

I am at a loss, figured the darn thing just decided it was it's time. so i set the thing aside for later investigation, and until I am able to afford repairs.

there are two things to the issue...

I been procrastinating contacting MSI over anxiety. The Device, although under and covered via warranty, it is however void. a year before all this went down, I had neglectfully dropped the notebook onto a hardwood floor. the audio board on the Right hand side and its 3.5mm jack had busted. I later purchased a replacement off of Ebay and repaired the issue myself. That required the full extraction of the Motherboard. So, I voided the Warrenty, RMA may or maynot be an acceptable option.

Another thing to mention, before and more after the issue arose. I had snooped around on other forums about upgrading the GPU from a 780m to a GTX 970m. Im thinking, "If the issue lies within the GPU, then why not swap it to something new?" Would anyone suggest this be a viable alternative? Im a bit worried about purchasing one, installing/flashing the bios, and fiding out that the stock 780m was fine all along and the issue was the main board all along. I dont know, so I'd like to here your thoughts on that.

TL;DR Laptop graphics card not working, anxiety is leaving unsure on what to do. Should I call up MSI and fork over my laptop and a repair bill, or attempt to upgrade to a 970m?

Any thoughts/opinions are appreciated. Thanks!

 

I think that upgrading your GTX 780M GPU to 970M is possible but rather expensive and there is risk of not properly working. Even if you succeed to upgrade your GPU this upgrade is not worth it, because GTX 970M is already an old card but still expensive. I tried to upgrade my MSI GT70 2PC Dominator from Nvidia GTX 870M to GTX 980M but the upgrade is not yet successful. The card is detected by the BIOS but is not working properly. I tried to install modified driver, disable driver signature enforcement, tried different BIOS versions, but still nothing.
Upgrading GPU on laptops is not worth it because the upgrade cost is more expensive and even GTX 980M is an old card compared to the new Nvidia GTX 10 series cards which are far more powerful then GTX 980M. Even the middle card GTX 1060 model is faster than 980M because of the Pascal Technology that eliminates the differences between desktop and laptop GPU performance. Probably next year there will be 20 series or after an year and a half so the gap between 980M for example and probably future model 2060 will be huge so upgrading is not worth it in my opinion. If I can't afford to buy a new laptop I'll go for MSI for repair the current laptop than to upgrade the GPU.

 

I have helped a friend upgrade his older GT70 to a 970m and it works great. Current GT60/70 with haswell processors using the correct BIOS will auto detect the 970m/980m GPUs easily. But as Zar mentioned, the GPU upgrade might be expensive, and you also have to consider maybe acquiring a new machine altogether.

The current 1060 GPU is at least, on the worst case, stronger than a 980m by 15% or so. And that's on laptops without proper cooling. Right now, you can find good laptops with a 1060 on the 1300-1400 price range, and 1070 on the 1700 price range, before any deals.

I would recommend going with a new machine, if possible. Otherwise the 970m will be a small but still an upgrade over a 780m in performance and temps.