Msi Mobo Compatible with iBP CZ-17

Hi Gents,

My laptop is at a local reseller/technicians office and so I have little to provide besides the bare specs that I remember.

My laptop is a IBuyPower CZ-17 Valkyrie.

Intel 17-3630QM
1TB Standard Drive
16Ram
Nvidia 670M

Just the other day I was going to trade it for a desktop, while moving files to my external drive the power went out and the cable was plugged in! I initially thought I just needed a new charger and after calling around the greater los angeles area for a 180w AC Adapter(very hard to find when you need it the same day!!) I found a laptop re seller that had some extras in stock. I headed over excited to pick it up and be on my way later in the day to trade for the more powerful desktop.

When I got there we plugged in the replacement and to my surprise it still didn't charge the laptop, even worse was we began to smell something burning and at this point we knew something was really wrong. The tech opened up the case and saw a slight burn near the charging port as well as we could both smell it when putting our noses close to the area.

He recommended I replace the whole motherboard and after a day they quoted me around $400 for the mobo and $50 for installation.

I'm asking on these forums because I'm unable to find any information or the board online myself. I've read that the manufacturer is MSI and thus I should probably be searching for a board made by them that's compatible with my system but I am not a laptop enthusiast, or educated much on these subjects.

$400 for the mobo however does not seem worth it to repair. If it can be found cheaper then I'd probably do it.

Anyone here able to help me find a compatible mobo for my laptop would be a savior.

Another Question,

What GPU's if any could I upgrade to? The biggest problem with the laptop is the lack of a dvi, display, or mini display port. Essentially bottlenecking my monitor at 60hz when in some games(the ones I care about) it could reach 144hz. Is it possible to in anyway upgrade to a GPU that provides a dvi or display/mini display port? Or do these ports come from the motherboard themselves? Can the motherboard be upgraded without replacing all the other components?

And lastly, how can I tell/what diagnostics can be run to determine if the spark that occurred damaged any of the parts on the system?

After the spark occurred the laptop had some juice left and was able to start up but it couldn't get past the log in screen without BSODing. The tech removed my hard drive and transferred more files to another external of mine and so we know the HD works and his thoughts are that Windows got corrupted somehow.


Very much in need of help and all is appreciated and welcome. Looking forward to hearing from you James of IBP.

Best.

J


Extra

I have been using the laptop essentially as a desktop for the last 2 months, I have not moved it in all that time and it's pretty likely that the angle at which the AC Adapter connected to the laptops port was somewhat strenuous and so I think that must be the culprit.

What's left to determine is what damage has been done, and I would like to know how to determine that.

The price to repair(is it possible?)/replace these parts, and what possibly upgrades are compatible?

:thumbsup:



*I've posted this in another section of the forum in hopes it gets the attention I need, I apologize if that's against the rules of the mods. If so, please notify me and I'll remove the one with the lesser activity.

 

1. For motherboard replacement, you can contact MSI directly and they will provide non-warranty repair service, doesn't hurt to check with them on the cost.
This product is similar to GT70 0ND 3rd-generation Ivy Bridge. The BIOS and EC could be different than the original one from MSI.
GT70 0ND
2. GPU is upgradeable to 770M, but the wiring to the external display is always limited to Intel graphics. This is the design limitation on this model.
The other issue is that you will need to buy the heatsink compatible to 770M if you are going to use it.

 

Thanks for your help Ken, I appreciate it.

I'll be calling MSI after this cup of Joe and I'll report back here if I have any further questions.

 

You're welcome, glad that I could assist.