How to: Replace your broken (8600M GT) graphics card (in the [I]FL90)

[PlatinumC]

Well I've heard/read about same issues with this combination, but nothing has helped me so far.
Unfortunately it does not seem that the lcd has any light at all and neither vga external lcd worked.
Also no sound, and I'm not sure about dvd or hdd sounds, don't remember hearing them, when I tried, but then again I was not focused on those at that time.
The vbios of my card should have been an ATI one, which has confirmed to work on others as well, so I'm kind of out of ideas.

[Dr.Colossos]

Okay, you have two - no, three options.

1. bake your 8600M GT in the oven, or heat-gun it. If you are not familiar with that, ask back. It's not a long term solution, but a cheap way to find out, if it gfx related.

2. get another card - I'd suggest ATI 3650 DDR2 512MB, or ATI 3470, which is cheaper, but not good when playing games.

3. stop right here and get a new laptop

I would first try 1., as there is nothing to loose. Then you have to decide between 2. and 3., based on the out-come of 1.

Good Luck!

[PlatinumC]

I've been thinking of option nr 1 for a while, but I may have a friend who can reflow it, so haven't tried baking yet.

For option 2, kind of poor to buy a new one.

3. Planning on upgrading to desktop anyway, but until I get extra cash, I want to fill the gap (and would be nice to get it to working anyway, either to use it when needed or to sell it).

Well the ebay seller has agreed to send me a new card to try though, so I may try that option instead soon. Though since I have tried 2 cards and the seller also tried this card in an fl90 where it worked. I guess I'll try to open everything up again and close it, just in case :P.

[Dr.Colossos]

Just be sure that you get an DDR2 card.

Can you give me a link to your seller?

Cheers

[loomen]

Dr. Colossos

yes my mistake :P this is ATI 4650 in MXM III OR A - (little mistake :P)
but another seller give me this price list :
ATI 3650 MXM II 512 MB - 50$
ATI 3650 MXM II 1 GB - 80$
ATI 4650 MXM II 1 GB - 116$

you say "4650 is 2th place card for gaming ..." what is the 1 place ?

[Dr.Colossos]

Hi,

that would be a ATI 4670 DDR2.

Then there is the legendary ATI 4670 DDR3 - only available from MSI EX625/GX623 laptops - very hard to find, the real #1. But you cant find it, don't even try!

But there is one more thing with the 4650/4670.

Some people report a drop of the PCI-E link from x16 to x1, getting real bad performance.

I witnessed this once, too. It is not related to the card, but depends on the FL90 model you have.

However, I have no clue what that triggers.

This 4650 I had, I tried it in one FL90, it dropped to x1 in FurMark test, I installed it in another one, and it ran in x16.

I have also a 4650 in my FL90 - never been down to x1.

But I can't tell what makes this happen ... if you dare, give it a try ...

Can you provide me a link to your seller's site?

Thanks

[PlatinumC]

They say, that if you had a 512mb geforce model, then it won't have the pci-e dropping, but just a rumor.
I saw a ddr3 4670 on ebay once, for like 400 eur or something IIRC. Cheaper to buy a new laptop which is more powerful in terms of cpu and ram anyway.

Also ingacia2010 is the ebay seller.

[Dr.Colossos]

No, I cannot verify that. Both machines had 512MB 8600M GT - I am very sure that was the case.

There was no obvious difference, they also had the same motherboard revision ... no clue.

[tolakos100]

Hello,

Just entered the forum and i salute all of you people.

I want to ask if anyone can help, i own an acer aspire 7520G and my Nvidia 8400MG is past.
I want to change it with the Ati Radeon 3470 which i found on ebay for around 50 pounds or 77USD.
Is this card compatible with my laptop? I sent email to Acer and they respond to me that they cannot suggest any card
Anyway, i want something economic and i believe this Radeon is a bit better from the Nvidia 8400. My other option is Ati 3650 HD but it costs 130 USD. A bit expensive for me.

So any help is appreciated!

[Dr.Colossos]

Yes, it will work ...

See here -> Acer MXM Models and Cards

... and ...

see here -> Acer MXM Models and Cards

... for another option.

Obviusly, the Acer forum is where you should be heading anyway.

And yes, the 3470 is a bit better than the 8400M ... but all you can expect them to do is good in 2D, but are not really suitable for gaming (Minesweeper and beyond excluded).

Good luck!