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

[Dr.Colossos]

With a T9300 I am idling here at 40°s - I think you could get a bit lower temps with new thermal paste (did you apply any?).

But the temps are okay, so if you don't want to invest anymore time, leave it - you should be safe.

GPU temps are okay as long as they stay under 90° under full load. The lower, the better, but the FL90 is not great at getting the heat out.

Good job!

Btw - you can sell the 8600M GT on ebay - marked as defective - worth 20€, even when defective, that should cut your cost a bit.

Cheers

[nipennem]

With a T9300 I am idling here at 40°s - I think you could get a bit lower temps with new thermal paste (did you apply any?).

Sure... I used Arctic Silver 5; I still had that lying around from a desktop I built a little while ago. And I cleaned all the old stuff away with ArctiClean. Perhaps it's my room temperature .. I was testing at 26-28°C. I don't think I have to disassemble the laptop completely to remove the CPU heatsink (I just reassembled it...), so I'll test again and redo the cleaning+applying thermal paste.

[AerofanPT]

Hi Dr. Colossos,
I'm new here and like so many other guys my FL90 just died a few days ago...
I love that laptop so I refuse to dump it without at least try to get it to work!
my issue is that I can only find the HD3650 on eBay and as I have read in this forum is that it's not granted that the VGA card will work...

Someone mentioned that bought from this seller (mokkin) before and worked, he has this model:
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3650 MXM II VGACard 512MB HD3650 | eBay

but in eBay there are cheapper sellers, like this one, and the shipping is free! :
ATI Mobility Radeon HD3650 MXM II VGA Card 512MB HD3650 | eBay

my concerns are, this last one (cheapper) there are more chances of not being 100% working than the other?
Do you know of many people cheated with this?
Thanks in advance.

[Dr.Colossos]

I bought from mokkin, twice, and once from a guy from Taiwan. All cards worked.

Sure, when buying from China, it's easy to get cheated, but pay thru paypal and you are at least a bit safer.

The other option is to sell you laptop.

And, most important, try to bake your NVidia card to be sure that really the card is faulty, not maybe the CPU, mainboard, RAM, display, wiring.

Good luck!

[AerofanPT]

Thanks!
I'll try to bake it and I'll reply my developments!

[Pireselli]

Hi Dr.Colossos,

I read your thread carefully and i want to buy a mxm2 HD3470 card.
So i found this card on Ebay:
NEW ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3400 3450 3470 MXM II 256MB UK | eBay
Can you tell me, is this the right replacement?

Have you had any problems with the card so far?

Is the HD3470 graphics card in operation very warm or is it cool and quiet?

many thanks in advance

best regards

[Dr.Colossos]

Yep, that one should work. I do not operate an FL90 with this card anymore (got one with an ATI 3650 and one with an 4650), but I head several of 3400/3450/3470 in other FL90s - they all worked without any problem. Heat is no real concern, but use thermal paste/pads of course!

Keep in mind, that it it anything like a gaming card - but on the other hand, neither the 3650 or the 4650 are gaming cards anymore compared to todays standard.

The 3450 is a good deal, for making your laptop work again, so I'd go for it.

Cheers

[Pireselli]

Hi Dr.Colossos,

I will note your helpful instructions.

Many many thanks in advance

best regards

[Alex007]

Dr.Colossos > Thanks for the instruction - I'm going to use it!!!

But please notice that in the first post > How to: Replace your broken (8600M GT) graphics card (in the [I]FL90)
there are no photos. Can you check it and get it work!

For my FL90 I'm going to buy 3650 512 DDR2.
I bake my 8600 GT but I have no time to check is it working (little baby in home ).
I bought Arctic Silver 5 and I'm going to use it.

[Dr.Colossos]

Thanks, fotos are back up - must have deleted them accidently somewhen during last month.

3650 512MB DDR2 is good choice - but I sure would try baking the old card first. This lets you know whether it really is the card, or maybe if something else went bad.

You do not need to reassemble the laptop completly for testing, see section 3.3. in my guide.

BUT: But be sure to never have the battery in there, when reassembling just partially, it might destroy your mainboard and/or battery!