*HP HDX 9000 DRAGON Owners Lounge, Part 2*

[DRAGONe]

Space... the Final Frontier.

... I am at a fork in the road with My HDX. It is a great and fast beast but ...

These are the voyages of the starship DRAGON

I either have to get a new GPU or get a new Lappy. Eventually this will have to happen ...

Its TWO-year mission: ...

... 2 more years of gaming is good for me. If I can get the GTX 280m to work then I can see at least 2 more good years with the dragon.

... to explore strange new worlds; ...

I have struck a deal with Kris over at MXM-upgrade.com.

... to seek out new life ...

I am hoping because these are Clevo based ...

... and new civilizations; ...

This is based on the success of zipek_dg having used a pull from a Celvo. Of course I do not know for certain ... I am hoping ...

... to boldly go where no man has gone before.

because I can easily modify the heat spreader to properly contact the GPU.... Hopefully this will answer once and for all if it is possible. If it can be done I will figure it out ...

Cue music; show graphic of laptop zooming across screen with continents passing beneath.

My work here is done - BRAVO Live long and prosper Captain CompTrekkie!

[2.0™]

The local store only has a "Revoltec" silver based paste
a Spire paste
and a Deko paste
know anything about these brabds? Otherwise I'll just go downtown

Only know of the Revoltec Thermal Freeze. Can't recommend it because it flows too easily and isn't very good thermally.

If you need another name, see if you can find Tuniq TX-2 or TX-3.

I have decided to take my stab at the GTX 280m...
...I will keep everyone here posted as this process moves along. Hopefully this will answer once and for all if it is possible. If it can be done I will figure it out, if not then c'est la vie.

Vaya con Dios, mi hermano. Vaya con Dios.

*Solemn bow*

[MobileArtist]

Space... the Final Frontier.



These are the voyages of the starship DRAGON



Its TWO-year mission: ...



... to explore strange new worlds; ...



... to seek out new life ...



... and new civilizations; ...



... to boldly go where no man has gone before.



Cue music; show graphic of laptop zooming across screen with continents passing beneath.

My work here is done - BRAVO Live long and prosper Captain CompTrekkie!

I believe the Borg have also done the upgrade, but it's hard to get reliable information out of them.

Bravo!

MobileArtist

[Black Knight]

Only know of the Revoltec Thermal Freeze. Can't recommend it because it flows too easily and isn't very good thermally.

If you need another name, see if you can find Tuniq TX-2 or TX-3.

Thanks, guess I'll drive to Rome downtown then (want a colosseo hashtray for that big cigar?)

[jakubd]

Today I did a triple surgical operation on my laptops I started with heart-transplant by putting X9000 (bought on an auction for around $250, not an ES) into my beloved Dragon 9494NR (T8100 stays as a spare). Then I have exchanged RAM with my aging HP 8510p to have 8GB in Dragon.
At the same time I was upgrading my just-acquired HP ENVY 17" to 8GB of RAM and exchanging the 2nd drive to WD10TPVT: 1TB, 12.5mm drive (yes, this drive fits ENVY). After finishing Dragon's processor upgrade I decided to check for you, if there is any chance of fitting 12.5mm drive in the Dragon. Result was easy to predict: there is ABSOLUTELY NO chance to fit it without modding the case. The bay is just not deep enough. The connectors on the drive are too high to match the mainboard SATA ports.
There is possibility of cutting a hole in the bottom part of the bay but I would not recommend it: 2 plate hard drives are already reaching 750GB and the possible side effects (less sturdy bottom of the laptop and risk of exposing of the mainboard and possible shorting of some circuits on it) make this not so interesting solution.

PS: Keeping my fingers crossed for CompTrekkie's trip to the Unknown Grounds, Mordor, Twilight Zone, Sector Gamma... you name it

[Black Knight]

Only know of the Revoltec Thermal Freeze. Can't recommend it because it flows too easily and isn't very good thermally.

If you need another name, see if you can find Tuniq TX-2 or TX-3.

Captain the strangest thing happened!!

Now the dragon is apparently working again.

How is that possible? What shold I do? Well I ordered from HP another graphic card, which maybe I'll be able to sell if I see that I don't need it anymore... But what about this one? Two days ago it was dead, yesterday again it was dead, and only gave a distorted image on an external monitor, today I turn it on after having done nothing at all... The only possible cause is the heat? But as I said when it "broke" the PC didn't feel particularly warm... But in fact it broke while playing a game.
The only change I can think of from yestardey to today is the external temp, the other day was kind of warm dry, today a little rain...

Any suggestions\ideas?

Anything I could do to prevent future troubles? Any opinions?

Should I go for a torture test or just wait...?

The graphic card right not is at 45° while I am just running windows and firefox it jumps to 52° if I start skype too (normal?) didn't dare trying games...

[MobileArtist]

[QUOTE=jakubd;6767312]Today I did a triple surgical operation on my laptops I started with heart-transplant by putting X9000 (bought on an auction for around $250, not an ES) into my beloved Dragon 9494NR (T8100 stays as a spare). Then I have exchanged RAM with my aging HP 8510p to have 8GB in Dragon.
At the same time I was upgrading my just-acquired HP ENVY 17" to 8GB of RAM and exchanging the 2nd drive to WD10TPVT: 1TB, 12.5mm drive (yes, this drive fits ENVY).

Impressive surgery!

How do you like the Envy 17?

MA

[Digitalwindow]

Captain the strangest thing happened!!

Now the dragon is apparently working again.

How is that possible? What shold I do? Well I ordered from HP another graphic card, which maybe I'll be able to sell if I see that I don't need it anymore... But what about this one? Two days ago it was dead, yesterday again it was dead, and only gave a distorted image on an external monitor, today I turn it on after having done nothing at all... The only possible cause is the heat? But as I said when it "broke" the PC didn't feel particularly warm...

Any suggestions\ideas?

Anything I could do to prevent future troubles? Any opinions?

Should I go for a torture test or just wait...? The only change I can think of is the external temp, the other day was kind of warm dry, today a little rain...

Sounds like an internal 'short'---a motherboard problem---because if the card were dead, it would almost definitely stay dead. But best not to make a diagnosis at this point unless you or other professional can do all the fun tests.

I have decided to take my stab at the GTX 280m. I am at a fork in the road with My HDX. It is a great and fast beast but the GPU (even OC’d) is just not keeping up with the new games as well anymore. The OC’d CPU really helps to carry some of the burden. I have tested some of my games without the OC and they fall to unplayable conditions (without cutting back on the graphics settings considerably). I either have to get a new GPU or get a new Lappy. The GTX 280m is about $600 but that is still much cheaper than what it would cost me to get a new rig that compares to the my Dragon with a new GPU (around $4000) and none with a 20.1” screen. Of course for $4000 I would have a much more powerful system but no 20.1” screen. Eventually this will have to happen but for now $600 for at least 2 more years of gaming is good for me. If I can get the GTX 280m to work then I can see at least 2 more good years with the dragon.

I have struck a deal with Kris over at MXM-upgrade.com. I will send him a 50% deposit now to see if it works and write up a good review for his site (and of course here as well). If all goes well I send him the rest of the cash and I am sure a few new customers. If not I send it back and he gives me a refund. A good deal for all involved. I am hoping because these are Clevo based I will not run into the issue 2.0 did. This is based on the success of zipek_dg having used a pull from a Celvo. Of course I do not know for certain that his info is accurate but it is worth a try considering the awesome deal that Kris has offered. I am hoping the only issue with zipek_dg’s setup was cooling, because I can easily modify the heat spreader to properly contact the GPU.

I will keep everyone here posted as this process moves along. Hopefully this will answer once and for all if it is possible. If it can be done I will figure it out, if not then c'est la vie.

YOU ARE AWESOME!!

You are absolutely right about the gaming situation because I've tried several 2009-2010 sorts on an HDX18 w/9600m @1080p and they run very well (dao, sc2). The world economy has influenced the rate of upgrades demand....so you will probably be well ahead of it with a 280m/x9000/8GB/SSD/Dragon hypercraft. (enter Plasma Breather!!)

and I am very jealous I have not been able to do this!

[Black Knight]

Sounds like an internal 'short'---a motherboard problem---because if the card were dead, it would almost definitely stay dead. But best not to make a diagnosis at this point unless you or other professional can do all the fun tests.

ehm...What about making a diagnosis BEFORE the patient dies? Anything I can do then?

[2.0™]

ehm...What about making a diagnosis BEFORE the patient dies? Anything I can do then?

You're experiencing first/early stage of video card death. It's good that you got another card.