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Video card dead on my m17 r1. HELP pls

post #1 of 24
10/11/10 at 11:16am
Thread Starter 
hey guys, i have a M17 that is about 2 years old. It has/had a ATI mobility 3870 512mb card in it. last week i was playing World of Warcraft when then screen blinked, gave a black and white checkered type screen then it went black.

I did a hard power down and gave time for the hard drive to stop spinning. I turned the power back on and nothing. No boot up screen no login screen nothing. Like the monitor had no power. However I could here the bootup sounds and the webcam power light was on. I was even able to run my finger across the print scanner and could hear it log in.

I hooked it to a hdmi connection to if maybe it was the screen. I then had it looked at by a PC repair shop and was told that the video card was dead.

I want to upgrade to 1gb of video memory, so my question is am i gonna be forced to pay 400 bucks each to crossfire the 2 512mb ATI 3870s to reach 1gb or is there other options for me to choose from. Also if i am stuck having to buy the 3870s does anyone know were i can get them cheaper than $350 + S&H?

many thanks in advance and sorry for the long post
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post #2 of 24
10/11/10 at 11:28am
I am not sure about where you can get some good cards (I have really no idea) - maybe other members can point them out to you.

But in the mean time, you might want to browse the "baking / bake" ding to revive the dead card, hopefully, nothing to lose at the moment

cheers ...
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post #3 of 24
10/11/10 at 11:44am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by qhn View Post
I am not sure about where you can get some good cards (I have really no idea) - maybe other members can point them out to you.

But in the mean time, you might want to browse the "baking / bake" ding to revive the dead card, hopefully, nothing to lose at the moment

cheers ...

LOL oops i for got to mention that i had already tried that, but thanks for the sugesstion.
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post #4 of 24
10/11/10 at 12:01pm
It's really dead dead then ... Oh well. And you did try with different recipes, right?

cheers ...
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post #5 of 24
10/11/10 at 12:06pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by qhn View Post
It's really dead dead then ... Oh well. And you did try with different recipes, right?

cheers ...
lol yeah even fired up the smoker and put some memphis BBQ rub on it,
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post #6 of 24
10/11/10 at 11:06pm
ebay maybe a way to find one of the several compatible GPUs for the R1
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post #7 of 24
10/12/10 at 1:13pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dave-p View Post
ebay maybe a way to find one of the several compatible GPus for teh R1

yeah there are many different GPUs on ebay at a decent price. But Im slightly ignorant as to which GPUs are compatable. If you could name some that are not the ATI Mobility 3870s I would appreciate it very much.
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post #8 of 24
10/12/10 at 2:26pm
We have a sticky here about GPU compatibility, have you looked into it yet?

cheers ...
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post #9 of 24
10/12/10 at 9:20pm
Off the top of my head

ATI cards single card or Crossfire (2 cards)
3870
4870

NVIDIA Cards Single GPU or Sli (2 Cards)
GTX260m
GTX280M

You are postive you have the R1, and not the earlier M17 (non Dell version)
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post #10 of 24
10/12/10 at 9:25pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by qhn View Post
We have a sticky here about GPU compatibility, have you looked into it yet?

cheers ...
Umm i looked over the stickys but i didnt see anything abo9ut gpu compatability. I must have missed it, ill look ever them again and be more careful thanks
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post #11 of 24
10/12/10 at 9:39pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dave-p View Post
Off the top of my head

ATI cards single card or Crossfire (2 cards)
3870
4870

NVIDIA Cards Single GPU or Sli (2 Cards)
GTX260m
GTX280M

You are postive you have the R1, and not the earlier M17 (non Dell version)
well on the bottom of my computer there is a printed square that says M17 - R1. I removed the battery to see iff there was anything on the SN sticker and found a sticker that says Alienware corp M17.

When i called tech support last week they told me they did not have replacement parts for my computer because it was made before dell took over alienware. Yet i bought my computer through dells website.

I can tell you that My M17 was bought about approx 3 months before alienware relaesed the "M17x"

I hope this helps you cause Ill be honest I have no idea now lol. I was just basing the m17 r1 data off what is pringed on the case
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post #12 of 24
10/12/10 at 9:50pm
Thread Starter 
Umm ok, I just dug out all the paperwork from when my computer was shipped and it says m17 on it. I also pulled my account online and it states m17. So i feel like a fool, but i wonder why my case saus m17 - r1?? also im gonna edit my Original post to state m17. maybe that will help me out.
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post #13 of 24
10/12/10 at 9:52pm
It definitely sounds like you have a M17 Alienware version

not the M17x (R1) Dell version

the GPUs maybe a little more limited on that unit

What BIOS version are you running ?
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post #14 of 24
10/12/10 at 10:08pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dave-p View Post
It definitely sounds like you have a M17 Alienware version

not the M17x (R1) Dell version

the GPUs maybe a little more limited on that unit

What BIOS version are you running ?
LOL your guess is as good as mine. Like i said im computer smarts challenged. AS far as i know it the original one but again i dont know.
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post #15 of 24
10/12/10 at 10:11pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by qhn View Post
We have a sticky here about GPU compatibility, have you looked into it yet?

cheers ...
hey would u care to link sticky. all i can find is the "how to change the video card in an m17x"
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post #16 of 24
10/12/10 at 11:29pm
Thread Starter 
This post was deleted because it was posted in the wrong thread.
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post #17 of 24
10/12/10 at 11:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by PJ8341 View Post
LOL your guess is as good as mine. Like i said im computer smarts challenged. AS far as i know it the original one but again i dont know.

the guy you want to chat with is NWGuru here, I beleive he did put a 4850 GPU in the m17

but on the botton of the laptop is there a Dell Service tag, and express service code what model number part numbers are there ? that will help tell if you have a M17 or M17x

Dont post the service tags or express service code if you have them
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post #18 of 24
10/13/10 at 12:01am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by dave-p View Post
the guy you want to chat with is NWGuru here, I beleive he did put a 4850 GPU in the m17

but on the botton of the laptop is there a Dell Service tag, and express service code what model number part numbers are there ? that will help tell if you have a M17 or M17x

Dont post the service tags or express service code if you have them
hey thanks ill send him a private message and hopefully he will respond. again thanks a ton for all your help.
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post #19 of 24
10/13/10 at 12:23am
np

good luck
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post #20 of 24
10/13/10 at 3:02am
Thread Starter 
Hey quick question I found a 512mb 3650 on ebay. looks the same as the 3850, will this work?? and if so will be able to use 2 of them or will they have to be able to be crossfired??
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