# [SOLVED] Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?



## undertaker69 (Apr 7, 2011)

Hello,

Here is my problem :

yesterday I boot my m9750, I saw artefacts on Windows load, then black screen.

I reboot it in safe mode : it was ok.

Then rebooting it normally, it was ok : no artefacts.

But reading a movie it freeze, I reboot, and I got again artefacts while loading windows, then black screen.

To boot normally I'm obliged to wait severals minutes, then I can reach windows.

I can use my m9750 without reading any video or playing any game for hours, it's rockstable, I've done severals superPi without any freeze.

I checked the GPU and CPU temperatures, nothing wrong.

I updated my 9750GTX drivers, but the problem is still there when viewing videos.

I formated my hdd, it look like it was ok, but first video after 15seconds, freeze, black screen, reboot, and artefacts on windows load.

Then I reboot it, using it normally without viewing any video, I was on the internet and suddenly SHUTDOWN !

I try to reboot, it start then it stop in a second.

No way !

I changed memory modules (from my GSkills to the stock samsungs), I unplugged AC adaptater, battery, everything...

I'm sure it comes from the GPU and/or the Mother Board.

1. LEDs light up (just like in a normal boot)
2. HDD activity as if initializing (HDD LED indicator blinks a few then stops).
3. CD/DVD drive activity as if trying to read media
4. Fan spins (for a second then stops).
5. Nothing on LCD.

But I'm not sure, can a dead Graphic Card makes my m9750 act like this ?

Isn't it like the mother board is dead ?

It look likes a false contact, because with a dead graphic card, the computer should boot normally but whitout displaying anything, but it shoud not start then instantly stop ?!

I'm asking, because I'm not sure if I should spent 200$ in a 7950GTX without being sure if my mother board is still alive or not...

Other question, is the 8800m GTX finally compatible with the m9750 ?

The ATI Mobility 3870 is compatible, if I'm not wrong.

Thx !

I'm not sure if thoses small brown spots on the 7950GTX are significants or not...


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Hello undertaker69 and welcome to TSF,

Yes, your issue does sound like the GPU has failed. The first thing you should do is attempt to reseat it. To do so, you will have to remove the heatsink assembly, then the card itself. Reinsert the card, making sure it is fully seated. Then, clean and reapply thermal compound and cross your fingers.

If your video card failed, the computer will not boot normally. It will fail POST (power on self-test) and either shut off, cycle or halt.


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## undertaker69 (Apr 7, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Hi,

just removing it and reinsert it could solve my problem ?

Thx !


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## Markgg88 (Jan 7, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Maybe, maybe not. Sometimes you just can't find out until you try.


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*



undertaker69 said:


> Hi,
> 
> just removing it and reinsert it could solve my problem ?
> 
> Thx !


Yes, if the issue is a bad connection between the video card and the motherboard. You have to start somewhere, and you always start with the simple steps that don't cost money! :grin:


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## undertaker69 (Apr 7, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Ok !

I'll try it befor buying a new graphic card ^^.

I'll tell you if it works in 2/3 days.

Can anyone tell me if buying an ATI Mobility 3870 could be ok in replacement of my 7950GTX ?

Thx


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## undertaker69 (Apr 7, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Ok,

so I reseat the GPU, but still the same problem.

I press the power button then :

LEDs light up (just like in a normal boot)
HDD activity as if initializing (HDD LED indicator blinks a few then stops).
CD/DVD drive activity as if trying to read media
Fan spins (for a second then stops instantly).
Nothing on LCD

It's like there is a false contact, no ?

How should my laptop act with a dead graphic card ?

It should run normally whithout displaying anything ? or...?

Or maybe the dead graphic card make a false contact and the mobo can't boot ???

Does the LEDs, HDD and CD/DVD drive turning on for a second exclude a dead mobo ?

Thx


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## A1tecice (Jun 1, 2010)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*



undertaker69 said:


> Can anyone tell me if buying an ATI Mobility 3870 could be ok in replacement of my 7950GTX ?
> 
> Thx


As much as there is nothing wrong with ATI cards them selfs they are a bit in superior to Nvidia graphics cards, and i am assuming that your motherboard has a Nvidia chip set and i know that ATI + different chip set doesn't always play to nicely. so i would stick with Nvidia cards.

In responce to your recent post, yes it does sound like your GPU has failed and you will need to find a replacement.


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## undertaker69 (Apr 7, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Thx for your answers, it helps !

@A1tecice : I didn't think about the chipset on the mobo, you think that using different chips between the GPU and the north bridge is a problem ?
Never heard about that :4-dontkno.

About the ATI Mobility 3870 in the m9750, I learned it from this link :
ATI Mobility m9750.

Others idears, confirmation or affirmation about my problem ?

Thx !


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## A1tecice (Jun 1, 2010)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Yes sometimes when you have a mobo with an Ati or nvid chipset using the opposite graphic card can sometimes make them act strange.


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## undertaker69 (Apr 7, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Ok, good to know.

I'll receive the new graphic card in few days.

I'll change the CPU thermal compound as well with AS5.

But what should I do if nothing changes after I changed the Graphic Card ?

I :4-hanged: myself ?

buying new CPU (~100$) ? 

Then buying new Mother board (400$) ?

Cause if it's not the GPU, I'm almost sure it's the mother board =/...

Thx for your answers, it helps !


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## GZ (Jan 31, 2010)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Your problem is most likely the GPU so replacing it should repair your issue. 

I wasn't active yesterday.. I would have had you go throught the steps in this thread first, before purchasing a new card. http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f108/black-screen-issues-and-troubleshooting-498132.html

If you are still having issues after the new card arrives and is installed, the thread will help you pinpoint the problem.


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## imateski (Jun 6, 2010)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*



undertaker69 said:


> Ok,
> 
> so I reseat the GPU, but still the same problem.
> 
> ...


Sorry for this late response... but here goes, my 2 cents:

Taking this into account, together with the residual pixels on your LCD, here's my analysis. I'll start from the end and work my way to the beginning.

LCDs work in such a way that crystals are excited with a digital signal, and the starting ridge of the digital signal turns a pixel on, while the ending ridge of this excitement signal shuts the pixel off, i.e it discharges the electricity and the pixel gets into dormant stage. 
If your LCD has static image in several instances this may point to a bad graphics card, but that's not always the case. Graphics card failures most of the times result in image distortion, and most of the time you can recognize a pattern (straight lines, color distorted stripes, that sort of thing).
So, the residual image on LCDs means residual electricity, which in turn points out that the circuitry that discharges the LCD matrix is not operational. This is a separate logical component, and is a part of the power regulating circuitry in the motherboard. It's not a part of the graphical interface. 
Now, the explanation you mentioned about the LEDs blinking for a few seconds, the CPU fan spins for a second and the laptop goes dead again... that's a spot-on explanation of a complete failure of the power regulating circuity that's on the motherboard. 
Older laptop models used a single chip, a Maxim 1987, or a Maxim 1532ETL, and lately a Maxim 97xx. This chip, aka power driver, takes care of the voltages, and timing. It is this chip that initiates startup of the various logical components on the motherboard: CPU, GPU, FSB, RAM, etc. It also handles turning off power when needed. If this chip goes bad, the laptop will at first experience some weird symptoms, similar to what you experienced. The ultimate failure is when the laptop breaks down (almost) completely. 
If you pay close attention to the LEDs blinking you'll pick up a pattern, usually of four blinks. This is the POST error code, and it is always related to a power issue. 
To cut things short, I'd say your graphics card is OK. What's bothering your laptop is the power regulating circuitry. The Maxim chip, to be precise. You can either repair the maxim issue, or replace the motherboard. 
The repair process is not difficult, but you do need to know what you're doing. I wrote a 30-page repair manual for this problem, so if you're interested you can take a look:


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## jwmp (Apr 14, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

I have the same symptoms on my daughter's Alienware m9700i-R1. 

At cold boot I can enter the BIOS and sit there for ages without a problem. I can boot some of the way into Vista Safe Mode and it stops at "fileinfo.sys". That may be due to a file corruption.

I then tried booting from a Linux Mint live CD. It has successfully reached the GUI and I have managed to set up network access before it locked up. The weird thing is, there is a large block of blue dots underneath and to the right of the mouse cursor over certain background colours. The mouse cursor still moves, but the taskbar, icons, windows and menus do not respond to clicks.

Then after a warm boot, I get a black screen (just the backlight showing). I think the PC is responding to entering the BIOS and the CD operates as if it is starting the Grub menu so I assume it's purely graphics.

My next move is to try this: <http://geekswithblogs.net/MikeParks/archive/2010/09/15/i-fixed-my-alienware-area-51-m9750-nvidia-7950-video-card.aspx> and reapply fresh heat-sink compound.

A word of warning - do not overheat the board. You want enough heat to soften the solder a bit (that's the theory), but not enough to significantly penetrate the chip bodies and damage the silicon wafers.


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## jwmp (Apr 14, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*



undertaker69 said:


> Hello,
> I'm not sure if thoses small brown spots on the 7950GTX are significants or not...


Those "brown spots" are solder links which join two parts of the circuit. There are two parallel copper tracks etched onto the board, and (presumably during testing) the operator manually links the two tracks with a blob of solder. You will see a ring of flux residue surrounding the silver blobs, This is perfectly normal and harmless and merely indicates that the board was not cleaned thereafter.


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## imateski (Jun 6, 2010)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*



jwmp said:


> I have the same symptoms on my daughter's Alienware m9700i-R1.
> 
> At cold boot I can enter the BIOS and sit there for ages without a problem. I can boot some of the way into Vista Safe Mode and it stops at "fileinfo.sys". That may be due to a file corruption.
> 
> ...


Just to be on the side of clarity, your problem does not coincide with the original question. What you're probably facing is a bad graphics card, which results in the residue pixels around the mouse pointer. The original question stated a very specific motherboard fault which is most prominent with Toshiba m35 laptops, and is known as the Maxim chip failure. Just Google "Toshiba m35 laptop repair maxim"
For your laptop's graphics card failure please DO NOT use your kitchen oven. These myths persist for years and I can't believe just how convinced people are in these "repairs". Soldering is a chemical process and when it is initiated there are toxic fumes coming out. You would not want toxic gases in your oven. That's a very very bad advice. 
There are at least four other techniques for dealing with the graphic card issue. You can use pressure to force the graphics chip onto the board, or do a normal reflow with a hot air gun. Google "HP nx6110 laptop repair" and you'll see how you can repair your laptop without exposing your family to toxic gases.

Again, for all the readers out there that are interested in this graphics card repair: 

PLEASE, DO NOT USE YOUR KITCHEN OVEN. 

This is a terrible option. It's like teaching kids to play with fire.


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## jwmp (Apr 14, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Fair comment. I didn't go that far anyway, just throwing it into the mix for graphic problems as there seems to be a lot of people who have tried it. Personally, I have my doubts. It's more likely to damage the chips I reckon. The hot air gun on the other hand, is more likely to be successful but you still have to be careful not to overheat the components. After all, a wave solder machine only exposes the board to those temperatures for a couple of seconds!

Anyway, the problem I mentioned with graphics corruption on this computer appears to be solved. I removed the heat sink and graphics card from the Alienware m9750 and cleaned up the edge connectors with an eraser. After removing the old heat sink compound and spreading a thin layer, I refitted and haven't seen a problem since. I am currently attempting recovery of a corrupted Vista file system to allow it to boot. (Linux loads and runs OK).

Back to the original problem then. I have another Alienware m9750 which IS displaying the precise problem described. Initially, it would run for several hours and then just switch off instantly with no warning. It was doing this in both Linux and Windows, and also when simply sitting inactive at the BIOS screen. Over the next few days the problem became progressively worse until now it won't boot at all. It just powers up for a second or so and then powers down again.

I do believe the problem is probably the voltage regulator, but I am going to try cleaning and re-seating the graphics cards first simply because they are easier to get at.


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## imateski (Jun 6, 2010)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

If at each attempt to power up, the fan spins for a second, leds blink a few times and then everything goes dead, then it is definitely the power regulator. I wrote an outlined and illustrated repair manual for a Toshiba m35 motherboard repair that suffered this infamous Maxim chip problem. This was back in 2008. This blog post saw about 40.000 visits and who knows how many links on forums like this one. 
Now I've sat down and wrote a 30 pages repair manual for this same Maxim problem, and from what people report back, it seems to help people with tons of models from HP, Dell, Acer and what not. 
I'm very curious if the Alienware has a Maxim chip as well. On the Toshiba m35 and HP nc6000, the chip is right next to the power plug. It should be the case with the Alienware too. Look for a Maxim 1987, Maxim 1532, Maxim 97xx or 98xx. It's a square chip with about 48 pins. 
Please share your findings, and a pic, if at all possible.


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## undertaker69 (Apr 7, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Thx for your answers !

@jwmp : ok for the brown spots, I was not sure about it

I'll receive my new graphic card in one or two days, I'll tell you if changing it solves my problem.
Do you have another link ? Because this one doesn't work :
http://geekswithblogs.net/MikeParks...are-area-51-m9750-nvidia-7950-video-card.aspx

Are you serious, people tried to backed their Graphic Card in the oven :laugh:.
If my 7950GTX is defective, I'll try this trick, nothing to loose :devil:.

I'll look for the Maxell chips on my m9750 motherboard, and tell you if I find it.


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## jwmp (Apr 14, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Interestingly Mike Parks link is down. Here is an alternative <http://www.addictivetips.com/hardware/fix-your-graphics-card-by-baking-in-oven/>

Note that most semiconductors (even military) are only specified to work at maximum ambient temperatures up to 150C... and usually far below that. Agreed you won't have it powered up in the "oven" but it isn't advisable to exceed that temperature at any time I'd say.


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## jwmp (Apr 14, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*



imateski said:


> I'm very curious if the Alienware has a Maxim chip as well. On the Toshiba m35 and HP nc6000, the chip is right next to the power plug. It should be the case with the Alienware too. Look for a Maxim 1987, Maxim 1532, Maxim 97xx or 98xx. It's a square chip with about 48 pins.


If I ever get it stripped down that far, I'll let you know.


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## undertaker69 (Apr 7, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Just received my new graphic card.
I'll tell you if it works !


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## undertaker69 (Apr 7, 2011)

*Re: Alienware m9750 : dead Graphic Card and/or dead Motherboard ?*

Problem solved !
I replaced my graphic card with a new one, now it works =) !
So it's my 7950GTX that fried.
Thx all !


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