Taking a hammer to a laptop.....How to fix it.

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slugger_2003

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 30, 2007
Messages
365
My laptop graphics have went BOOM so I thought I'd have a go at repairing the useless piece of junk. Any useful links on how to fix a 7900GS?
The issue is the screen doesn't even show anything on the laptop's screen now but does show stuff on a CRT monitor via a DVI out....Does this mean my screen lamp has also blown?
So I was thinking of trying to get hold of an acceptable substitute for the 7900gs. The problem with this is I remember reading that the 7900GS is soldered to the motherboard...so...my request to all the lovely people here is...Have you got any resources or guides with regards to how I attempt this DIY fix-it job? I guess seeing as it's basically unusable and worth about $200 even if it did work, there's no massive loss if I mess it up. I'm simply looking to try to learn something and get my hands dirty :)

Thanks in advance :)
 
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You could always bake it.

If not, just sell the laptop AS-IS on ebay and recoup some cost.
 
How to bake it?
I'm not too bothered about the costs....more interested in getting my hands dirty and trying to fix it.
 
Strip the laptop until you have access to the motherboard.

Preheat the oven to something like 350F or so.

Put the motherboard (and only the motherboard!) on a sort of raised platform and leave it in the oven for 10 minutes.

Let it cool.

Pull it out, and assemble the laptop together.

It's the poor man version of reflowing station, but it does work.

Google/search for the term "baking video card" and you'll see the procedure for this. Just swap out the "graphic card" with "motherboard" and you're golden.
 
Anybody taking bets on how many screws will be left out when he puts it back together?
 
Your problem probably is the screen's lamp or the inverter - both are relatively easy and cheap fixes.

If you had issues with both video sources, I'd look at the graphics card, but when the video out is ok to an external monitor, I HIGHLY doubt it.

Turn it on, and put a bright light near the screen. See if the picture is there - but dim/unlit.

Inverter Fix Example

Backlight Fix Example

PLEASE don't go straight for the bake, and screw the laptop up.
 
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signs point to graphics card = good. Screen = bad.
Why jump to baking it?
 
are you sure its the graphics card at all.. if it displays on another monitor it may be the cable going from the mobo to the screen... try reseating the cable on the back of the screen and the mobo first... no sense is going all out untill you eliminate the easy fixes..
 
It displays on another monitor but there're artifacts everwhere and the colours are messed up. The external monitor may also be faulty, it's an old one that was a friends and he gave it to me, came from an office that closed down so it's been moved about quite a bit....
 
I agree that its probably not the GPU. its a monitor problem. I had to replace the screen on my old HP lappy and the invertor on an old alienware. both were cheap fixes.
 
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