My Dell XPS M1730 graphics card has gone.....AGAIN!!!

SONY007

Junior Member
Feb 3, 2013
2
0
0
Hi there guys, hope everyone here is doing well.



Can I just start off by saying I love this laptop and even though I can purchase a new laptop if needed I do not know of any other laptop that is so nice to use and feel like this baby. A friend of mine recently was out looking for a decent laptop and ended up buying 3 different laptops one after another only having to take them all back because of one thing or another, touchpad issues being the main reason for 2 of the laptops going back. Man when I was playing around on those laptop I was just yearning for the responsiveness of the touchpad of my M1730, and the glowing keyboard, arhh the glowing keyboard!!!

Anyway what the situation is my graphics has gone again, the first time it went I took it to a pc repair shop who did inform me that they can replace the card or do some kinda solder thing with the graphics card which should give it some life for some time yet, I took that option - that was 3 months ago!

Now I purchased my laptop around 4-5 years ago and i guess it would have the standard graphics card installed which I think is the Dual SLI 8700mGT but now instead of going down my previous choice of getting a patch work done on my graphics card I wand to try and replace the graphics card myself.

I would just like to ask what is the latest graphics card for this model of laptop also what is the the best value for money graphics card or are they one of the same?

I see the Dual SLI 8800mGTX is the card being mentioned on most searches is this the best option?

Also if anyone is from London one here is there somewhere on a Sunday where I could pick up a graphics card today maybe for I could begin the process of saving my baby from the laptop heaven.
 

KompuKare

Golden Member
Jul 28, 2009
1,222
1,571
136
Yes it is pointless 'repairing' Nvidia defect parts (aka bumpgate) because the solder defect is inherent in the way they were made (basically they used the wrong solder to solder the chip to the chip packaging) and they are not fixable. Googling XPS M1730 and nvidia defect gets lots of hits so yours is not an isolated incident:

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Dell+XPS+M1730+nvidia+defect

I also tried searching "Dell XPS M1730 nvidia defect alternative card" but didn't get any useful hits. Seems to me that you'd be best of to try and get something else since any GTX8800M would probably suffer from the same defect. Besides, a dual 8800M in MXM format would not be cheap. Your laptop is certainly seems to be in the list of affected parts but Dell can be a bit uncooperative. This post says to try the sale of goods act:
http://www.nvidiadefect.com/dell-xps-m1730-t3570.html
 

SONY007

Junior Member
Feb 3, 2013
2
0
0
When you say try something else are you referring to an alternative make of graphic cards? Have you also had similar issues with the same laptop and if so what did you have to do to resolve the issue?

Just from what you've said about the known issues with the graphics card pushes me slightly to maybe just getting a new laptop.

If you have had the M1730 and you have changed laptops, how does it compare man, I know you must know what I'm talking about, the feel man, the ease of use of the touchpad - none of this cursor going all over the place when using the the touchpad, the large 17inch screen and the backlit keyboard with the cushioned keys, the only downside is that my biceps have grown an extra inch.
 

KompuKare

Golden Member
Jul 28, 2009
1,222
1,571
136
No not the same laptop but unfortunately the same problem. In my case it was an MXM card in an AiO (All in One desktop), a 8800GT desktop card, an motherboard with an nForce 7150 and some stuff I was asked to look at. If you look at technicians forums and talk about DIY repairs to those defective parts, you'll find that the general consensuses is that none of the 'fixes' last. Those fixes include
  • reflows (basically reheating the solder to reflow it),
  • reball (removing the chip packaging and using fresh solder to fix it to the PCB - but the problem is also with the solder inside the packing, aka the 'bump' hence the nickname bumpgate)
  • and combinations of the above with added new shims to put some physical downward pressure on the chip

None of them really last long (a few months at most): my own repairs only lasted a while despite subsequently downclocking the card after my attempts.

By alternative I meant looking to see if some Radeon card would suit your laptop or if an Nvidia part then one from subsequent generations not affected by dud solder. But MXM cards are not like PCI-E cards and a replacement needs to not only physically fit (MXM 1.0, 2.0, 3.0 etc.), the BIOS also needs to support it. So unlikely and not worth trying unless someone has already successfully done so.
 

Enigmoid

Platinum Member
Sep 27, 2012
2,907
31
91
That laptop is over 4 years old.

If any repair costs over $100 its probably not worth it.