Dell Inspiron XPS M1330 GPU Issues etc

donmeister

Hey all, a friend of mine has come for some advice off me with his laptop. Its a 3 year old Dell Inspiron XPS M1330. The problem is a faulty graphics card, yup you guessed it the infamous nVidia 8400gs model. Vertical lines etc plague the machine. Now for some advice, should I

1. Try and replace the motherboard itself, will cost between €140-€200 euro :eek:

2. Ring up Dell and see if I could get a replacement or something. (fat chance of that happening) :P

3. Or just sell it for parts and be done with it. (anyone have prices that parts go for ?)

Any suggestions, advice etc will be super appriecated.

Maach lave! (Terry Tibbs voice)

Alanstrainor

donmeister wrote: »

2. Ring up Dell and see if I could get a replacement or something. (fat chance of that happening) :P

This would be my first port of call. Dell extended warranties on machines affected by that GPU. You might have to fight your corner for it, but afaik people on here have been successful. There's been a few threads about it on the laptops forum in the last year.

Calhoun

Is it definitely out of warranty? XPS were high end about 3 years ago it could have come with 3 year standard.

Dennis2011

According to the service guide the phone came with the phone can only accept up to 2GB card. This maybe your issue.

Alanstrainor

Dennis2011 wrote: »

According to the service guide the phone came with the phone can only accept up to 2GB card. This maybe your issue.

I think you're lost :P

donmeister

Alanstrainor wrote: »

This would be my first port of call. Dell extended warranties on machines affected by that GPU. You might have to fight your corner for it, but afaik people on here have been successful. There's been a few threads about it on the laptops forum in the last year.

Yeah just did a quick search of the forum, plenty of people with the same issues so who knows, not looking forward to the 20mins+ of boring ass questions. I'll try and be firm but polite.

Calhoun wrote: »

Is it definitely out of warranty? XPS were high end about 3 years ago it could have come with 3 year standard.

Yup, just checked the dell site last night, out of warrenty since Oct 08', but another year was extended because of the over heating issues.

Alanstrainor wrote: »

I think you're lost :P

Bahah! I got a good giggle out of that, I will place the 2gb card in the disc reader, shall I?

Thanks for the help guys

donmeister

Just after ringing Dell, they wont entertain my requests to have the motherboard replaced!

How much would the laptop fetch on adverts for parts would anyone know??

Thanks

mfield

My M1530 died yesterday I will never buy a Dell again; the fuppin hassle I've had with this yoke!

There's a lawsuit that is to be finalised on the 20th of December and you may be entitled to a new board.

I'm not sure of the full details but you can check it all out here http://www.nvidiasettlement.com/index.html

Now if I can just find the part number for the bloody Nvidia GPU......

mfield

Another forum I just found, has loads of info on how to sort the problem out

http://www.nvidiadefect.com

Voodu Child

donmeister wrote: »

Just after ringing Dell, they wont entertain my requests to have the motherboard replaced!

How much would the laptop fetch on adverts for parts would anyone know??

Thanks

If you wanted decent money you'd have to part it out yourself. Anybody buying the whole thing would be looking to get it for less than its worth and make their own profit parting it out.

That takes time and hassle to shift all the parts. And you'd never do it on adverts, there's just not enough people to sell all the specific parts. Try ebay.

CPU will fetch €50-80 depending on model. LCD might fetch €40 or €50, especially if it is a LED model. The ram would get maybe €40 for a 4GB (2x2GB). PSU would fetch €10-€20 provided you advertise it as a legit Dell model. The rest of the components (wifi card, bluetooth, keyboard, etc) might only get a fiver or tenner a piece. Keep the HDD yourself and throw it in an external enclosure, or put it in your playstation or something.

You might get €200 all-in.

I know someone who got a 2nd hand mITX motherboard and made a little HTPC using the CPU, ram, and HDD out of his broken laptop. Not sure how common socket-P mobos are though...

donmeister

Voodu Child wrote: »

If you wanted decent money you'd have to part it out yourself. Anybody buying the whole thing would be looking to get it for less than its worth and make their own profit parting it out.

That takes time and hassle to shift all the parts. And you'd never do it on adverts, there's just not enough people to sell all the specific parts. Try ebay.

CPU will fetch €50-80 depending on model. LCD might fetch €40 or €50, especially if it is a LED model. The ram would get maybe €40 for a 4GB (2x2GB). PSU would fetch €10-€20 provided you advertise it as a legit Dell model. The rest of the components (wifi card, bluetooth, keyboard, etc) might only get a fiver or tenner a piece. Keep the HDD yourself and throw it in an external enclosure, or put it in your playstation or something.

You might get €200 all-in.

I know someone who got a 2nd hand mITX motherboard and made a little HTPC using the CPU, ram, and HDD out of his broken laptop. Not sure how common socket-P mobos are though...

Thanks for the info, will split it and put it all up an eBay methinks.

duckysauce

mfield wrote: »

My M1530 died yesterday I will never buy a Dell again; the fuppin hassle I've had with this yoke!

There's a lawsuit that is to be finalised on the 20th of December and you may be entitled to a new board.

I'm not sure of the full details but you can check it all out here http://www.nvidiasettlement.com/index.html

Now if I can just find the part number for the bloody Nvidia GPU......

its part of the board

mfield

duckysauce wrote: »

its part of the board

What's part of the board?

Gooch2k4

mfield wrote: »

What's part of the board?

The GPU


But anyways i had a Vostro 1510 that came across this problem, and dell came out to me at work (called on friday, they arrived on the monday) and it was well out of warranty, so its worth a look!

mfield

Gooch2k4 wrote: »

The GPU


But anyways i had a Vostro 1510 that came across this problem, and dell came out to me at work (called on friday, they arrived on the monday) and it was well out of warranty, so its worth a look!

Oh yeah, I know.

I'm on the case as we speak. Should be interesting. I'll keep ye posted!

mfield

Just to update this one.


Dell rang me today and I am getting a full refund plus cost of engineers report!

To say I'm delighted would be an understatement!