Potentially Faulty GPU in my new Dell

I have just bough a new Dell XPS 1530 laptop and am alarmed to discover that
the graphics adaptor is the one that Apple use and has a higher than
expected failure rate. If this was a desktop I would be less concerned.
Can the NVIDIA GPU be easily replaced if it fails?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile/...ing_Units.html

You need to look at the specs and the service manual for the XPS 1530. Some
Dell laptop models have a separate graphics card that is easy to replace.
Others, like the Latitude D800 I worked on today, require the replacement of the
whole motherboard if the graphics subsystem fails. In the case of yesterday's
D800, the nVidia 256MB graphics failed, and a Dell tech will be by on Monday to
replace the motherboard, probably by bringing along a motherboard already in the
bottom half of the chassis. I say this because the replacement of a motherboard
in a laptop requires almost complete disassembly and then reassembly.

.... Ben Myers

On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:07:57 +0100, "M" wrote:

I have just bough a new Dell XPS 1530 laptop and am alarmed to discover that
the graphics adaptor is the one that Apple use and has a higher than
expected failure rate. If this was a desktop I would be less concerned.
Can the NVIDIA GPU be easily replaced if it fails?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile/...ing_Units.html

On Sun, 12 Oct 2008 01:07:57 +0100, "M"
wrote:

I have just bough a new Dell XPS 1530 laptop and am alarmed to discover that
the graphics adaptor is the one that Apple use and has a higher than
expected failure rate. If this was a desktop I would be less concerned.
Can the NVIDIA GPU be easily replaced if it fails?

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile/...ing_Units.html

I would try to find out if your laptop has the faulty NVIDIA GPU --
maybe some of them were bad and you can identify if your Dell has one
of them. Also, I recommend Googling the chip name and Dell because I
saw other articles that specifically mentioned Dell.

In any case, your system should be covered under warranty and my
experience with Dell laptop repairs has been very good -- excellent
turnaround time for mail-in support, and the repair work has always
been very good.

If you're within the 21 day return time (if that's still Dell's
policy) you could consider returning it and buying again when the
problem is resolved, but that might be overkill.

"Ben Myers" wrote in message
...
You need to look at the specs and the service manual for the XPS 1530.
Some
Dell laptop models have a separate graphics card that is easy to replace.
Others, like the Latitude D800 I worked on today, require the replacement
of the
whole motherboard if the graphics subsystem fails. In the case of
yesterday's
D800, the nVidia 256MB graphics failed, and a Dell tech will be by on
Monday to
replace the motherboard, probably by bringing along a motherboard already
in the
bottom half of the chassis. I say this because the replacement of a
motherboard
in a laptop requires almost complete disassembly and then reassembly.

... Ben Myers

Ben, they dont usually replace the whole bottom half if the motherboard has
gone, just the board itself, also the card would be a shared memory graphics
with upto 256mb.

If in the Ops case it does have a seperate graphics card then that is easy
enough to replace, and for the Ops to take note that you will not be able to
put another brans card in the machine as it will not fit

Fixer wrote:
"Ben Myers" wrote in message
...
You need to look at the specs and the service manual for the XPS 1530.
Some
Dell laptop models have a separate graphics card that is easy to replace.
Others, like the Latitude D800 I worked on today, require the replacement
of the
whole motherboard if the graphics subsystem fails. In the case of
yesterday's
D800, the nVidia 256MB graphics failed, and a Dell tech will be by on
Monday to
replace the motherboard, probably by bringing along a motherboard already
in the
bottom half of the chassis. I say this because the replacement of a
motherboard
in a laptop requires almost complete disassembly and then reassembly.

... Ben Myers

Ben, they dont usually replace the whole bottom half if the motherboard has
gone, just the board itself, also the card would be a shared memory graphics
with upto 256mb.

If in the Ops case it does have a seperate graphics card then that is easy
enough to replace, and for the Ops to take note that you will not be able to
put another brans card in the machine as it will not fit


Well then, Dell has to pay for its techs to strip down the laptop almost
entirely, rather than simply swapping devices from old to new chassis.
It's their money paying someone to do it at a customer location
under potentially less than optimum conditions, rather than mixing and
matching parts at their central parts depot. I, myself, have never
found this to be a fun job, only something to do out of necessity.

I have replaced graphics cards in Dell Latitude C600 (aka Inspiron
4000), Latitude C800 (aka Inspiron 8000), Inspiron 1100, Inspiron 5100
series models. In all cases, the graphics card has a physical design
that fits the chassis and motherboard, with no swapping of cards among
the various series, only within the series AND with some limitations
(e.g. a 16MB graphics card from a Latitude C800 does not work in the
C840.)... Ben Myers