Guest Felix Posted August 26, 2009 Report Share Posted August 26, 2009 Hello everybody I've been reading around how others have got their 8600GT/GS to work with their alienware m5550, so thought that id give it a try on mine. I recently purchase this card from ebay > http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/nVIDIA-Geforce-8600M-GT-G84M-600-512MB-MXM-II-VGA-Card_W0QQitemZ120458991404QQcmdZViewItemQQptZDE_Elektronik_Computer_Computer_Graphikkarten?hash=item1c0bea572c&_trksid=p3911.c0.m14 which is a basically a GeForce 8600M GT with Acer/nVidia bios. What happens now is the laptop turns on, nothing comes up on screen, the numlock/scroll lock/caps lock lights blink and the system reboots. This just keeps happening on and on. Now, i thought this had something to do with the bios, so upgraded the bios from 2.03 to 2.06. But it is still the same. Can anyone give me a hand with solving this please? The laptop specs: Alienware m5550 (m5500i-r3) Bios ver 2.06 7600 Go (dead now, no warranty) 2GB ram Thanks very much Felix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Felix Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 Could someone at least suggest a card which does work with this system? I need to get this system up and running, hence any help would be really appreciated. Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DonN Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 I just installed one in my laptop and it fired right up. I just had to DL an older BIOS to 2.06 from 2.07. Sounds like you got a bad card. My 7600GO card burned out and it was doing exactly what you are describing until I put in the 9600GT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DonN Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 Infact that is the exact same ebayer I bought my card from Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Felix Posted August 27, 2009 Report Share Posted August 27, 2009 DonN, thanks for the reply. So did your laptop run with the 8600GT or the 9600GT? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest DonN Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 Sorry, it was the 8600GT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Felix Posted August 28, 2009 Report Share Posted August 28, 2009 oh, ok. I've sent back the card anyway and asked for an exchange. MXM-upgrade.com also have an 8600GT that they recommend with this type of Uniwill system. So Im sure this card is compatible. Thank you for the reply. Has anyone successfully installed an Ati HD 3650 on this type of system? Thank you Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sorin Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 hi, i have a problem with my m5550i Alienware laptop,sometime it works, but sometimes not... when the bios is loading and the logo appears with that alien head there are some stripes , it could be from the drivers ? i saw that in linux after i install the drivers from nvidia site it crashed, also in windows i can`t do anything because the resolusion is very high and a lot of stripes... my graphic card is 7600 GO thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Felix Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 hi, i have a problem with my m5550i Alienware laptop,sometime it works, but sometimes not... when the bios is loading and the logo appears with that alien head there are some stripes , it could be from the drivers ? i saw that in linux after i install the drivers from nvidia site it crashed, also in windows i can`t do anything because the resolusion is very high and a lot of stripes... my graphic card is 7600 GO thank you! Sorin, I think your card has popped. Weird pink stripes in the bios screen and when you load windows, right? If so, then im almost certain that its your card, coz my 7600 was showing the same symptoms. You might have to get it replaced, with an MXM2 compatible card. Right now, Im tryin to get my m5500i-r3 working with an 8600GT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sorin Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 Sorin, I think your card has popped. Weird pink stripes in the bios screen and when you load windows, right? If so, then im almost certain that its your card, coz my 7600 was showing the same symptoms. You might have to get it replaced, with an MXM2 compatible card. Right now, Im tryin to get my m5500i-r3 working with an 8600GT. yes , this are the symtomps :| can you tell me from where i can buy a new graphic card and what i should do in order to make work properly with 8600 or higher model? also i want to thank for your reply! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Felix Posted August 31, 2009 Report Share Posted August 31, 2009 yes , this are the symtomps :| can you tell me from where i can buy a new graphic card and what i should do in order to make work properly with 8600 or higher model? also i want to thank for your reply! You should be able to pick up an 8600 from ebay. But beware, as some cards may turn out to be defective, as was the case with mine. I have sent back my card and requested a replacement, so wont know for sure how well it works until then. mxm-upgrade.com has the 8600GT that will fit on these type of systems. You could try this link > Uniwill MXM Options. Costs around 180 Euros. The team there are quite helpful as well in answering questions, so they should be able to give you a hand. Good luck :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Sorin Posted September 7, 2009 Report Share Posted September 7, 2009 You should be able to pick up an 8600 from ebay. But beware, as some cards may turn out to be defective, as was the case with mine. I have sent back my card and requested a replacement, so wont know for sure how well it works until then. mxm-upgrade.com has the 8600GT that will fit on these type of systems. You could try this link > Uniwill MXM Options. Costs around 180 Euros. The team there are quite helpful as well in answering questions, so they should be able to give you a hand. Good luck :) i am ready to buy a card like this Geforce 8600M GT, i want to know if somebody make this graphic card works with m5550i-r3 laptop version, thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Felix Posted September 16, 2009 Report Share Posted September 16, 2009 Got my second 8600M GT replacement card, this time for a different seller on Ebay. Same story, no luck. All that happens is the blinkling leds and system reboots. Sigh!!! This is getting frustrating. Some on this forum have got the 8600m GT to work on this system; wondering where I am going wrong. Suggestions anyone?? Thank you Felix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Felix Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Update: Left the system running for a few hours, while it was still constantly rebooting. Then, out of nowhere, the card suddenly came to life!! Yes, so it does work, but I dont know for how long. GPU Temp is around 80Deg C and im not running any graphic intensive apps. Big thanks to the guys here who posted a thread with ideas on how to get it running. Will post the link tomorrow plus updates if any. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meins321 Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 sorry to say that Felix but it sound like your card is broken I had that "Boot Loop" thing with heatup process and runnnig then before on my m5550-R3i with my Lappi. Please sign up here and get into contact with me, and i will help you out but firt try to send/return that card! i own the same Laptop and i might help you if you like ;-( the 8600M GT is running inside the m5550 and 2.06 Bios as written many times here (and yes it runs in Amilo Pi1546 too as i heard that very often) What works for me: 7600Go Uniwill vBios x1400 Uniwill vBios x1900 (and yes with the heatpad i was fine for a long time) FSC vBios 8600M GT only with 2.06 because of resource conflicts 9600M GT acer vbios 30 sec Beep at start up then normal operation but sometimes clockup problems 9650M GS acer vbios 30 sec Beep at start up then normal operation but sometimes clockup problems Never has: HD 2600 MXM2 Hd 2600XT MXM2 HD3650 "RED" PCB from Acer (Bootloop) Maybe: HD3650 according to ice tea and myself it runs only in some of the m5550 but we don't know why Tested with more than 5 different ones, and thats why it's not offered any more by mxm-upgrade.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix.D Posted September 17, 2009 Report Share Posted September 17, 2009 Many thanks Meins. Have sent you a message. Felix In case anyone is interested, this is the topic I was referring to > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix.D Posted September 19, 2009 Report Share Posted September 19, 2009 Came across this article when trying to find out a vbios for the 8600m GT that I got from ebay. The card is an G84 series. The article claims that G84 and G86 chipsets, found on 8400M and 8600M cards are most likely defective. From tomshardware.com According to sources, the entire line of G84 and G86 chips all suffer from the same defect, regardless of desktop or notebook application. The chip generation utilizes the same Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC), which supposedly has an issue with an “unnamed substrate or bumping material, and it is heat related...........While evidence may point to only notebook chips being afflicted, one theory is that notebook chips go though more stress than their desktop counterparts. Notebooks are power cycled more often, and by extension the GPUs go through more heat cycles – quickly exposing the defect. GPUs in notebooks may also be harder to cool, with less space for elaborate heatsinks and fans.” I wonder if this has anything to do with the boot looping sequence myself and others have faced?? More info here > TomsHardware http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/1028703/nvidia-g84-g86-bad Post by iisdev on notebookreview.com forums Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Löschzwerg Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Thanks for your replay on my youtube video :) Yes, the whole geforce 8 series does have a problem with soldering tin. If your not able to return the card you could test the following methode: - remove the card from the laptop and clean it form remaining thermal compound - preheat your oven with 120°C in the mode "air circulation" - after this put the card in your oven (on baking paper) - the card should remain in the oven for 20 to 30min - let the card cool down and put it again in the notebook In many cases the card ist working again!!! I did this with my broken go 6600 and it worked :) Note: During the baking the card begins to smell a little bit, but thats normal. The GPU does not take damage during this process! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix.D Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 Löschzwerg, thanks for the reply. The idea sounds good, but can this be feasible solution for turning on the system everytime? Or has this worked ever after, with just one 'bake' in the oven? Felix Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Löschzwerg Posted September 20, 2009 Report Share Posted September 20, 2009 This fix will not work forever, because the problem with the soldering tin still remains :) How long this fix keeps is very various. Many people report that their card works for over a year now and still is working like a charme. Others report the fix only kept for a few days... If you can not return yor mxm module its worth a try :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix.D Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Could I ask what sort of temperatures you were reading on the GPU after this was done? Has there been any noticeable difference (good or bad) after this process? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Löschzwerg Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 The temperature remains the same, nothing happens to the gpu DIE. What exactly during this baking process happens is unknown... Ones is for sure, the soldering tin does not melt! It could have somtehing to do with the expansion of the pcb due to the heat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix.D Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 Okies. Im quite intrigued by this method. I've returned the card to the seller, who mentions that they might send me another one if the one i returned was faulty; despite requesting a refund!! If I do get one back, I will try this coz im sure it wont work straight out of the box. Thank you for the reply :) Btw, how would you rate the overall performance of the card? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Löschzwerg Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 I will try this coz im sure it wont work straight out of the box. But the new card should work straight out of the box :) You buy the card as fully functional, so they must work. I'm sure the new card will work :) Btw, how would you rate the overall performance of the card? All newer games can be run with this card, of course not with the highest settings (for example crysis). But 1280x800 and mid settings should be playable with all newer games. Depending on the version of your card (GDDR2 or GDDR3 and clock frequency) you should get around 3300 to 4300 points in the 3DMark06. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Felix.D Posted September 23, 2009 Report Share Posted September 23, 2009 But the new card should work straight out of the box :) You buy the card as fully functional, so they must work. I'm sure the new card will work :) lol..this is my second card from ebay, which was 'guaranteed' DOA, like the 1st one i bought. All I got was the blinking lights and continuous reboots. Im becoming very skeptical of all these cards, especially from sellers in east asia. Agreed some provide good quality stuff, but its becoming more of a gamble than anything else. I've spent over 25eur on return shipping so far; not a good sign when you are on a tight budget! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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