[TIP] GPU Failure On Notebook does not always mean no POST (BIOS Devices)

[NviGate Systems]

I got a whole bunch of machines for recycling that I figured would make interesting projects. Some actually work fine (I know the place they came from and the techs there, so the more effort a laptop needs the more likely it's abandoned) and the one I'm posting about had a failed GPU.

Now, this beast is the Toshiba X500-11M, which had a short in the DC in Jack and a GPU that was failing. I re-wired DC In to an external jack, provided it 19V and saw it come to life on an external monitor, but with lots of lines and "Suddenly Pinkitus".

I did a quick fresh install of Windows but you can easily have a spare install handy...or if Windows is *barely* running, you can quickly install DisplayLink drivers. Next I unplugged the GPU from the board and powered it on. Lights came on but no booting. I hit F1, and it booted Windows and used the DisplayLink adapter I have.

Of note is that the i7 740QM in this unit does not have iGPU, but Toshiba's firmware still allowed it to boot. I'm currently building this up to be a workstation for me, but thought I would share this tip as maybe you have a high end laptop a client left that has a dead GPU but it's a nice spec otherwise. It can work perfectly well as a bench system using USB Video if the firmware will let you. At some point I'll be re connecting the card so I can tweak bios settings and maybe get it to not halt on errors waiting for F1.

So, basically, someone thought it was garbage, but this i7 still has allot to offer! I know not all members may have need for this, but if you are cash strapped and have a DisplayLink adapter and an older high end laptop where the GPU can be removed, it's worth a shot to see if it will still boot headless. I don't know if this works for EFI systems, but if I find one that is going to recycling, i'll try it out.

 

[NviGate Systems]

So I thought I would update this thread, I ordered a Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 low profile cooler, removed the original crappy Toshiba cooler, mounted the Noctua in, (it fit perfectly including *just* clearing the filter cap by the CPU) and secured it with a small amount of hot glue. (I want to be able to remove it later, if I use silicone it's gonna be a mess!

My idle temps now are 28-31 degrees. I ran Prime 95 torture, and at 1729 Mhz, on four core and 8 threads, my max temp was 57. Now that's cool for a laptop CPU. This beast was an oven from the day it left the factory.

I did try creating an eGPU setup but this system doesn't support it. Looks like the Mini PCIe slots are locked. (Whitelist)

 

[Markverhyden]

Many years ago there was a surfeit of NVidia GPU problems. Many high end laptops came with primary, but separate from MB, NVidia GPU modules. The ones I saw were mainly Dells with a smattering of HP's. Many users had no need for high end graphics, the builtin Intel M chipset did just fine. So I'd just pull the NVidia module, nickel solution to the dime problem.