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[andycapps]

So I think my Nvidia 8400M GT card has crapped out in my Sony Vaio VGN-FZ290 laptop. I've got a Core 2 Duo at 2.6 Ghz and 2 gigs of ram in it. The card is a PCI Express so I'm assuming I can swap any PCI Express card in there. My question is what kind of card can I get that is comparable for $150 or less and is more reliable than this card (which supposedly has rampant overheating problems)? Also, what websites can I get it from? No one seems to carry any, or many mobile versions of cards.

What was going on was that my screen started turning purple or sometimes different colors and then Vista would reboot into 640 X 480 with 4 bit color. At first I thought it was a driver issue or that the Quake Live beta may have screwed up something, but updating the driver didn't seem to work as I keep getting the issue. My friend has run some tests on it and is trying to track down a version of some software he has that will test the card to see if it's bad or not (he only has XP version, and mine is Vista). So chances are, the card is bad. I need a new one that will run TF2 and some other PC games, but I'm not looking to run Crysis on max settings. I just want one that is first of all, reliable, and will run at least as well as my 8400M GT. Help?

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

Uh, I'm pretty sure this sort of thing is not user-replaceable.

 

[EGM92]

Your sony can't swap video cards, it is PCI-E but that's built into the motherboard, there's maybe a handful of companies that do swapable video cards and most of them are ASUS highend laptops G1/G2 etc, and 17" Desktop replacement laptops.

Your 8400m is seriously gimped, if you're having overheating problems there's nothing that you can do but put some Arctic silver on the core and clean out the heatsink/fans, or buy a new laptop.

 

[andycapps]

Your sony can't swap video cards, it is PCI-E but that's built into the motherboard, there's maybe a handful of companies that do swapable video cards and most of them are ASUS highend laptops G1/G2 etc, and 17" Desktop replacement laptops.

Your 8400m is seriously gimped, if you're having overheating problems there's nothing that you can do but put some Arctic silver on the core and clean out the heatsink/fans, or buy a new laptop.

Well I'm not buying a whole new laptop if I spent over $2k on this one.. Long story. So you're saying that the PCI-E card is built into the motherboard? I may have to get in touch with my brother in law as he owns a computer place and may be able to help me out even though it's barely out of warranty. They're an authorized service center and all, but it is out of state.

What is arctic silver, and is it possible to reverse overheating if the card is already screwed up?

 

[btrboyev]

you are going to need an entire motherboard replacement.

 

[andycapps]

So I'll need an entire motherboard replacement, even though this laptop says it has a dedicated graphics card? This isn't integrated graphics, this is an actual card AFAIK.

Edit: NM. :lol

So this sucks, I've got to send it back to Sony for them to fix, but then if they put the same card in there, I'm just going to have the issue in another 16-18 months since this card is defective in the first place. Just doing a google search on it shows that the average life is 16-18 months and that Nvidia knew about the problems. Did a Sony tech support thing just now and they basically said that they're not going to cover anything obviously as it's outside of warranty and to fill out a thing and they'll send me a box to ship it to them.

 

[zoku88]

You'll have to send it to Sony to get it replaced, pretty much. Even if the card is dedicated, and even if you are able to take it out yourself, you would only be able to replace it with anther 8400M which you would most likely get from sony anyway.

EDIT: Look at that thing! Does that even look like it could fit?

 

[aznpxdd]

No, that wouldn't work at all. While your 8400M GT is a dedicated card, it is still soldered onto the laptop mainboard.

 

[Liu Kang Baking A Pie]

So I'll need an entire motherboard replacement, even though this laptop says it has a dedicated graphics card? This isn't integrated graphics, this is an actual card AFAIK.

Would a card like this fit in my laptop? It's PCI-E like mine, so I'm thinking would be ok. Really hard to find any info online about laptop video cards and compatibility.

Dedicated means it doesn't share memory, not that it is necessarily a separate part.

Laptop parts are very often not user-replaceable.

Really hard to find any info online about laptop video cards and compatibility.

There's a reason for this. Do you know anything about heat dissipation? I can't imagine the horrible melted laptops people would have if they were allowed to just put whatever they want in them.

Edit: LOL @ that 9600 GT you linked to. Holy Christ! That thing is probably three times as thick as your laptop, and it would turn the inside of that thing into an oven. Where exactly do you think that fan would be able to blow the air?

 

[Keylime]

So I'll need an entire motherboard replacement, even though this laptop says it has a dedicated graphics card? This isn't integrated graphics, this is an actual card AFAIK.

Would a card like this fit in my laptop? It's PCI-E like mine, so I'm thinking would be ok. Really hard to find any info online about laptop video cards and compatibility.

Dude, the card in your laptop is most certainly not a user replaceable card. You are not going to be able to walk into Best Buy and grab a PCI-E card off the shelf and stuff it in there.

You're going to have to call up the manufacturer to have the laptop fixed or replaced, but they certainly won't be able to upgrade your card, just give you what you already have.

 

[suffah]

Protip: The picture of the video card you linked to on Dell's website is not the actual size (on a high res screen).

 

[Kano on the Phone]

Would a card like this fit in my laptop? It's PCI-E like mine, so I'm thinking would be ok. Really hard to find any info online about laptop video cards and compatibility.

Depth
9 in

Height
4.4 in

LOL

 

[andycapps]

Haha sorry, I realized after I posted that that it was the desktop version. My bad. I saw 9600 and didn't notice it was missing an M afterwards.

 

[charsace]

notebookreview.com is where you could get some help. Some Laptop cards can be replaced, but it is expensive and not all cards are compatible with all systems. Call your laptop seller.

You paid too much for what you got imo. I paid $600 for my laptop and it came with 4gigs of ram, core 2duo 2ghrtz, and a radeon 2600 ddr3 card.

 

[half a moon]

So, why'd you spend that much money

 

[andycapps]

notebookreview.com is where you could get some help. Some Laptop cards can be replaced, but it is expensive and not all cards are compatible with all systems. Call your laptop seller.

You paid too much for what you got imo. I paid $600 for my laptop and it came with 4gigs of ram, core 2duo 2ghrtz, and a radeon 2600 ddr3 card.

Had a Blu-ray burner in it too. Plus Vista Ultimate. Wasted my money on both. And now my video card is screwed up. Thanks for the tip.