Geforce GTX 980M Repair

[gabrieloj]

Hi guys,

Would someone have the schematics and/or repair guide for the GTX 980M? Mine stopped outputting video 3 days ago, no longer shows up in BIOS. After turning my laptop (Alienware 17 R1) off and on again, now my power cable shuts down as soon as I plug it into the laptop (the blue cable light). I removed the card, and the laptop now properly turns on again. Tried cleaning the card, reinstalling it, however the laptop won't turn when the card is installed.

 

Since I don't have the equipment/knowledge to repair the card myself, I'll take it to a technician, however having the schematic and repair guide to share with the technician would be of great help.

 

Any help would be much appreciated.

[Reciever]

Split your post into its own topic. 

 

As for your question, have you done any visual inspection of the card?

[gabrieloj]

2 hours ago, Reciever said:

Split your post into its own topic. 

 

As for your question, have you done any visual inspection of the card?

Hi, thanks for your reply!

 

As I mentioned, I don't have much expertise, however after a close look at the card, I didn't identify any abnormalities. Here are 2 pictures.

 

Picture 2:

[Reciever]

If I recall correctly 980M's did have a habit of dying out after a certain period of time. 

 

Based on those pictures the card looks to be ok, sometimes you can get the obvious signs of something blowing out with discoloration of the solder points. 

 

@Maxware79 has had much more experience than I working with Alienware systems, might be able to give a more informed opinion. 

 

might also want to not rule out a dying AC adapter. If the system is unable to boot in PEG mode (or dGPU mode) then you might want to try and see if you can boot the system with SG mode. If you decide to try this yourself there shouldnt be any harm but what ever you do, do not boot IGFX especially if you have the 120hz panel.

 

If it works then you might be able to get some diagnostic information like for example if the driver installs, what kind of sensor read outs you have (hwinfo64 or something similar)

 

The 980m looks to be around 200 USD or 175 for the M5000M (quadro version of the 980m) There is also the MSI 1070 which goes for similar pricing right now so it may be worth considering your options pending how much the repair tech might want to charge you for the effort.

[Mashcar]

10 hours ago, gabrieloj said:

Hi, thanks for your reply!

 

As I mentioned, I don't have much expertise, however after a close look at the card, I didn't identify any abnormalities. Here are 2 pictures.

 

Picture 2:

Hello ! I know what would be your problem ! If your charger light dissapears as fast as putting it into DC In - you have short right there!
Don't worry, it is easy one. You have to check with multimeter those three mosfets, turn on continuity test

one probe at one end of mosfet and second probe at other end of same mosfet. You will hear sound meaning very low resistance - for those elements it means "we are dead".
What to do ? Simple ! Just buy three same mosfet, new ones and replace them with hot air station.
Even better would be buying 6 of them, inserting in non populated areas near existing ones. You will split heat and work they have to do, so they won't get damaged ever. Probably.
I don't remember mosfet's model, you will have to use magnifier to read it

My first mod was repaired gtx980 that shorted in someone's Clevo or Alienware ^_^ bought for like 10$. Mosfets were pricier, 15$ with shipping.

I could help you myself, but I'm located in Poland.

Cheers ! 🙂

 

 

[Maxware79]

That's excellent information @Mashcar! I have a number of MXM cards that have this short issue and I've never known how to test them. 

I have recently bought a hot air station (still a noob and using it) and I'll definitely give this a try! Nothing to lose.

 

[TheQuentincc]

Yeah replace all those CSD87350Q5D mosfet and add the 3 "missing" one, the card will be very solid and could handle power mod to 150W without much trouble (require good thermal pads and contact with the heatsink)

[Khenglish]

The driver for the 3rd core power phase was terrible on the 980m and would die regularly. The card can run without it. Try removing it shown below in red on the back of the card.

 

With the 3rd phase driver removed you need to remove the mosfet it drives circled in purple on the front of the card. After this it is safe to try running the card for light loads. If it works, add the 2 missing fets for the remaining 2 core power phases and you can just leave the 3rd phase inoperable. 

 

 

[gabrieloj]

Hi guys, thank you all for the replies. The tech has confirmed one of the mosfets is dead, as you said. I just bought more of them, and will add extras on the empty "slots". By adding extra mosfets, do I need to do any adaptations, such as vBIOS?

[Mashcar]

49 minutes ago, gabrieloj said:

Hi guys, thank you all for the replies. The tech has confirmed one of the mosfets is dead, as you said. I just bought more of them, and will add extras on the empty "slots". By adding extra mosfets, do I need to do any adaptations, such as vBIOS?

 

Nope, no need to do any more work, just plug it in

[Khenglish]

Is the dead one the one I circled in purple? If it is, the replacement will blow up almost immediately. When the driver chip goes bad it starts blowing up the fets it's driving. 

[gabrieloj]

On 1/11/2024 at 6:12 PM, Khenglish said:

Is the dead one the one I circled in purple? If it is, the replacement will blow up almost immediately. When the driver chip goes bad it starts blowing up the fets it's driving. 

Hi, it's actually the third one, circled in red in the picture below. Should I be worried?

[Khenglish]

You should be fine just replacing the blown fet. That one is driven by the main driver. I haven't seen that chip die before. 

[gabrieloj]

On 1/16/2024 at 12:34 PM, Khenglish said:

You should be fine just replacing the blown fet. That one is driven by the main driver. I haven't seen that chip die before. 

Ok! Thanks for your help.

[gabrieloj]

Hi guys, I'll share an update with you.

 

My tech guy has solderded 6 brand new mosfets, as you can see in the picture below.

 

As I've mentioned in the beginning of this topic, as soon as I've had the issue with this card, my laptop wouldn't power on anymore. In fact, my power supply would power off as soon as I plugged it into the laptop. Removing the card then, would make my laptop turn on again.

 

Now, with the card "fixed", the laptop turns on normally with it installed, however, the card is not being detected in BIOS.

 

Would you suggest next steps in the analysis?

 

Thanks!