ASUS A8JS VGA upgrade Go7700 -> GF9650M GT (1GB) (and other VGA cards)

[fsdude]

ludeksls: Status report:

I have tried removing / refitting different graphics cards to my prized A8JS to see what might be going on; results:

A8JS - supported cards Go7700 and GF9650M GT......

Go7700 - works fine
GF9650M GT - works fine
ATI X2300 - fast beeps as previously described (note - unrecognised graphics card)
No graphics card - fast beeps as previously described

Also : my 9650MGT card is identical to yours (including the same codes on the GPU chip, and same codes on the back of the card) - so you have the correct type of card.

Therefore, the A8JS gives the fast beeps to report 'graphics card error'. Since the BIOS you have installed (and downloaded back off the computer and posted here) is the same as the one on my A8JS, this means that the only two explanations are:

(1) The graphics card is faulty (99% chance)
(2) There is a fault with your A8JS such that it accepts the Go7700 but not the 9650M GT (1% chance - especially unlikely as the Go7700 runs hotter than the 9650, so presumably draws more power).

Therefore, I advise you to return the 9650M GT card and get a full refund, and consider getting (or testing) one from another source.... can you go to an Asus store nearby and check for compatibility yourself?. Otherwise, you could get one from the eBay seller who currently has them up for sale, or consider sending me the laptop as a last resort (but would be expensive, and would definitely be a last resort, I'm sure we could do more tests prior to taking this step!)

By the way, you could try repairing the Go7700 card if you wanted - will try to find some good sources about this later on!

fsdude - your card is definitely a Go7600 - let me know if you want me to make a BIOS supporting Go7600 and 9650M GT

Jommoner

If you can do that, it would be just awesome.

[ludeksls]

Hello again jommoner,

so today I am going to send my card (9650GT) back to CZ ASUS. And now I am considering what to do next. I would like to order new card from CZ ASUS again, but there is a problem. When I ordered it they had last piece (the one which I have). So if I order a “new one” I might obtain the same which I ll send back I check this up few minutes ago and I they really do no have any of those cards in their storage.
I also looked on ebay and found this card: http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-M50-N80-9650M-G...230b750358
but this one is extremely expensive. Nearly 300 USD (including pastage), no right to return and only 30 days of warranty. The new one from ASUS costs 140 € (including postage) and has 14 days right to return and two years warranty. Yeah I love EU directive to protect customers.

So solution is to order a new card in some nearby EU state directly from their ASUS or try to repair my old card e.g. by “oven trick” or order 7700go from CZ ASUS, but 7700 costs nearly 190 €.

And last option is to send laptop to you. For considering this which continent and country/state are you from?

[jommoner]

Hello again jommoner,

so today I am going to send my card (9650GT) back to CZ ASUS. And now I am considering what to do next. I would like to order new card from CZ ASUS again, but there is a problem. When I ordered it they had last piece (the one which I have). So if I order a “new one” I might obtain the same which I ll send back I check this up few minutes ago and I they really do no have any of those cards in their storage.
I also looked on ebay and found this card: http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-M50-N80-9650M-G...230b750358
but this one is extremely expensive. Nearly 300 USD (including pastage), no right to return and only 30 days of warranty. The new one from ASUS costs 140 € (including postage) and has 14 days right to return and two years warranty. Yeah I love EU directive to protect customers.

So solution is to order a new card in some nearby EU state directly from their ASUS or try to repair my old card e.g. by “oven trick” or order 7700go from CZ ASUS, but 7700 costs nearly 190 €.

And last option is to send laptop to you. For considering this which continent and country/state are you from?

Mmmm... I wish I knew about that EU directive! As I live in the UK, but am currently in Australasia (Australia / New Zealand). I might use Asus Europe to get more parts in the future I think!

It is worth trying the oven trick for the 7700 temporarily; and if you have a 14-day right of return, then you should definitely try a card from another country! In fact, phone up and order it as soon as possible, or check that they have LOCAL stock - so they don't do a side-order because they have none in stock, and send you back the same card you just sent back!

If you wanted to send me your laptop (as a last resort, if nothing else worked), then I could test one of my known-good 9650M GTs in it! (I could even get one from ebay, fit it to your laptop, and send it back with it fitted). I would be happy to test the card because I know that my two laptops (A8JR, A8JS) both have a 9650M GT, and both work fine, so if they card doesn't work in mine, I can just send it back to the seller as broken, and also, before I buy one on ebay, I could test one of my cards in your laptop, so we can see if your laptop for some reason won't recognise the 9650M. If we did go down this route, (if the second 9650 from a different ASUS-Europe branch fails), then it is very easy to remove the screen, keyboard, battery, hard-drive (but leave the memory in for testing), so the weight of the laptop would be almost nothing, so the postage costs would not be too bad! I would of course provide proof of my identity before expecting you to post me a laptop!!!)

Anyway, hopefully the card from another country works! (later, it might be possible to upgrade to a GTX260M, especially if you can get those cheap from Asus-Europe... I have a secondhand one on its way from the US, which can be fitted to the A8JS with minor internal case modifications). Whether it will work or not is a different matter!

fsdude : will start working on that BIOS, should have it done in the next 24-48 hours depending on how everything else goes

[fsdude]

Hello again jommoner,

so today I am going to send my card (9650GT) back to CZ ASUS. And now I am considering what to do next. I would like to order new card from CZ ASUS again, but there is a problem. When I ordered it they had last piece (the one which I have). So if I order a “new one” I might obtain the same which I ll send back I check this up few minutes ago and I they really do no have any of those cards in their storage.
I also looked on ebay and found this card: http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-M50-N80-9650M-G...230b750358
but this one is extremely expensive. Nearly 300 USD (including pastage), no right to return and only 30 days of warranty. The new one from ASUS costs 140 € (including postage) and has 14 days right to return and two years warranty. Yeah I love EU directive to protect customers.

So solution is to order a new card in some nearby EU state directly from their ASUS or try to repair my old card e.g. by “oven trick” or order 7700go from CZ ASUS, but 7700 costs nearly 190 €.

And last option is to send laptop to you. For considering this which continent and country/state are you from?

Mmmm... I wish I knew about that EU directive! As I live in the UK, but am currently in Australasia (Australia / New Zealand). I might use Asus Europe to get more parts in the future I think!

It is worth trying the oven trick for the 7700 temporarily; and if you have a 14-day right of return, then you should definitely try a card from another country! In fact, phone up and order it as soon as possible, or check that they have LOCAL stock - so they don't do a side-order because they have none in stock, and send you back the same card you just sent back!

If you wanted to send me your laptop (as a last resort, if nothing else worked), then I could test one of my known-good 9650M GTs in it! (I could even get one from ebay, fit it to your laptop, and send it back with it fitted). I would be happy to test the card because I know that my two laptops (A8JR, A8JS) both have a 9650M GT, and both work fine, so if they card doesn't work in mine, I can just send it back to the seller as broken, and also, before I buy one on ebay, I could test one of my cards in your laptop, so we can see if your laptop for some reason won't recognise the 9650M. If we did go down this route, (if the second 9650 from a different ASUS-Europe branch fails), then it is very easy to remove the screen, keyboard, battery, hard-drive (but leave the memory in for testing), so the weight of the laptop would be almost nothing, so the postage costs would not be too bad! I would of course provide proof of my identity before expecting you to post me a laptop!!!)

Anyway, hopefully the card from another country works! (later, it might be possible to upgrade to a GTX260M, especially if you can get those cheap from Asus-Europe... I have a secondhand one on its way from the US, which can be fitted to the A8JS with minor internal case modifications). Whether it will work or not is a different matter!

fsdude : will start working on that BIOS, should have it done in the next 24-48 hours depending on how everything else goes

Thanks jommoner. Just as a reminder, if it matters, my laptop is an A8Jm model.

[Filch]

$300 for a new gfx card on my 5 year old A8Js seems like a pretty hefty upgrade. I'm hoping we can get some other cheaper solutions with other cards. I'd just as well use that $300 towards a brand new machine at this point. Anandtech just did a review on the new Dell XPS series and I'm in love....

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3999/dell-...x-review/7

[ludeksls]

Hello again,

Mmmm... I wish I knew about that EU directive! As I live in the UK, but am currently in Australasia (Australia / New Zealand). I might use Asus Europe to get more parts in the future I think!

It is worth trying the oven trick for the 7700 temporarily; and if you have a 14-day right of return, then you should definitely try a card from another country! In fact, phone up and order it as soon as possible, or check that they have LOCAL stock - so they don't do a side-order because they have none in stock, and send you back the same card you just sent back!

If you wanted to send me your laptop (as a last resort, if nothing else worked), then I could test one of my known-good 9650M GTs in it! (I could even get one from ebay, fit it to your laptop, and send it back with it fitted). I would be happy to test the card because I know that my two laptops (A8JR, A8JS) both have a 9650M GT, and both work fine, so if they card doesn't work in mine, I can just send it back to the seller as broken, and also, before I buy one on ebay, I could test one of my cards in your laptop, so we can see if your laptop for some reason won't recognise the 9650M. If we did go down this route, (if the second 9650 from a different ASUS-Europe branch fails), then it is very easy to remove the screen, keyboard, battery, hard-drive (but leave the memory in for testing), so the weight of the laptop would be almost nothing, so the postage costs would not be too bad! I would of course provide proof of my identity before expecting you to post me a laptop!!!)

Anyway, hopefully the card from another country works! (later, it might be possible to upgrade to a GTX260M, especially if you can get those cheap from Asus-Europe... I have a secondhand one on its way from the US, which can be fitted to the A8JS with minor internal case modifications). Whether it will work or not is a different matter!

I sent my card back yesterday and I ll try to get another one from German or Poland ASUS. Tomorrow I am heading to Brussels for a short holiday. I ll be back next week on Tuesday. So then I let you know about further development about me getting new card ;-)

$300 for a new gfx card on my 5 year old A8Js seems like a pretty hefty upgrade. I'm hoping we can get some other cheaper solutions with other cards. I'd just as well use that $300 towards a brand new machine at this point. Anandtech just did a review on the new Dell XPS series and I'm in love....

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3999/dell-...x-review/7

I must agree that $300 is quite a big price for updating and old computer. But there are two things. A computer is not only about hardware but also about software, which usually cost more than the computer itself. I already have got a new laptop but unfortunately not all of my licenses could be transferred to my new machine. And there is another thing I just like my old ASUS. ;-)

So in the mean time, all of you have a nice weekend.

[fusion]

...It is worth trying the oven trick for the 7700 temporarily....

I've been following this thread and have never heard of the oven trick. Did a little more research and even though I was skeptical, decided to go ahead with it. I cannot believe the process actually worked.

I was getting screen artifacts (vertically running green blocks, kinda Matrix-like patterns, made a nice background in BASH!). I got BSOD in Windows. In Linux, I got GPU lockup error on boot but would switch to kernel framebuffer (Actually, I was amazed at what can be done with the Linux framebuffer).

Anyway, after baking for 8 minutes and letting it sit in oven with door open for an additional 2 mins. I removed the GPU and let it cool down. Then reinstalled with paste and to my disbelief, all screen artifacts were gone! I've ran the Unigine Tropics benchmark, Warcraft 3, and Starcraft 2 and they all work.

I've heard the oven trick can be a temporary fix. Hope it lasts long enough for the prices to drop on the 9650M!

[jommoner]

fusion - if you underclock the card, limit the framerate of games you play, it will significantly reduce thermal stress, and make the card last longer, probably a lot longer!

Glad the oven trick worked

...It is worth trying the oven trick for the 7700 temporarily....

I've been following this thread and have never heard of the oven trick. Did a little more research and even though I was skeptical, decided to go ahead with it. I cannot believe the process actually worked.

I was getting screen artifacts (vertically running green blocks, kinda Matrix-like patterns, made a nice background in BASH!). I got BSOD in Windows. In Linux, I got GPU lockup error on boot but would switch to kernel framebuffer (Actually, I was amazed at what can be done with the Linux framebuffer).

Anyway, after baking for 8 minutes and letting it sit in oven with door open for an additional 2 mins. I removed the GPU and let it cool down. Then reinstalled with paste and to my disbelief, all screen artifacts were gone! I've ran the Unigine Tropics benchmark, Warcraft 3, and Starcraft 2 and they all work.

I've heard the oven trick can be a temporary fix. Hope it lasts long enough for the prices to drop on the 9650M!

[Wajper]

Hello jommoner,

I have Asus A8js and I want to upgrade my graphic card. What do you think about graphic from Asus N81VP ??
This model have ATI Radeon Mobility HD4650 !
Look on this N81VP review:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/935/2/
This notebook has a very similar structure!

What do you think about it?
Is it possible to upgrade a8js to HD4650 ?

[jommoner]

Hello jommoner,

I have Asus A8js and I want to upgrade my graphic card. What do you think about graphic from Asus N81VP ??
This model have ATI Radeon Mobility HD4650 !
Look on this N81VP review:
http://www.legitreviews.com/article/935/2/
This notebook has a very similar structure!

What do you think about it?
Is it possible to upgrade a8js to HD4650 ?

Looking at the review, I can't see why it wouldn't work (it is reverse MXM with the same layout as the Go7700), but I will need to look at the BIOS to see if there are any problems there.

The main issues would be if ASUS have rigged the vBIOS to only work with the correct AMI Bios, but, hopefully they haven't done this. There are none of these cards on ebay, but, I bet they can be got from the ASUS stores if someone wanted to try this! (I myself will probably try this in a few months - those cards have very good specs!)

PS fsdude - will do your BIOS soon, have been very busy last few days!