OK..... Apologies for being away so long - have been very busy with other stuff! I will now reply to the questions above
xxxlalala : if you just search for 'thermal pads', you should find what you need. They are difficult to get hold of, though. I got these ones once:
http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/Thermal.html
they are probably the best you can buy. If you find a computer store that services laptops nearby they might have some that are cheaper. You can also reuse the old thermal pads if they aren't too badly damaged. To be honest, if you *need* the laptop, and the thermal pads are a bit damaged but half-OK, you could put them back, use the laptop, but just *avoid using any 3D* games or business presentations, and you would be fine for a while!.
Let me know if you need any more advice!
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Arnieb : The problem (black screen on bootup) can be easily fixed, so don't worry!
The seller has just swapped the vBIOSes around but it is a bit more involved than that.
If you post the BIOS that the seller gave you on here... I can do the mod for you if you like!, and will post a BIOS that you can use and which should work
with your new card on your laptop screen!
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jining : you can use anything as long as it is an ASUS reverse-MXM card and as long as it can physically fit into the laptop. (I have a GTX 260M but it won't physically fit...... until I do my planned case mods!)
I have an A8JS, A8JR (both upgraded to 9650M GT), and also an A8J? - I forgot the letter but I got it for almost nothing (hinges were broken but are fixed now). It has an Intel Core 1 Duo and a useless 7300 graphics card. Even this can be upgraded!
If you post a link to the card you are thinking of, I will let you know if it will work. You will need a modded BIOS (to support your old and new cards), and you will need to flash this first. I can make this for you once you know which card you will be getting!
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highlight : what exactly happened to the old card? (did the old card fail so badly that it also did nothing when you switched on)? It might be worth putting the old card back in, and seeing what happens.
If the old card half-works but the new one doesn't work at all, it is likely that the new one is broken.
The other option is that you actually had a 7600 or something - and therefore the new one isn't recognised.
Can you post high-res photos of the front and back of the old card (and the new card if possible) and I will check they are indeed the same card.
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mrzenith - is your PC an M50 or an A8J? It would be interesting to know if the fan-speed-always-at-100% error occurs on the A8J with 9700M - I thought that issue was limited to the M50?
Just saw - it is an M50. Unfortunately, I can't figure out why this is happening with the M50. It seems that, if you swap the VGA card to any other type, the fan goes to 100%. The A8J series, on the other hand, doesn't have this problem. Can you control fan speed manually using any desktop utilities?
I will ask other mods on this forum in case they have an idea how to fix this if you can't control it manually / from the desktop.
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