Can this laptop be repaired

[qwe340]

Hello,

My laptop is an acer 5742z.
Lately, it has been shutting down randomly.

I monitored the temperature and realized that the GMCH is overheating. The laptop has an integrated GPU, so GMCH overheat is the equivalent of a GPU overheat, on a integrated machine. It is in the north bridge.

I was thinking, couldn't this be fixed by applying new thermal compound on the north bridge? or somehow better attache the north bridge to the heatsink?

However, I asked a couple of local stores, they don't seem to think new thermal compound would work. Because they think the north bridge could be damaged. One store told me they could do a BGA rework, but that would cost almost 200$, so I might as well get a new one.

So, is this laptop beyond repair? should I scrap the parts and get a new machine?

thanks for your time.

Edit:

By the way, the computer runs fine normally, it only shuts down if I use something graphically intensive, like a game. If I just surf the web (like I am asking this question on said computer), it would have no problem at all, no matter how long.

 

[carowden]

well to be honest, it doesnt sound like the shut downs are very random at all. it is not made really for games, and when you play games with the integrated gpu, it will heat up inevitably, and cause a crash. you might have some luck by opening up the cpu cover and clearing as much dust out of the heatsink as you can. and maybe taking it off and reapplying thermal paste will help, but honestly the best advice i can think of is to not game on it, because its simply not made for it.

 

[Designs]

A laptop is is always repairable, but yea generally with excess heat to certain components the fix is generally highly priced ..

The random shut downs are its way of saying fix it before it is broken new hardware is smarter than humans in that way, if it is out of warrenty go ahead and try a new thermal compound re-seat make a good seal and it will drop temps.

but if there is already damage to the bridge and/or graphics from the issue, then it is just a time bomb.

you choice

 

[qwe340]

A laptop is is always repairable, but yea generally with excess heat to certain components the fix is generally highly priced ..

The random shut downs are its way of saying fix it before it is broken new hardware is smarter than humans in that way, if it is out of warrenty go ahead and try a new thermal compound re-seat make a good seal and it will drop temps.

but if there is already damage to the bridge and/or graphics from the issue, then it is just a time bomb.

you choice

Hi,

so, I called the repair shop again, to ask if they can just try to apply thermal compound as a last resort crapshoot type of thing.

But they actually said they do thermal paste replacements for the northbridge because it's on the mother board.
So, I'm not really sure what to do.

Would a cooling pad work?

 

[raytseng]

i would first check dust/cleanout like the other people said.

Then check the condition of the fans. If they can't get the heat out, then that's really the issue.

If they are cheaply replaceable replace them. If they can be serviced, see if you can put a drop of oil on them to get them to work more efficiently.

 

[qwe340]

i would first check dust/cleanout like the other people said.

Then check the condition of the fans. If they can't get the heat out, then that's really the issue.

If they are cheaply replaceable replace them. If they can be serviced, see if you can put a drop of oil on them to get them to work more efficiently.

Oh， I forgot to mention this, I discovered this problem about a month ago, and I already sent it in to clean all the dust, the shop also replaced thermal compound on the cpu.

it worked ok for 2 weeks, then, it started to shut down again.

I realized it is the north bridge because everything else in the PC runs below 60 degrees. (CPU only gets to 62ish under max load)

But that shop would not replace the thermal compound on the north bridge, i dont understand why, from the service manual, It is at the end of the heatsink tube, and it would literally be the same job as the CPU clean up.

 

[Designs]

What shop is this ? it might be worth popping to another local shop as it sounds like there going for maximum cash out of you,

sounds bad i know but i also know there is more things to do or try that would not earn them cash, pads or compound are fine to replace just check it against what the manufacturer's used and then go for a more efficient one.

there could be another year or more left in the laptop with that same hardware, so its always worth just throwing a couple dollars at the issue to see if you can fix it, but if it is seriously damaged then just upgrade... dont replace parts

 

[raytseng]

worth a shot!

Is there no heatsink attached to that chip?

If there is space, You can maybe get a stick-on heatsink usually meant for RAM or video card chips and see if that works. Not sure of the geometry of your laptop.

 

[qwe340]

What shop is this ? it might be worth popping to another local shop as it sounds like there going for maximum cash out of you,

sounds bad i know but i also know there is more things to do or try that would not earn them cash, pads or compound are fine to replace just check it against what the manufacturer's used and then go for a more efficient one.

there could be another year or more left in the laptop with that same hardware, so its always worth just throwing a couple dollars at the issue to see if you can fix it, but if it is seriously damaged then just upgrade... dont replace parts

The problem is, the shop doesn't even get any money. They are not trying to sell me a computer, I told them I would buy parts from newegg to build a desktop if it comes to that. They are just pretty adamant about not touching the mother board I guess? Which is strange, because they have to take out the entire mother board + heatsink just to replace thermal paste on CPU （and could've easily did the north bridge as well, at that same time)

I would do it myself if I didn't read the service manual and discover I need to take the entire mother board out. Then I was like, no thanks.

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

I own a laptop repair company...

If you came to my company in the UK... we would do the job, but with NO guarantee it would work....and we would charge you two hours labour, to strip and rebuild the lappy...thats £100...and thats why your shop dont want to do it without charging you again...

All the best Brett

 

[qwe340]

Best answer selected by qwe340.

 

[qwe340]

In the end, I found another shop, they took it in with a 25$ inspection fee because they can't guarantee it can be fixed. Costed 75$ in total, they guaranteed that it should be fine for at least another year, turns out the soldering of the chips were still intact, so it was fine. (they said melted soldering/BGA was what everyone was afraid of)

 

[Brett928S2]

Hi

I REALLY REALLY wouldnt hope to get a year out of that.....

All the best Brett