tried to swap GTX cards on laptops now neither works

[wvgiant]

My son and I both have MSI notebooks, mine is newer. I thought it would be pretty easy to switch my GTX 970M for his GTX 870M since he games a lot and I do not, I bought mine for the power for buisness applications and don't need hi-spec graphics.

I swapped the cards but now neither works in either computer. I think, but can't remember, that I might have left the battery in in mine when doing it. It's one of those internal batteries that can't be easily removed and I might have forgotten to uplug it before switching the cards.

Can this have killed the cards?

The built in Intel graphics works on mine so I can still use it but my son's just has a black screen so it appears there might not be built in graphics or it's somehow disabled.

Any suggestions on what I should do to get this sorted out and at least get his laptop back up and running? Since the screen is black I can't see any messages or where the system is in the boot process.

Thanks for any help!

Matt

 

[hang-the-9]

I'm guessing you moved the cards back to the original systems they were in right?

As long as the systems were shut off, just having the battery in should not have caused issues.

Make sure the video cards in in properly in the slots, if there is a CMOS battery in the systems, unplug that battery for about 15 seconds to reset the BIOS, see if that works. If no battery, unplug from wall power, remove the battery if you can, hold in the power button for 30 seconds, try again.

 

[wvgiant]

Thanks for the reply! I tried your suggestions, with the cards back in their original systems and properly in the slot and everything completely and correctly reassembled, but unfortunately they didn't work. Found the CMOS battery on the older one, unplugged it for 20+ seconds, turned the computer back on and still a black screen. Tried holding in the power button for 30 seconds with and without CMOS battery in, still a black screen.

Mine is the same, I did all of the same steps and no change. If I have the GTX card in, when I boot up the screen is black. There is a switch to change between onboard and GTX graphics but it won't work. So I have had to take the GTX card out on mine so I can keep using it.

Could there be voltage differences between the MSI laptops that killed the cards?

I flashed the latest BIOS for my laptop and it hasn't done anything. There is no setting to change graphics cards or drivers in the BIOS.

 

[hang-the-9]

Thanks for the reply! I tried your suggestions, with the cards back in their original systems and properly in the slot and everything completely and correctly reassembled, but unfortunately they didn't work. Found the CMOS battery on the older one, unplugged it for 20+ seconds, turned the computer back on and still a black screen. Tried holding in the power button for 30 seconds with and without CMOS battery in, still a black screen.

Mine is the same, I did all of the same steps and no change. If I have the GTX card in, when I boot up the screen is black. There is a switch to change between onboard and GTX graphics but it won't work. So I have had to take the GTX card out on mine so I can keep using it.

Could there be voltage differences between the MSI laptops that killed the cards?

I flashed the latest BIOS for my laptop and it hasn't done anything. There is no setting to change graphics cards or drivers in the BIOS.

Can't say what may have happened, there are many small differences in laptops and the video cards that could have done something to them, without someone examining them closely can't really say what happened.

 

[wvgiant]

Thanks, I think I am going to have to take them to a local repair shop so they can test them and see what I've done to them haha. Seems like it might be a very expensive mistake on my part, these cards aren't cheap especially if I need 2. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.