Reputable GPU reballer?

[BGoins12]

Hey guys, I have a HP Laptop I got for free. Problem is, the GPU is coming unsoldered from the motherboard. If you press where the heatsink is under the keyboard for the GPU, it stops showing artifacts on the screen. Is there a reputable company I can send the motherboard to for them to reball the GPU to the board? I don't want to part it out or anything, it's a really nice computer (It's only 2 years old!), so I would really like to have the GPU fixed.

Any help is appreciated.... thanks!

[ZaZ]

Which laptop and card is it?

[BGoins12]

It's a HP CQ60. I think it's a GeForce 8200M. Don't know why I said 2 years old... I think it's 3. It has a Turion Dual Core.

[RealBlackStuff]

The only one I know of is this outfit pcpitstopavon on eBay.
They do an nVidia GPU fix for $69.99 http://www.ebay.com/itm/260674058980
I also have a dud HP sitting here, that was given me for free.
Am considering them, but have not decided yet.
If you do, please report back with the result.

[poshgeordie]

Be aware of the following issues with these chips before having any laptop "reflowed".

First of all there are two different repair processes - reflowing and reballing.

Reflowing is simply heating up the chip until the tiny solder balls between the chip and motherboard melt.

Reballling is removing the chip and replacing the solder balls with a new set.
The symptoms you're describing are typical of an unsoldered chip which should be reballed (NOT reflowed - see 1 below), or better should be replaced (again see 3 below)

1. Reflowing is not a long term fix since the solder balls are lead free and the balls should be replaced with leaded ones - a good rework company should know this. Reason is that lead free balls are extremely difficult to reflow since they become oxidised over time and reheating them doesn't properly resolder them (the short story).

2. Most "Reflowing" companies don't realise that to do a proper job the red epoxy strips (or dots) have to be removed from around the chip, so it can properly "float" when the solder balls melt. It's so blindingly obvious but shows that most companies are technically illiterate (speaking for those in UK).

3. Whilst your's may not be showing these symptoms at the moment, your laptop is fitted with the infamous MCP77MV-A2 chip which suffers from design issues and the only real long term solution is to replace it.
Unfortunately it's almost impossible now to buy the redesigned chips Nvidia provided for a while and any advertised on eBay / Alibaba etc are extremely likely to be Chinese fakes (as I know from personal experience).

Since you were given the machine for free you've nothing to lose by reflowing but you'll need to ask any company you use some searching questions first.

My background is Infrared reballing and there's not too much I don't know about this subject and talk from experience. Also I'm unfortunately unable to do any repairs for you - sorry!

Hope that helps and let us know how you get on.

[RealBlackStuff]

It seems they only do a reflow, according to this: http://members.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl ... itstopavon

My suggestion: have it reflowed, then stick it on eBay as fast as you can, and sell it AS-IS.
Or part it out (do some research first, if there is a demand), but I assume eBay is flooded with this HP junk.

[BGoins12]

Hmmm... I'm thinking it may not be worth the cost. I just might harvest all the good parts out of it (RAM, HD, DL DVD Burner, CPU) and trash the rest. The plastic is of poor quality.. the trackpad's paint is gone and the keys are really shiny.

Thing actually performs far worse than my Core2 Duo Latitude, and it's a 2.2? GHz Turion X2 with 4GB of RAM. Mine has 2GB. At least I can use the RAM and the 500GB 7200RPM HD out of it.

[BGoins12]

All done! My latitude now has a 500GB HD, and 4GB of RAM.

[poshgeordie]

I think you've made the right decision - and your Dell has benefited too!