Fixing a NVidia Geforce GO 7950 GTX?

[Zragnarok]

Hi guys, I want to have your comments on this... I own a Dell XPS 1710 with a Geforce 7950 GTX and it failed me last summer. I bought a used one on ebay for 429$ US, installed it and it failed me again a little more than 1 month after I installed it.

I then contacted the guy who sold it to me, asking if there is anything he could do and he told me he know someone who can fix it for 125$ with a 60 days warranty... Should I trust him ? To be honest, i'm pissed to put so much money in a 2 years old laptop but that damn laptop cost me almost 3k so I want it work...

Here's what he replied to me. Any comments are appreciated, thanks

Hi,

I talked to one of my contact and he can fix your video card for $125 CDN. And he can give a 60 day warranty on it. You will need to cover the shipping both ways.

Let me know if this is what you want to do.

Regards,





I then told him


Hi
Thanks for the answer. Yes that would be a solution. But can you give me more details as to what he's going to do to fix it ? I know these cards have a lot of problems and I don't want to pay more if the card is going to fail me again in the near future :/ And can he repair 2 video cards ? I still have the old one too and I would consider repairing both in case one stop working again.

Thanks a lot for your time!





And he replied


Hi,

To be honest with you I’m not too familiar with fixing video cards but to my understanding there is a chip on the actually video card and if that goes bad than he will have to replace it. Now it will be $125 all in, there is no additional cost even if he has to replace certain parts. Now the guy assured me that they’ve fixed a lot of video cards and have a special machine that does that. Remember you have 60 day warranty on the part as well.

Regards,

[Cephius]

Too shady. Don't do it. You shouldn't buy video cards on Ebay, especially used ones, and this is why unfortunately.

[Zragnarok]

What could happen ? The guy won't repair it and run away with my card ?

[Avanarius]

you could buy a better card then that for $125 probably...

You seriously spent $429 on that card? I guess you probably assumed you had to replace it with the same card?

**edit** Wait, I'm confused this is a laptop card...? I wasn't aware you could replace a laptop card

[Olo401]

Yeah.. expansion laptop gaming-quality graphics cards are a pain in the ass. Expensive to fix/replace, hard to find separate from a new laptop, and they overheat often.

[Lhyet]

It sounds very risky. I hear alot about people who claim online that they can fix your computer parts/xbox/whatever for x amount of money, and then when you hand the item over you never hear from them again.

So yeah, the worst that could happen is he makes away with your card and $125.

You should ask for some proof that his person is legit if you really want to go ahead with it, but I wouldn't risk it were I you.
Could you take it to a computing store in your area and see what they say?

And ultimately I think it's a lesson learned not to buy second hand computer parts from ebay, I'm sorry to tell you. They're just too much of a risky purchase to make without something more physical to fall back on, and a warranty.

[jmc]

What could happen ? The guy won't repair it and run away with my card ?

He could take off with your laptop, the $130 fee.... and probably a extra $100 with shipping.

[fishstix]

He bought the card originally from this guy and then replaced it himself. I dont think he means to send the guy the whole laptop. Even if everything is legit, I wouldn't pay that much for -that- card

[Olo401]

I get the caveat of buying parts off Ebay, but when you can't buy a laptop graphics chip anyplace else because no one friggin' sells them retail or new OEM to builders..

[Zragnarok]

Yeah, that's the problem, I don't care anymore what the specs are, I just want the damn laptop to run. If I could go to the nearest store or go to newegg to find a replacement, I'd do it, but I can't

If anyone got any other solution, I'll consider them :/