[Probably] a broken-down motherboard…

I found a web page with step-by-step directions for completely disassembling Clare’s particular laptop model. I tried & tried & tried & tried to get the more dramatic photo of the completely disassembled laptop spread out on the carpeted floor in “exploded” fashion. But the area is too large to get uniform natural lighting and of course I still s*ck at “flash photography.” Sigh. So here is the motherboard alone.

One very likely problem is the poor condition of the thermal paste on the CPU chip. Compare to the condition of the thermal paste on the GPU chip to its right (the notched gray square).

I didn’t take the monitor apart, but what was surprising to me is how few components there are:
1. monitor
2. speaker cover
3. speaker assembly
4. mounting bracket
5. keyboard
6. battery
7. hard drive
8. palm rest assembly
9. bottom case
10. optical drive
11. service doors (covers) ×2
12. RAM chip(s)
13. cooling module (heat sink and fan)
14. wireless card
15. LIO board
16. motherboard
Of course there are 54 little screws to remove and lots ’n’ lots of cables and connectors to disconnect, but it was an interesting process.

The big question today is a Humpty Dumpty type question: Can I put it back together (with no parts left over so-to-speak) and revive it? I have some new thermal paste to apply to the CPU chip, but that’s about all I am able to try.

1 year ago (“Family afghan project…”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2013-08-31
2 years ago (“Eastern Pondhawk (female)”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2012-08-31
3 years ago (“Lines and flowers”): http://365project.org/rhoing/365/2011-08-31

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