Can I use a slave gpu (4850 CFX)

[CarlaBruti]

Hello everyone,

First, please forgive my english, I'm French and I'll do my best so you can understand me, but unfortunately there will be some grammar mistakes in this message

I've tried several French forums but I could'nt get help on them

So here is my problem : I have an Alienware M17 laptop with CFX 4850 mobility, which means 2 GPU. Due to some overheating issues, I decided to open my laptop, to clean dust, and then to replace the thermal paste on GPUs... but I forgot to put the battery (fully charged) off the computer when doing this, and after several tests (external screen, etc), it looks like I killed the master GPU. When i turn the computer on, I can hear the sound of windows, and ventirads are still working, but there is a black screen, no image.

But the slave GPU might still be working, and to be honest I would be fully satisfied with only 1 GPU since I mainly play starcraft 2, which works perfectly on a mere unique 4850.

So I tried to put the slave GPU in the master slot, and as foreseen, it doesn't work (I have 1 long bip and two short ones from the BIOS when turning the computer on, which means check your GPU, and still no screen).

So here is the final question : is there a way to use the GPU slave that is normally still OK when the master one is dead ? Or am I sentenced to find a new 4850 MXM ? (Which sounds like impossible mission nowadays, and since I'm clearly not gifted for informatics, might just totally fail again...)

I spent tons of hours on the internet, trying to get a solution, but I go from problems to problems and now I'm about to totally drop it and retire myself in some Nepalian lamasery to die in peace

If I haven't been clear enough, or if you need more details, do not hesitate in any way, I will be here !

Thanks in advance and good morning to veryone

 

[CarlaBruti]

well, I've tried on 2 external screens and no image on neither of them.

What do you mean by "You may have made a mistake putting it back together" ?

I called Alienware but all the guy could tell me was "we no longer provide support for these computers since they were sold before AW got bought by Dell"

Thanks for your answer by the way. So in your opinion, even on the old Crossfires, both slave or master gpu should work on the master slot.

But can we imagine that BIOS is censed to work with 2 GPUs, and if he only can find one, he bugs ? (and knowing that I can't get to BIOS since no image...)