Repairing laptop screen or salvaging for parts?

Gladdig_Kaga · September 5, 2019

I have got a Lenovo Yoga 710-14 80V4006LMX. The problem is that it got stepped on, and now the screen is cracked all over the place. On top of that it's probably had water in it, so who knows what kind of havoc that has wrecked inside of it. I have no experience building laptops, but have some building desktop computers.

When I power on the laptop only about 60 % of the screen shows any discernable picture. Half the time it says it can't detect any boot media, the other half it goes into windows repair and gives me a bunch of options, though I can't really tell what they are because of the cracked screen.

So now the question is whether there is a way to repair the screen, and if it's worth it, since other parts might be broken? The second option would be to open it up and salvage parts out of it, to sell them or (mainly) to upgrade a desktop pc I have. My thoughts right now is that it's probably not worth the risks of trying to repair it, so I'm leaning towards salvaging parts, though I'm not 100 % sure which parts would be compatible.

The exact specifications for this laptop was hard to find, but I found a list here on this Swedish website translated with google translate. The desktop specifications on the other hand are:

CPU: Intel Core i5 3550 3,3Ghz
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU cooler AMD/Intel
Memory: Corsair 8GB (2x4096MB) CL 9 VENGEANCE 1600Mhz LP
Motherboard: MK Asus P8Z77-V LX
Power supply: Corsair Gaming Series 600W 80+

Thoughts about the laptop parts:

Memory: Since it is DDR4 and the motherboard supports DDR3 the only useful thing I can do with it is selling them. Can I tell it's working properly from the fact that the computer isn't crashing immediately and can go into repair mode? I have no way of testing it in another computer as I don't have any SO-DIMM to DIMM adapter, or any other laptop. Also, I found no specifications for the frequency of the memory, any ideas what it might be or how to find out?
SSD: It's probably comaptible with my motherboard, though, since the laptop can't detect a boot drive is it likely it's broken?
Graphics card: The desktop lacks one so any graphics card would be better than none. The specifications states it's a GeForce 940MX, but I have no idea what to expect, is it a part of the laptop motherboard or a separate part? Is there any adapter that can make it fit onto the desktop motherboard? Would it be worth it?
CPU: The specifications says it's an Intel Core i7 7500U at 2.7 GHz, but I remember something about it having a boost clock up to 3.5 GHz. So maybe the desktop cooler is good enough to to make it worth switching out the CPU? Would it even fit in the motherboard socket?

Any help or ideas are appreciated!

Chiyawa · September 11, 2019

On 9/6/2019 at 1:46 AM, Gladdig_Kaga said:

Memory: Since it is DDR4 and the motherboard supports DDR3 the only useful thing I can do with it is selling them.

Actually, laptop use SO-DIMM, and desktop use DIMM which is longer than SO-DIMM.

On 9/6/2019 at 1:46 AM, Gladdig_Kaga said:

SSD: It's probably comaptible with my motherboard, though, since the laptop can't detect a boot drive is it likely it's broken?

You can try this SSD using a USB docking, to see if everything is working.

On 9/6/2019 at 1:46 AM, Gladdig_Kaga said:

The specifications states it's a GeForce 940MX, but I have no idea what to expect, is it a part of the laptop motherboard or a separate part? Is there any adapter that can make it fit onto the desktop motherboard? Would it be worth it?

The GPU is soldered to the motherboard... So noped.

On 9/6/2019 at 1:46 AM, Gladdig_Kaga said:

CPU: The specifications says it's an Intel Core i7 7500U at 2.7 GHz, but I remember something about it having a boost clock up to 3.5 GHz. So maybe the desktop cooler is good enough to to make it worth switching out the CPU? Would it even fit in the motherboard socket?

Many laptop CPU are soldered to the motherboard. So noped. 3rd Gen Core i series and 7th gen Core i series use different architectures, supporting different memory generation, so they are incompatible to begin with.

In other words, the only thing you can salvage from your laptop is RAM and SSD, and you can only use the SSD to your desktop system. You can sell the RAM if you like, or keep it for yourself. You can also salvage the heat sink, fan and CPU (If the CPU is not soldered on the board) and sell them as spare parts.

Chiyawa · September 11, 2019

Oh, forget to add in:

Replacing the screen and motherboard can be a viable option. You can try to find spare parts, or send for repair.

If you are getting a desktop, try to get a more recent desktop if possible. The desktop specs is quite old in my opinion.

Gladdig_Kaga · September 28, 2019

Thanks for the response!

I looked around, but replacing the screen looked pretty expensive compared to my almost non existent budget, so I decided to open it up.

When I opened the laptop all I could recognise was the SSD everything else seemed soldered down, but at that point I was only aiming for the SSD and the memory. I had heard that in some versions of those laptops the memory is soldered down too, so in the end I gave up on finding it.

I know the desktop parts are pretty old, but I'm trying to put together a second computer with spare parts.

Now the problem is I expected the SSD to be a mini sata and not an m.2 sata, but perhaps I should have known that. I guess I need an adapter, but I can't find one in the local stores, since I live in a pretty small town. On the internet it would cost between 15 and 30 € from the retailers in my country, while looknig at prices from china they go as low as 3 €, but I guess there is a quality difference though. Doesn't matter though, cause if I order from china the tariffs and fees still make it go up to 15 €. I'll solve it somehow I guess.