What chip is this? Screen Flickering issue & didn't ON or charge, now dead -Predator Helios 300

After many months of crying over my dead machine - Acer Predator Helios 300 (i5 9300H + GTX 1660Ti) PH 315-52-5520, I got to know that a chip on the board is short, the

laptop doesn't turn on at all, doesn't charge, it's just dead, except this chip, which gets hot to touch.

I wanted to know what chip this might be (has no heat sink on it, just a black sticker cover and is exposed. Is this the motherboard chipset?

CONTINUATION OF THE PREVIOUS PROBLEM - Please read - https://community.acer.com/en/discussion/654013/screen-keeps-flickering-every-3-seconds-predator-helios-300-ph-315-52#latest

Image: https://us.v-cdn.net/6029997/uploads/editor/gh/l701f117nym6.jpg

[//Edited the content to add model name]

Accepted answers

All comments

Commodore_1995#

Yes, it's a chipset. If your model is ph315-52 then it is hm370 chipset. Now, if the chipset gets hot but the computer won't turn on, I would check the primary and secondary voltages. But it is necessary to know how to read the electrical schematic of this motherboard.

brummyfan2

Hi,
Yes, it's the motherboard chipset which communicates between CPU and other peripherals, if it's damaged, a new MB needed.

Sumanth

@egydiocoelho

Thank you for your response, for the context, I'd like to provide you and others a little more information

The problem started with the Screen Flickering issue I had (you can read more in the link mentioned above), then it didn't turn on, from that point on forward, I've taken it to multiple Acer Certified service centers in different states in my Country, unfortunately they can only come up with the Conclusion that there's no power to the motherboard, that's the farthest extent of diagnosis that they are willing to make

They made it clear that they DO NOT repair at chip level, they merely just replace the whole thing instead, which is obviously ridiculously expensive

So I've been to multiple other high rated private technicians, they declared that there's a problem with this chip, I've felt it, it gets hot when nothing else is even powered, even they say that this issue CANNOT be solved, only a whole motherboard replacement will make the machine work

If anyone could please confirm this or give me more insight... I'd be extremely happy
I've put my childhoods' and graduations earnings and savings into this...
Predator down

Sumanth

brummyfan2 said:

Hi,
Yes, it's the motherboard chipset which communicates between CPU and other peripherals, if it's damaged, a new MB needed.

If that's the only solution... then could you please provide me details of how expensive this job would be? And tell me how to get hold of one?

The technicians I've met say that it would cost anywhere North of INR 37,400 (~ 492 USD)- (1 month warranty, non branded parts)
I've contacted Acer, they say that they don't have stock for these boards and will likely not have them anytime soon or ever

Commodore_1995#

Without checking the voltages, it is impossible to say whether it is possible to fix it or not. In my opinion, the correct thing is to check all the voltages of the motherboard, using the electrical schematic. In what country do you live?

Sumanth

I'm from India

Quite a few technicians I've met in one state, just plainly said that they checked everything, they don't know what the problem is, might possibly be something big that's it

Which is why I moved states to get a chance to get it fixed with better technicians and this is the only info i have now...
As far as I can remember, there was that 19V power rail working, after that he was confused, the other technicians.. I have no clue

brummyfan2

Sumanth said:

brummyfan2 said:

Hi,
Yes, it's the motherboard chipset which communicates between CPU and other peripherals, if it's damaged, a new MB needed.

If that's the only solution... then could you please provide me details of how expensive this job would be? And tell me how to get hold of one?

The technicians I've met say that it would cost anywhere North of INR 37,400 (~ 492 USD)- (1 month warranty, non branded parts)
I've contacted Acer, they say that they don't have stock for these boards and will likely not have them anytime soon or ever

This is the cheapest I could find online, it's from Aliexpress and costs around £500.
https://pt.aliexpress.com/item/1005002229893590.html?gatewayAdapt=glo2bra

Sumanth

brummyfan2

Well... thats a great Jump in CPU and GPU power for that price... maybe?
But do you really consider it to be fruitful for me to get the motherboard replaced or buy a new machine all together?
(possibly without any warranty)

I bought this one for INR 78000 (~ 1038.95 USD)
The price of the motherboard that you've shown is INR 51000 (~ 679.31 USD) [it cannot be delivered to india anyways]

And I think I might have a broken screen as well - thats a 144 Hz 1080p panel...

brummyfan2

Sumanth said:

brummyfan2

Well... thats a great Jump in CPU and GPU power for that price... maybe?
But do you really consider it to be fruitful for me to get the motherboard replaced or buy a new machine all together?
(possibly without any warranty)

I bought this one for INR 78000 (~ 1038.95 USD)
The price of the motherboard that you've shown is INR 51000 (~ 679.31 USD) [it cannot be delivered to india anyways]

And I think I might have a broken screen as well - thats a 144 Hz 1080p panel...

Yes,it's very expensive to replace MB, I would suggest buying a new laptop rather than trying to repair this laptop, salvage any parts from it and sell.

Sumanth

That really hurts to listen 😔😔😔
But i guess it's the only way... I may try to do some digging once more..
I even upgraded to 32GB of ram and living my dream life...
Now I've lost multiple jobs, lost interviews, got into debts and even moved homes because of it

It's barely over 2 years old even kept it super cool with kryonaut

Dang 😔 i can't afford to buy anything like this for atleast over an year....

Commodore_1995#

Do you know a technician who understands electronics and who knows how to read the electrical diagram of a motherboard?

ajax97

It's NOT the chip. The repair person must have short-circuited the board while handling the edp cable. I had the similar issue but with the webcam,as display and webcam wires are joined together and ended up with a dead laptop. I have seen similar cases where people end up in the same situation while dealing with the edp cable. Check this one here Predator Helios 300 PH315-52 A single issue gave birth to multiple ones — Acer Community

Quick Links

Top Members

Weekly

Puraw 225

Diya1811 145

StevenGen 105

Jack22 75

roberthansjorg 62

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel® Evo™

Game Pass

Acer Corner

Gaming on Chromebook

Swift Series Intel^® Evo™