Acer MXM Models and Cards

Hey guys, my card has been reflashed with its original bios so I should get it back tomorrow or the day after Niffcreature if I can't get it working in my laptop 100% then I would still be interested in the swap we talked about.

 

actually, i just realised that i've been trying to get the 4650 working on the t9300. i should swap back down to the t7300 and see if the power savings makes a difference.

a new higher rated psu would mean that i couldn't run my laptop on battery alone then, i guess?

 

I don't think that the T7300 uses less power than the T9300; actually, it might be the other way around. Remember, the T9300 is built on a newer manufacturing process than the T7300 (45nm vs. 65nm).

 

http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y143/Meaks/wei.jpg

My current WEI score....

 

Hi Folks,

I don't have much knowledge about computers. Ran into some problems after I changed the screen on my Acer Aspire 6930G Laptop. The original screen had cracked, so I ordred a new one for 99.00 from a place in Canada.


Problem:
When I start the computer the screen works fine, but as soon as it enters windows, the screen goes extra bright and seems faded. I found that if I put the computer in to hibernation and enter windows after that it works fine.


I want to thank all or any who would reply in advance.

In addition to the above problem,
I am looking to see where I can make upgrades to this computer. below you will find the system info.

OS Name Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium
Version 6.0.6002 Service Pack 2 Build 6002
Other OS Description Not Available
OS Manufacturer Microsoft Corporation
System Name ACER-PC
System Manufacturer Acer
System Model Aspire 6930G
System Type x64-based PC
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T5800 @ 2.00GHz, 2000 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Acer v0.3204, 9/25/2008
SMBIOS Version 2.5
Windows Directory C:\Windows
System Directory C:\Windows\system32
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume2
Locale United States
Hardware Abstraction Layer Version = "6.0.6002.18005"
User Name Acer-PC\Acer
Time Zone Eastern Standard Time
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 3.99 GB
Available Physical Memory 2.29 GB
Total Virtual Memory 8.18 GB
Available Virtual Memory 6.16 GB
Page File Space 4.29 GB
Page File C:\pagefile.sys


Thanks

 

Meaker, if we don't trade and you cant get it to work, you should get a 4870 or something.

Unrelated: I need some original or compatible acer vBIOS for the 9600m GT that will work on the 5720g, also 9650m GT for the 5920g.
I'm thinking of trying to get a 9600m GT ddr3 to work on the 5920g with the 9650m GT ddr2 vbios by changing the timings with nibitor.

Hmm, hi Acerhelp.

Your screen issue is odd, I hope you get it resolved.

As for upgrades, there are some very expensive ones and then some much cheaper ones which are almost as good
Max upgrade:
ATI 4650 or 4670 graphics card - these are expensive and hard to find (must be mxm 2.1)
CPU - there are many you can choose from:
maybe qx9300 (quad core, best CPU period, insanely expensive)
t9900 (best normal CPU)
p9700 (best power saving CPU)
maybe x9100 (best dual core, also pretty expensive)


Cheaper upgrade:
nvidia 9600m GT ddr3
all the cpus of the same series, E. G. t9800, p9600, p8700 and lower etc. and they will be cheaper but you probably want at least a t8 or p8 something.
I would go with a p8700.

 

Why would I go for a 4870 over a 5850 mobility? It will consume more power.

I will look out for a 5870 in that case, then undervolt it to a 5850m.

 

Hi, there

Thanks for the upgrade info.

I love the idea of changing the Graphics card. My card is 512k and would love to sneak a 1 gig in there if I could. It looks easy enough. Is the 9600m GT ddr3 a 1gig card?

ooops Got it now,

Most grateful for your reply.

 

Welcome to the forums, acerhelp!
I'm slightly stumped on the screen issue, but I suspect it could be your Nvidia control panel settings (which is why it works fine until Windows boots). Try resetting the settings there and see if something shakes loose.

The 9600M GT GDDR3 is a 512MB card, but remember; when it comes to GPUs, faster memory is better than more memory. I'd take 256MB of GDDR3 over 1GB of DDR2 any old day.

Both the CPUs and GPUs can be found on eBay, but make sure that you're getting a retail/OEM version and not an engineering sample.

 

So how exactly is my WEI score (6.7) on gaming higher than yours?....

 

Fantastic points on the G cards memory, makes sense to me. Tried resetting from the Nvidia panel no luck. One other thing I noticed is that when you tap the screen the picture flickers with distortion, I took it all apart to make certain everything was plugged in right. also took the G card out and put it back in. Looks like a cable problem.

Thank you for the info and warm welcome to this forum.

 

If the qx9300 would work, then so should an ES Q9100 which is also extreme (make sure you get the ES version because OEM Q9100 is not extreme).

 

Thanks for the input.

Found this on ebay does this sound right around 209.00 uS
http://cgi.ebay.com/Intel-Core2-Qua...DRS-/270681273231?pt=CPUs&hash=item3f05dc738f

 

New Intel Quad core Q9100 qgmu 2.26Ghz on eBay (end time 01-Feb-11 23:37:02 GMT)

Better stepping IIRC, that or:

INTEL CORE QUAD Q9200 2.40GHZ 12M 1066Mhz MOBILE >q9100 - eBay (item 140499024482 end time Feb-08-11 09:50:04 PST)

The Q9100 I listed I dont think is unlocked but the one you listed is an early version with no temperature sensor. The Q9200 is the one I have and works great and is unlocked.

The GT240M I have at the moment is weaker than the 4670...

 

Thank you sir,

Question other than getting to the Cpu in the laptop how hard is to install the cpu? any special tools needed or does it just pop in ? How do I make certain I buy the right CPU that would work ?

The second cpu is almost twice the price.

Thanks again

 

I would email the guy and ask for a screenshot of the latest version of CPUz (he has a screenshot of a really old version).
In the specification box it should say "extreme".

 

G105M are not MXM because i have it.... ive disassembled my laptop and i found that G105M are not MXM

 

I don't think that one has temperature sensors, watch out.

First of all, who said anything about gt 105m?

Secondly, NO, you've got it all wrong. Cards are not MXM or non MXM. Nvidia does not make this decision at all, and a manufacturer most certainly can make any nvidia card on MXM if they need to.

Here is a quadro nvs 120m MXM NVIDIA Quadro NVS 120M PCI Graphics Card - eBay (item 330493201209 end time Feb-03-11 13:34:25 PST)

Yep, you can find that model card on like old 13" dells, doesn't mean they are MXM.
Here is a gt 210m mxm A
nVIDIA GTS 210M 512M GT218-INT-S-A3 VGA FOR LAPTOP - eBay (item 330510826195 end time Feb-19-11 10:27:33 PST)

 

Hey guys, got the card back and its working but still locked to 2d clocks

 

Can I have a copy of your 460m vbios please?

 

attached. 10char.

 

I wonder why your bios mod didn't work, I have no idea about modding a fermi vbios, didn't think it would be this complicated.

 

No voltage control on the 460M.

 

Does anyone has tried to put ATi V700 (as far as I know it's a HP version of HD3650) in a 5520G? or maybe any other Acer note.
After the install, it won't start up. Power led is on and that's it. With another card everything is working fine.
I just wounder could it be that vbios locked or the card is just faulty?!

 

Hi All,

I have an Acer 6935G with a 9600M GS 512MB DDR2 installed. Is the HD 4650 the max upgrade for this?

Also, would the 4650 have to come from an Acer, or can one from another manufacturer be used? (is this vBios flash? how easy to do?) How much do these cost? (If I can find one!)

Many thanks in advance
Nod

 

Its easier if you stick to acer, either the 4650 DDR2 or 9600M GT GDDR3 are your best bets.

Both work fine without heatsink modification.

 

I'm new to this so any help appreciated, I've got an 8735g with 240m mxm a.
What is needed to go to mxm b I've got the chance of either a 4870 or a gtx285m (the 285 is from a clevo is this ok?) both with heatsyncs still fitted also while its in bits I'll be upgrading to a q9200 so will I need any more cooling?

 

Not a clue, your going to have to look at any clearance issues, plus both those cards are power hungry so power delivery/thermal issues too.

 

There are 2 versions of that card, one of them has NO vbios and you can tell by a missing chip on the PCB. The other one has a locked vbios, you should find an acer compatible 3650 ddr3 vbios and flash with ati flash from a bootable DOS usb drive. Yes it sounds complicated. Yes I will guide you through it, and try to find that VBIOS but it is hard to find.

I have 1 of the cards with no EEPROM/BIOS chip, but I just bought 3 that have the chip so I will be experimenting here with you soon.

You won't have any clearance issues as far as fitting the card in your case and motherboard but you will need to modify the cooling.

Don't go for the 285m, it will run too hot.

 

The vbios is located on left upper corner?
If so then mine board doesn't have one.

 

Hi there,

so, I got this Acer Aspire 7520G here, with a failing 8400M GS - yeah, I am one of the other 3 Millions.

Anyway, I wanted to go for a cheap fix, and I did not have any upgrade in mind, nor did I ever intend to get another nvidia 8400/8600.

So I went on ebay, took a gamble and order a ATI HD 2600

Got it, installed it, but getting black screen only.

I actually was expecting incompatibilities, as it does not have the same "mounting bracket" as the old 8400M GS, the "mounting bracket" is fixed/soldered to it, and the space between the chip and the heat sink is quite a bit wider than before.

Apart from that, I hear the fan going, the DVD spinning, but no back light or anything else on the display comming on.

Anybody got a clue what to do now? Do I have any options?

I also could get an ATI HD 2400 XT but I do not know if that would work in the Aspire 7520G - I know its the stock card for the TravelMate 7520G

I am looking forward to any help or pointers
Cheers

 

Normally I would say that cross-posting isn't allowed under NBR rules, but since this is probably where you should have posted in the first place, I'll allow it ( ).

I'm not sure what's going wrong here, but it's just more proof that MXM upgrades are always finicky things, even when it makes sense that it would work.
I would give the Radeon HD 3650 a try - MXM-Upgrade.com themselves did the upgrade and found it worked. Plus, the Radeon HD 3650 is one of the more common GPUs on the market, and a bit of a step up from the HD 2600.

 

Hi TehSuigi,

thanks for the reply and sorry for the "sort of cross-posting".

I did miss this thread, and got some more info in-between so I thought I continue here. Thanks for letting me get away with it.

Anyway, the 3650 is an option - but I look for "cheap", not for power.

Forget about the ATI HD 2600, it's either gone or incompatible (it looks more like a MXM III card, too).

But I would be interested in the ATI HD 2400 XT - the 7520G TravelMate comes with that, and I could get it from Germany (where I live, as a matter of fact), but I do not know if it will work in the 7520G Aspire ...

Do you, or anyone else have a clue ... idea ... guess ... wild guess

Cheers

EDIT: I just noticed that you edited the first post with what I said about my HD 2600. I could make some fotos and gather more information which I could put into a post here, so you could link to it - if you think that's worth it ... I won't have time before next week, though ...

 

Neither does mine, but there are 2 chips missing in that corner. The BIOS eeprom chip usually has a sticker or something like a brand. The other chips that look just like it (which almost all cards have) usually start with APL and have random numbers.

The travelmate series is completely different from aspire, at least the motherboard is a totally different board so don't expect compatibility.

Always try an external VGA or DVI monitor when you get black screen. Maybe you got a locked HP card.
Try this perhaps ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3400 (M82) MXM II VideoCard - eBay (item 320650664991 end time Mar-01-11 21:37:47 PST)

Or these HP GRAPHIC CARDS ATI M86M V700 8530P 502337-001 - eBay (item 180499533236 end time Feb-20-11 12:02:39 PST)
which have some limited functionality until someone tries a vbios flash to 3650 ddr3

 

Does your cards work in any other notebook than HP?

 

Okay, thanks for the info!

He says they come from a 5730G ... TravelMate yet again ... so I think it again might or might not work in 7520G ... any (wild) guesses from you guys?

Limited in which way? I get back-light but no display?

Seriously, any clue what would work, and what not?

Thanks again everyone for helping out here!

 

Hmm I guess I will pay for the 3 I bought lol

I will probably try to flash them with the 3650 ddr3 vbios posted here http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...-cards/432773-mobile-video-bios-database.html
Some things only work on external monitors or drivers wont install correctly, I don't remember i should find th thread.

 

After seeing Meaker's attempt at upgrading his MXM card to a higher rated one i'm tempted to have my own.

Current Laptop => 6930G MXM II

inside of my laptop looks like this : http://img3.imageshack.us/img3/2421/blah2e.jpg

I've been comparing the size of an MXM 2 <=> 3 card

Width 73mm <> 82mm Not a problem at all, more room available.

Height 78mm <> 100mm

The card would hit the cpu heat sink screws. After examining the cpuheatsinks (i've upgraded my cpu last week) I noticed it uses a complicated setup with a screw – a spring and a lockingmechanise so the screws can't fall out when disassembled.

My idea is to sand-down the screw attachment and if possible use only screws to attach the heat sink to the motherboard/cpu (M2 screws fit through the motherboard). If I can do this successfully a mxm III would fit without a problem, at least mechanically!

Now ofcourse have more problems to worry about then just mechanically:

> Heat.

Probably my biggest concern at this moment. I run a 9600M GS at 625/1550/500 and I the highest temperature i've seen sofar is 72°c. This is with additional air intake and removed exhaust-grills, cover still on since I need this machine to be portable. Off course this is still only an 25 watt card and any mxm III card would be a lot hotter.

Seems the card with the lowests TDP I can find is a 3870 at 55 watts. Does anyone have experience with these cards? Can they be undervolted? My guess is that it will be needed, my cooling is great but not that great

> Bios support.

Since my acer supports nearly all MXM II cards I think it's quite safe to assume that any MXM II card with an acer compatible bios will boot. I don't see any problems here.

Since users have upgraded their 8930g with a 3870 it might just work in my laptop.

Any remarks anyone? Or anyone willing to lend/give me their 3870 for science

Won't buy a 500 euro 3870 for nothing, i'll wait until I can grab one cheap and then i'll try this! Unless anyone has some serious concerns?

 

Double check your width, some cards are wider to the right, and it looks like you dont have any room in that direction.

 

true, some rare cards are. But i can just not buy a card like that

Any progress on your project? I saw you swapped your 460 for an ati-card. Recieved it yet?

 

No I swapped it for a 260M, its still in the post, should get it next week.

I can do all sorts of things with the bios if it pulls the same stunt as the 460m.

 

news about the HP v700 cards, they do in fact work on other systems if you get one with an EEPROM. but it looks like the drivers wont install correctly...
I don't know much about ATI drivers but I'll try a few more and then try flashing to the 3650. Whats weird is it comes up as a 3650 already when its supposed to be fireGL.

Also does anybody have a gts 250m vBIOS?

 

Who can help me?

I have a Acer 5720G notebook. I want to put a 9600M GT card in it. When I do, i only get a black screen, but I hear that it boots into Windows.

How can I get it to work?

I already contacted Alligatorman ( Alligatorman get it to work ) but he doesn't reply.

I don't know what to do...

 

Do you know that the card is working, or can you verify that?

One option is flashing vBIOS, but I can't assist there, sorry.

Good luck!

 

The guy I bought it from says it works. I bought on Ebay.

I thought also flashing the vbios. But with only a black screen

 

I got a ATI MOBILITY RADEON HD 2400 XT 256MB MXM II working in a Acer Aspire 7520G.

Foto shows Acer Aspire 7520G with FurMark, GPUZ, System Window and Device Manager.

The card is a bit larger than the 8400M G that was in there before (MXM III?), but it worked right out of the box.

I only get a few "strange" characters when booting and in the BIOS, where the vBIOS versions are listed.

I also can't get temperature readings so far - this might be a driver issue.

Apart from that, a short test worked great.

I got the card from german ebay, from this seller.

And no, I do not regard this as an upgrade, just as an replacement - although this card beats the 8400M G, but then, which card does not.

Hope this helps!

Cheers

 

Nah, its just the 8400M was probably a short version of MXM-II

 

I have Aspire 7720zg working with 9600m GT correctly and 5720g is on the same mobo. In first try to flash laptop BIOS to the latest version. In my case it worked. Is that card with acer vBios? And also do You have a picture on the screen but without backlight? I had a problem with metal clip in the back that you screw cooler to it. It wasn't insular from the card and did shorting so that I had a picture on screen but without backlight.

 

Did anyone else see that dell released an MXM-A HD5730 for their M15X series? Has anyone grabbed one of those and tried it out?

The Dell GT240M worked fine, the GTX460M at least booted ok, its just the finiky nature of the 460M itself kept it from fully clocking up, something you could get around anyway on a 5730.

 

Hi!
Since I didn't see it mentioned in the first post, I thought I'd tell you guys that I managed to successfully upgrade my Acer Travelmate 5530G from a HD3470 to an HD3650. As far as I know, it is of HP manufacture and has 256 MB GDDR3 VRAM.
I didn't buy this card off of ebay though, instead I found the advertisement of a guy here in Hungary who pretty much upgrades laptop GPUs professionally. He ordered the card for me from abroad and even installed it (thanks again zsoca929! ).
One thing everyone needs to make sure is that the card you're buying should have its own BIOS chip! Maybe this was already mentioned in this topic, but the first card that was tested in my laptop didn't have a VBIOS chip, so all I got on boot were two loud beeps. Apparently HP makes two versions of 3650s (one with and one without the chip), and if you don't specifically ask for it when buying, then you can have an unpleasant surprise turning the computer on .
If you want a picture of the card (exact model number and such), then I'll be glad to upload it for you. Hope this post is useful!