How much / how difficult to upgrade single 4870 to single 5870?

Just a quick question about upgrading the m17x.

The one I have has a single 1gb 4870.

Would dell be able to upgrade this to a single 5870? If so, would it be expensive?

Would it be better to do it myself?

Thanks for any advice!

 

It can easily be done yourself. The GPU's are very easy to get to and remove.

 

Thanks ttnuagmada!

Is the only place to get a 5870 that works with the m17x from Dell?

 

I'm not actually sure on this one. I know that the ones that come with the M17x have a custom vbios, but I cant confirm that this vbios is required for one to work in the M17x.

I'm sure there are others here who can better answer that question.

 

Thanks again!

I guess I will wait for further responses otherwise, I guess I can call Dell and ask myself.

 

You might just want to get a second 4870 for Crossfire. Going from one 4870 to one 5870 won't really give you much performance gain compared to going from one 4870 to two in crossfire.

 

I'f I'm able to get my M17x tommorrow I will try and reflash the vbios with another vbios. But as of now the only place to get one that will work is from Dell like ttnuagmada suggested. If I don't get it tommorrow than somone else will have to give it a shot as I won't be able for at least a month.

Going crossfire 4870 would be better and you would see more performance, but going crossfire means that you will also need to purchase a crossfire cable, another heatsink, another fan, and another card.

 

Dell charges ~1k $ for both 5870's + heatsinks + CF cable.
Around 500$ for a single card.
IMHO, the price is not too outrageous, so I'd go with Dell to stay on the safe side even though you can get a single 5870 for under 400$ @ some places.
Replacing the cards is fairly easy, just be careful with the CF cable (looks like it can be easily affected by statics )

 

Quick question, if you need to remove the 5870 from the computer do you need to disconnect the heatsink too?

 

No, you can (and should) remove it together, just remove the small black plate covering the top of the HS, remove two screws on the GPU, lift one edge and pull the card out together with its heatsink.

 

Thanks. +1 rep. I need to get to my fan to change it.

 

Just added a pic to the previous post.


<<< Make sure you use pincers when unplugging the connector of the fan .

 

It was $335 to order an additional 5870 for my m17x, so I assume the first one is also around there. I don't know where everyone is getting the $500 price tag.

 

Did you order it from Dell with heatsink included?
I phoned them last week and got a quote of 500$ (including the heatsink) for a single card and ~1000 for 2 +CF cable.

 

Thanks for the all the responses! It has been very very helpful!

I would have to imagine that buying a 4870 would be cheaper than a 5870 (not counting the heatsink and CF cable).

Does anyone happen to have a link to instructions / video of instructions to add a second card? Or would it be sufficient to download the service manual from Dell for the m17x?

Thanks again!

 

Actually, it looks like 5870 is cheaper than 4870

Here's a video guide (by Moo)

A word of caution, avoid using metal tools for popping up the touch panel, - use thin plastic tools instead try doing it from the hinge covers instead of the shown in the video method, less chances to break the panel

If you have additional questions - fire away, I'll be happy to help.

 

You must also upgrade to a 240W power supply which aren't cheap. Dell will never make it easy to upgrade a GPU as they would rather sell you a new system.

 

I second the power brick.
The 240 watt one uses a blue led at the computer plug end.
I've seen documentation that states the colors of led for other rated supplies at the computer end. I think in the technical refefence manual is where I've see it.

I just do the math my supply used in the machine below model number GA240PE1-00 is a 19.56 volt by 12.3 amps as stated on the brick. 19.56 times 12.3 = 240.588 watts rounded to 240 watts

I think that the 240 is the biggest one, someone correct me if I'm wrong.

PLEASE post your output voltage and amperage figures for those that have dual graphics card setups.....

If you are upgrading memory also keep these things in mind about power usage. You could always go bigger for foresight into upgrades in the future.


next: It would be nice to know the power requirements for different graphics options including the ones about to make ours obselete. This could be benificial for those wishing to upgrade in the future and the near future to say a 470m/480m or a 5970m- oops did I say that?

 

Not true. Dell won't sell you a GPU for your computer "easily" ...but an even harder thing that I am trying to do is upgrade from a single 5870 to a dual. you have to buy a set of 2 if you want CF...

 

Your very wrong, I ordered the second 5870 for xfire. The entire process was easy, I just told the technician I wanted to upgrade to xfire and he ordered the part for me. It was very well priced too, less than $370 including tax and next day shipping. Too bad waiting for the part is a pia, it's already been delayed 4 times now.