Is the motherboard in m17x R3 the same as in the R4?

I've got a warranty repair being carried out (certain keys on the keyboard have stopped working again, keyboard was replaced a few months ago and the exact same fault with the same keys has resurfaced) they are sending out an engineer to replace both the keyboard and motherboard, but i noticed on the online tracking it states a motherboard for the m17x R3.

do the R4 and R3 use the same board?

 

The r3 and r4 use different motherboards, unfortunately. So if they do end up sending you an r3 motherboard, it will not work with your 3610qm - and you get to explain to the tech that they need to disassemble your laptop again to put the old motherboard back

Unfortunately, I do not know how you would tell the motherboards apart beforehand.

 

Weirdly enough, online has stated i was getting a M17x R3 motherboard put in for repair, but I did get a M17x R4 motherboard. Physically, they are identical, but the M17x R4 has a series 7 intel chipset, and the R3 has a series 6 chipset. Ivy bridge does not function in series 6, at least on the mobile platform, so when they put your CPU in they will know something is up.

 

Thanks for the quick replies! Will wait and see what he turns up with then.
Hope it sorts the dodgy keys issue, it's been very annoying.

 

It's probably just that the part number shows wrong info on the website. I can check which motherboard was sent to you if you send me a PM with your dispatch number.

 

The R4 motherboard has 4 USB 3.0 ports, two on each side. They look physically different than the regular 2.0 ports. There are more contact pins on the 3.0 ports. Also, look for the mSATA port.

 

The mSATA port replaced the r3's mini-PCIe slot, which I think is physically equivalent to an mSATA port, just without the drive controller. Go by the USB ports on the right side of the laptop, not by the presence/absence of the mSATA port.

 

the R4 mainboard look the same , but the specs are higher , has 2 slot sata 3 ( and work both ) , 4 usb 3.0 , Ivy bridge Cpu support and i think new type PCI Express x16 .