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    M17x 5870m

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014.

  1. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Im trying to find a 5870m to upgrade this garbage 280m sli i currently have.
    Is it better a Single 5870M or a cross fire 5870M?

    Where the heck can I buy it from. I cant find them online.
     
    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
    #1
  2. maxheap

    maxheap caparison horus :)

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    I thought we had people who managed to put 7970m xfire into m17x r2 (wait yours is r1?)
     
    maxheap, Oct 28, 2014
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  3. ryzeki

    ryzeki Super Moderator Super Moderator

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    a single HD5870m trades blows and often beats a single 280m. But you would need an xFire HD5870m to defeat SLI 280m.

    Is there no other options for you? How compatible is HD7970m or 600/700 series of nvidia? I know my GX660R from MSI was able to run with an HD7970m upgrade (came originally with HD5870m).
     
    ryzeki, Oct 28, 2014
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  4. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    I have no clue whats the best I could do with this mobo. I got the R1. Any sugestions?
     
    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
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  5. maxheap

    maxheap caparison horus :)

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    maxheap, Oct 28, 2014
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  6. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Mine is R1 and hey Im in NJ too :D
     
    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
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    maxheap likes this.
  7. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
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  8. maxheap

    maxheap caparison horus :)

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    maxheap, Oct 28, 2014
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  9. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
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  10. maxheap

    maxheap caparison horus :)

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    maxheap, Oct 28, 2014
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  11. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    I forgot to mention my 280m sli are 2mb each thus making them 4mb. You sure 2mb from the xfire would be faster? and is 30usd for a xfire cable fair?
     
    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
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  12. maxheap

    maxheap caparison horus :)

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    2GB?

    10char
     
    maxheap, Oct 28, 2014
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  13. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Blah my typo the 280m's are 2gb each.
     
    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
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  14. maxheap

    maxheap caparison horus :)

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    Well, not the memory but the 5870m's shaders will make it faster. 5870m is about 50% faster than 280m per notebookcheck (in 3dmark Vantage, I cannot find their 11 score, though I bet the gap is even more). Though I wouldn't invest in outdated graphics cards. Why not save the money and get a portable laptop with an 860m? It will eclipse 5870m xfire.
     
    maxheap, Oct 28, 2014
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  15. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Because this is just so i can play the current dx11 games. Im waiting for a revamped m17 or m18 and still debating which one will be better a MSI with 980m sli or a revamped m17 m18. so this is a ( in the mean time ) type of thing
     
    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
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  16. maxheap

    maxheap caparison horus :)

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    I see, well you will be shelling at least 200-300 dollars for the 5870m crossfire, that's tax for your new laptop there :)
     
    maxheap, Oct 28, 2014
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  17. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    thats nothing. I got to wait for the 2nd quarter of 2015 at least so all the goodies come out and thn I decide which monster to buy.
     
    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
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  18. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Now I am at a crossroads. Had issues with paypal so no account and those sellers oonly use paypal. bummer
     
    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
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  19. maxheap

    maxheap caparison horus :)

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    ahh AW 18 wait, gotcha, then go ahead and get the 5870m crossfire, it should be about 50-100% performance bump for you I believe (also good hardware upgrade exercise :)) have fun mate!
     
    maxheap, Oct 28, 2014
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  20. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    If i can find the darn gpu elsewhere which I cant
     
    Terrablade, Oct 28, 2014
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  21. ryzeki

    ryzeki Super Moderator Super Moderator

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    I did see like a 50%+ performance increase going from 260m to HD5870m, and I had good overclocking potential too, so they will definitely be an upgrade. Hope you can find them.
     
    ryzeki, Oct 28, 2014
    #21
  22. TomJGX

    TomJGX I HATE BGA!

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    Do you know what your'e talking about? a 5870M easily beats the 280M and the 280M SLI... Those are GDDR3 cards.. It actually beats or is close to a 480M...
     
    TomJGX, Oct 29, 2014
    #22
  23. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Ok the 5870m is proving to be hard to find outside of ebay since i dont have a PP account. My second approach is to buy an R2 motherboard and replace the R1 that is on now. By doing so what else needs to be changed so the Motherboard works? The CPU? If yes, which one? And which Video card ( supporting dx11 ) would fit with R2?
     
    Terrablade, Oct 29, 2014
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  24. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    The question is, do you? Because Mobility 5870 is only 20-25% faster than 280M, so 280M SLI definitely beats 5870. They actually have very similar memory bandwidth since 5870 is 128-bit GDDR5 while 280M is 256-bit GDDR3. The big difference is support for DX11 on the 5870, which ends up sometimes working in the 280M's favor given AMD architecture's poor tessellation performance.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
    octiceps, Oct 29, 2014
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  25. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Poor tesselation is better than no DX 11 compatibility at all. And theres where this 2 280m's crap fail.
     
    Terrablade, Oct 29, 2014
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  26. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    It can still run vast majority of DX11 games fine, just without the DX11-specific features ofc.
     
    octiceps, Oct 29, 2014
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  27. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    I can too. sadly the new games out are DX 11 so this garbage is obsolete
     
    Terrablade, Oct 30, 2014
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  28. octiceps

    octiceps Nimrod

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    Obsolete but not unusable. Mobility 5870 CrossFire won't be a huge step up and IMO a waste of money that is much better spent on your next machine which is coming up very soon.
     
    octiceps, Oct 30, 2014
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  29. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Was already told to way for 2nd quarter of 2015 so the new everything is out. from processor to 980m sli etc etc. By that time the games I downloaded will be old. 300usd for the xfire is nothing, gicing the fact im selling this after i get the new one!
     
    Terrablade, Oct 30, 2014
    #29
  30. toto29620

    toto29620 Notebook Consultant

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    300 USd for a 5870m crossfire !!! That's an uge amout of money for this old card man, you can find some for 50/60 € = 70/80 usd on ebay or selling thread on forum , with some time you will find two of them. Don't waste all that money for that.

    For the m17x r2 mobo swap it's really expensive, you have to buy :

    -mobo + audio board
    - cpu , go for an 920xm
    - ram
    - cpu heatsink


    And you have to modify a bit the grey plate uneder the keyboard. With that you will have an old cpu and a mobo that may not be capable of using new gpu after 8970m/680m. Save that money and go for an m18x.
     
    toto29620, Oct 30, 2014
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  31. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    70/80 usd for the cards? if you find them ill be the happiest guy on earth. Ive spent 2 days looking for them and nothing close to that price.
     
    Terrablade, Oct 30, 2014
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  32. toto29620

    toto29620 Notebook Consultant

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    Well now i can't find one availible for that price .... All the time the same. Look at the makerplace , a lot of them have been sold for that price. Just have to wait for the good one.
     
    toto29620, Oct 30, 2014
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  33. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Well years ago maybe. Theres no such price anywhere in the net. So ill have to settle for the 300
     
    Terrablade, Oct 30, 2014
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  34. maxslo

    maxslo undefined

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    I get them from time to time and sell them 70€ a peice, if you are not in a rush i can let you know when i get 2 peices next time. I can also flash you costum vBios of your choice (I have quite a few).

    Let me know :)
     
    maxslo, Oct 31, 2014
    #34
  35. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    im in a rush actually. stuck without being able to play a few games i have bcause they are dx11
     
    Terrablade, Oct 31, 2014
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  36. Terrablade

    Terrablade Notebook Evangelist

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    Already bought 2 of them. now wait for their arrival
     
    Terrablade, Oct 31, 2014
    #36