MXM-upgrade and R2

Hi all,

I've been looking into upgrading my laptops graphics card and found the cheapest place is MXM-upgrade (6970m for £210). I emailed the guys at MXM-upgrade and got a reply this afternoon. The email string is below:

Code:

Me: I am very interested in purchasing the 6970m for the M17x R2 from your website but wanted to know a few things before actually going through with it.
 
http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/SP/HD6970.html
 
I currently have a 5870m in my laptop so upgrading to a 6970m is a no brainer! But what I wanted to know is does it come with everything that I need to actually install it? Bracket, heatsink, screws etc?
 
If so, could you let me know what the shipping times would be like it I were to purchase one in November to Surrey, United Kingdom?

MXM-upgrade: The card is inlcuded, and premium thermal paste. The bracket and heatsink of your old card can be used again.


Shipping takes about a week. We're located in Belgium, so no nasty import duties ;)

I've rooted around on the internet and i've found a few people saying that the bracket that comes with the 5870m is different to the 6970m, but this guy is saying that I can use the bracket and heatsink that's on my 5870m on the 6970m. Can someone clear this confusion up for me because I don't know if he's correct or looking for a quick-sale?

Thanks in advance!

 

You can, it works with the 6970m, but it's not a very nice fit. Won't work well with the 6990m though.

 

Hey, thanks for the reply!

Do you know where I might be able to purchase a 6970m bracket that will work well in the R2? I am very interested in purchasing this card, I was looking at the 7970m but I don't have the money for it at the moment so I think the 6970m will be good enough to run the games that I need it for. Also, is it simply a plug in and play or will I need to flash my BIOS for it to work correctly?

Thanks again!

 

We don't support that upgrade for the m17x r2 officially, but we do have the parts you need, so you can send us an e-mail to [email protected] with your service tag and the parts you need, also include the link to this thread, and we will get back to you as soon as pos

 

Thanks, I've sent the email. Just need a reply and a price now too

 

Hi Chronix,

The 5870 x-bracket will require some cutting to make it work (some folks on the 6970 forum thread did do this), so it won't fit as is. I know that Eurcom (upgradeyourlaptop) on e-bay was selling x-brackets that will fit, but they were rather pricey ($40 bucks if I recall), but it is an option. Make certain if you buy a bracket from them that you ask them to include the screws as well, because the ones that you are currently using on your 5870 will NOT fit.

As far as a bios flash, if it's a clevo or eurocom card (I assume that it is) then you shouldn't have to worry about flashing it.

Also theres a ton of more info in this thread:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-6990-your-m17x-r2-single-gpu-crossfirex.html

Enjoy!

 

Hi there,

Thanks for the reply! I'm talking with someone from Alienware now about the card (and maybe a CPU upgrade (920xm)) so if I buy it directly from them, will that mean it is simply plug in and off I go or will I still need to flash it? Also, if I don't buy the card from eurocom, how will I know if the graphics card is a clevo one?

Thanks!

 

If its a dell card you'll need to control the fans using something like hwinfo but sound won't be an issue. If you use a erucom or Clevo card then fans will be automatic.