R2 compatible with GTX 480M?

Hey guys, wondering if the M17x-R2 with CF 5870s can swap out to Nvidia GTX 480Ms, whenever they become available. Which hopefully will be soon. *cough*

 

Don't you mean 480M's? Not with R2 I'd say.

 

Yes, that's what I mean hahah! And okay, thanks.

 

There is no way the power supply on the M17x can handle 2 GTX 480m's.....let alone the heat they will produce

 

yeah the power issue could be a problem...I dont know why you guys keep barking on about the 480 being so hot, mine never get above mid 70's even after 4-5 hours of gaming. or is it that the m-17 alredy has heat issues?

 

Oh really? I mean, really? You are having GTX 480M SLI in your machine, really? Somehow I always thought GTX 480M SLI is not existed Your system has desktop CPU also I need some bechies on GPU score, plz

Your system put Alienware into shame seriously

And by the way, M17x does not have heat issue ever.

 

Actually, there are several laptops that offer the GTX 480M in SLI. The one in his sig is here:
Clevo X7200 GTX 480M SLI ... 17.3" laptop with extraordinary performance powered by Intel Core i7 processor and Dual nVIDIA GeForce GTX 480M (Fermi) techno ...
There is also the Origin EON 17 here:
ORIGIN EON 17 Custom Gaming Laptop Product Details and Features
I'm wondering why AW hasn't released something new yet. Maybe they haven't found a way to keep these beasts from exploding.

 

Looking more closely, the Clevo X7200 and the Origin EON 17 look like the same computer. I guess Origin should change their name to Rebrand.

 

I think they are all just clevo re-brands, which i believe Alienware was to at one time. If you want bench marks check out the sager-clevo section alot in there... and the x7200 area. My beautiful beast may be fast but weighs a ton, more of a desktop replacement then a laptop and there is a whole PSU issue with the 480 sli. But It keeps remarkably cool.

 

The GPU cooling on the x7200 is much more robust than that of the M17x. The m17x is good, the x7200 is just better. When you are talking about 100W gpus that difference matters

 

Yeah, I think the M17X might have been the first to break from the mold. Clevo must be making a lot of money selling their designs to other builders. Your laptop is probably much less expensive than the EON 17 which would be around 5gr for your specs.

 

That's what those 4 fans are for. xP Must be a beast!

 

ALso the Clevo x7200, as well as the M17x r2 has an MXM 3.0 Type B prot.

Wich would indicate that the same power is available to the MXM cards in both Laptops, unless the Clevo x7200 has a modified port?

Any Ideas?

 

Ah, I found an MXM Technical Brief, that does not require a login, follow the below link:

http://www.mxm-sig.org/file.cfm?doc=36A88883-DFFA-E3E6-16C301BCF5633572

It seems to be revisio 1.0 though, not sure what the difference between this and revision 1.1 is (if I'm reading this correctly).

 

Blueneon, it's not about what fits and what not. The M17x cooling is not enough to properly drive dual 480m's even if AW comes out with more capable cpu. 240w is barely enough to drive xm cpu/5870cf/rgbled/etc.

 

Ok, but if a 300W power supply was brought out?

And I would think tha if a 480M was reliesed by Alienware/Dell then it would be fitted with a different Heat sink (Hopefully one that fits better that the one on the HD 5870).

And then how does clevo manage to power all of that with a 300W power supply?

 

That would be R3.

As for the Clevo. Go check the Clevo forum and see what's happening down there. It's not flawless from what I've read(power wise).

 

The problem is that the Clevo can spike well above 300 watts. Actually under full load it is anywhere from 335W to 400W. So yeah it is really hitting the wall as it is.

 

My biggest gripe with the Clevos is that crappy chopped up numpad. Probably not a big issue for most people who uses it as a desktop replacement with external keyboard, but it drives me nuts. Good machines otherwise.

 

I highly doubt we will see a 300W supply from Dell. More likely just a laptop with the much more efficient GTX 460m or 470m.

I would not hold my breath for a revised heatsink unless they redesign the entire chassis.

The Clevo most likely has much more robust power circuitry on the motherboard to handle the higher current without damaging anything. And he power supply is not handling it....when the system is REALLY stressed the PSU shuts off

 

That's when the battery comes in handy!

 

Sorry to be anoying, but where did you read this, I would like to read it to, Thanks.

 

Pitty, was hoping to get a bit more life out of it, but the HD 5870 run pretty good, and from what I've seen on a "Tom's Hardware" review of a AVADirect**** HD 5870 compared to a 480M, the difference is not huge (Espessially at Higher resolutions), and 5870 in Crosfire with always out perform 1 480M.

Benchmark Results: Crysis : GeForce GTX 480M: AVADirect?s W880CU Is Packing The Heat

Sorry I know all of us here are not that great fans on Tom's hardware reviews , but they are at least compairing the same laptop manufacturer, with the only difference being the GF Cards.

 

Oh we are fans, we had some good fun educating a few Toms readers in another of their laptop articles lol

They are a great site, just not for laptop stuff

 

Yes LOL, I read the M17x review, and all your (and others) comments, ha ha ha.

 

I'll just wait till the ATI 6XXX comes to mobile!

 

I think, thats an idea. I just hope they don't need a new power supply to

 

the 6870s will barely be an upgrade over the 5870s....read some reviews

it is the exact same architecture, they barely changed anything

 

So what did they change and what's the point? Kinda like the 285's I suppose.

On another note, if Dell did issue a larger PSU, that would certainly be appreciated be appreciated as I could post much better benchmarks

 

But is it simply an issue of temperature and that the power supply is to small, that it is not possible to upgrade to 480M's, or do you guys think it is more than that?

 

it should be that simple of an issue

and the 6000 series so far just has some improved tesselation performance (for the few games that use it....) and some 3D stuff (again....who cares?). The performance is barely higher at each price point and the naming is just all sorts of retarded.....like nvidia gpu naming retarded

 

Real same then, so definetly not worth replacing two HD 5870 with 6870.....

Gues its a wait for the R3 or R6, as I will not be getting a new machine for some time.

 

With your specs, I cannot imagine a scenario in which it would be rational to upgrade laptops at all lol

Even with my specs I have a hard time understanding why I would want an R2

 

Yea, I don't see myself springing for 6xxx anytime soon. I hardly game enough to justify the 5870's. However, I would rent a set from somone for the sake of posting some benches... I'd just like to break 20K Vantage. For that I need either a larger PSU or higher clock capable GPU's

 

Agree with you there, not much of a reason to, the mobile i7 processor isn't much faster than the mabile core 2 Quad, and the Quad extreme edition, pretimuch beats any thing not extreme. since that is the only real difference between the R1 and R2 (Besides the Mobo Chipset), and I don't think the different between the HD 4870 and HD 5870 is worth the cost.

If you don't already have one go for the R2, else wait a while longer.

Just would be nice if one day Laptops became more flexible, like a desktop with regards to upgrading parts, although they have come a long way.

 

Physically the M17x is amazingly flexible...sadly though manufacturers still only allow certain cards even though they meet MXM spec...I can understand not having standardized cases and motherboards but not being able to upgrade things like the PSU and GPUs is rather frustrating. I feel that I should be able to take ANY MXM 3 card and it should work. I do not expect it to be warrantied, but it should still work.

 

Yes definetly, I agree with that, I also do not see way you can not just take any mxm 3 B graphix card and run it in any mxm 3 B slot, I meen what are standards for! This would finally be really worth while.

As with the 480m, the MXM 3.0 B standard states that it has a power limit of 75W, but then they make a card with a 100W power draw, then you see that some laptops can run them and others can't! Frustrating.

I also can see why changing the mobo would not work as the mother board makes the laptop, and they need to be costum to fit in sll the different casses.

And Yes PSU Upgrade.

 

Companies don't like having so many MXM options because then they would have to support their products under warranty. it is all about making sure what they are held liable for, they can handle. And for as long as MXM is available, it still isnt a "standard", per say. Look how much TDP ranges, power requirements, even board layout! for the m17x, you would have to create a new heatsink for each and every card (both master and slave). it just isn't cost effective to support that many cards, or to let users play Frankenstein with your products when you are in charge of the warranty! I mean look at what we do and still try to get replacements under warranty

 

Yeap, its also a way to force you to buy a new model or upgrade from them only.

 

So if it unlikely that the 480M will work, does any one believe that a 470M or 460M in SLI might work?

they each have lower power requirements.

Problem is that I can't find a decent review testing and comparing the 470M to HD 5870. Probably because its still New.

 

Would also like to see my M17x-R2 with two 470M - would be the best combo.
Hope it is possible and hope they will offer a change possibility at AW/Dell.

 

470m is possible, we have to wait and see. Would be an awesome option though.....

It is funny that a year ago ATI barely had any highend notebook gpus and now they are the top

 

Yes would be

 

I cant find the thread now, but I read last Friday that a 4xx series of card was being offered in the M15x in the UK. Shouldnt that mean that it is coming our way for the M17x?

 

1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460M [add £205.00 or £10/month1]

Yep it's there

 

Very interesting!

Means the M17x should get the GTX 470m or 480m since they always offer a weaker GPU in the M15x than the M17x

 

Should be so m15x - 5850 and the m17x - 5870 CF. If what I read in the other thread is correct then GTX 470m SLI should be possible .

 

I see them asking for a lot more for the new GTX's(if ever) than their current price for the 5870's.

 

No one ever had the illusion that GTX 400 parts would be cheap haha. Remember UK prices are also completely whack compared to US, so wait and see. I would expect the GTX 460m to cost more though (despite being slower)