So i have an option to repair my M17x R3...

So a little story for all of you...


I Got an M17x R3 years ago with the 6990m and the i7 2820 or was it 2620 either one cpu with the 1080p display, This machine was literally indestructable, I loved it and everything it did, I threw everything i could at it ranging from

Falling asleep on it
4WD offroad trips
Not properly securing it in the above
Sleeping on it some more
Spilling things on it (Unintentionally)
Dropping it.

You name it i did everything to it and more and the damn thing just kept going until it started having issues with the gpu and it was tax time and i had a good tax return so i bought myself a clevo 170SM-A and that had a nice 1080p ips display and what not and the GTx 970m and all the other shiny ****, Problem is, This clevo thing has had nothing but problems, Case cracking (and it was treated far better than the R3 i can tell you that) hinges breaking, Heat warping near the vents, Replaced motherboards due to premature death, 3 warranty visits you name it.


So is it worth reparing my R3? It's shell isn't the most cosmeticly pleasing because of all the abuse it took but it certainly survived what i could do with it, I theorize i will need

Motherboard
Gpu
Gpu heatsink
Gpu fan

Base plate (the sliding cover underneath)
Keyboard
and probably a new power adapter


But wait i have myself a GTx 970m in this peice of crap, Is it not possible for me to transfer that over? I Don't know if people ever got the 9xx series cards working or if a clevo one will work.

So even with that above anyone have any input and ideas on where to buy said parts?

 

after 3 warranty repairs, you are eligible for a refund. IF you can get one, maybe look at the new Alienware 17?

 

The problem is that means dealing with my clevo reseller METABOX and ITCHANNEL and they are both useless as tits on a bull, Hence why i am considering repairing the one laptop that could survive my usage, I don't have the money to buy a fully fledged machine brand new, That is something i don't do unless its tax return time.

 

If its the gpu that failed, i dont see why youd need a new mobo gpu hs and fan can also stay the same as you've already had a 100w card and that hs will be good enough for the 970m too not sure if it will need trimming tho

 

Because both the gpu and the mobo were doing some odd things, The gpu would only ever run in X8 mode and sometimes only in X4 mode and cause severe issues that way, And the cpu had a tendancy to be locked at low multipliers with no way of rectifying it, So if i repair this machine i will just outright replace both, I've tried fitting the 6990m's HSF assembly and its nowhere near the same as the GTX 970m i have in my clevo, I still don't know if i can even run the 970m on the r3

 

Aha ok... the X4/X8/X16 modes mean nothing, the performance difference is at most 1-2% across the different modes, i'd only be worried if it dropped to X1 gen 1.0
Cpu at low multiplies can be caused by overheat, or some component on the board triggering the BD_PROCHOT, you should be able to enable it to runn at full power with ThrottleStop....
Hmm, im not surte about that, i know that a 7970M will fit on the same heatsink, and so will the 8970M

 

So this thing has been sitting in a drawer for a long time half dissasembled and i've just sort of put it together to get a CPU FAILURE code, I actually have a cpu lying around that will fit and is known to work with this machine so i'll check that and see how it goes, And by partially dissassembled i really do mean disassembled...

 

So i slipped a 2450m in there, A weak as piss i5 dualcore, And you know what, It sat there thinking it sat there, Fans span up then span down then up then down, Then it beeped a dozen times and the display lit up, We have life sort of... A few important parts are missing


I need a new GPU and a definitive answer as if my 970m will run in it, And if so what heatsink assembly to get.

Then i need a new keyboard surround
New back panel to the LCD
Already ordered a new LCD cable as it's dicky and damaged (I love parts availability these things have)

 

From what i've read the 970M won't work on R3, it runs only on R4 and newer models...
So you can run it on intel GPU now? thats good news

 

It is good news indeed, But im going to need a fair few parts getting this old girl up to scratch, First thing i want is a 120hz display so finding a 120hz screen for this model might be hard, don't much care for 3d but do want 120hz (Never had 120hz before but ive heard its all the rage) Second is an nvidia gpu and GPu bracket, I don't want to slaughter my bank account but what are my options?

Lastly i need a new base, The peice of plastic that slides off underneath it to allow easy access, It's.... Seen better days

any help anyone can give for parts/part numbers would be great, Though i have heard you can put an R4 board in an r3 chassis, Don't know if the R4 ever did 120hz though

 

120hz is not really a huge deal....but you need the FHD panel if you already don't have it. The wsxga+ panel was garbage. You can update to R4 motherboard if you want, you can recycle your cpu and use it in the r4 motherboard. If you go 120Hz, it will also work in the R4 motherboard, same exact connectors and everything (i test this myself)

best bet to upgrade without breaking the bank is to get a gtx 680M or 780M, it is double the performance of the gtx 580m or 6990M

 

Doesn't the 780m Mean you have to disable onboard audio? Also what is the part number for the 680m/780m heatsink aswell as a place to buy said 120hz panel, I figure if i can try it i mayaswell

 

Ok found a panel and cheap at that since i'm not buying the whole assembly (Also pain in the ass to dismantle, but i did it)

 

awww yeah, It up and running, the 2920xm in the board, the new LVDS cable, Looks like the old cpu really was the problem, Shame the 6990m is REALLY showing it's age but hey i'm amazed i missed this thing, ITS TIME TO UPGRADE