m17xR2: replace nvidia 285m gtx sli with ati crossfire 5870?

has anyone done this conversion?

i received my m17x in a warranty swap so i had no say in what gpu i received and i gotta say, i'm a little fed up with the performance i've been getting from the 285s. i'm still using the beta 197 drivers because every verde driver crashes my laptop.

would a swap to the 5870s be worth it?
what would be involved in such a swap (installation wise)?
i've been reading some 5870 installation threads and they always mention the fan part numbers. would i also need to replace my fans?
how could i maintain my warranty if i were to install these cards?

thanks for any help!

 

Call support back and explain the driver situation. Ask to speak with a supervisor. Be polite during the call and explain the issues you are having with a request to swap the GPUs. As long as you explain the issues without flying off the deep end, they most likely will work with you and swap out the cards for you. They want you to be happy and satisfied, obviously you are not.


Can you purchase the cards and do it yourself? Sure. Is it worth the hassle and money to do so? No. Work with support - have them resolve this.

FYI - the fans are no different.

 

The best way is to order your parts through Dell. It's expensive but covered under warranty. Or they may just swap them out if you talk to the right guy. But you can always order them from ebay or here on the forums if they are available. The GPUs and CF cable all have to be M17x/Dell brands though, otherwise features/performance will be impacted.

As for being worth it. I'd say for the 5870m (= desktop underclocked 5770) you get newer tech, less power usage, and lower temps. Performance wise, it really depends on the game, but the ATI 5870s do shine in Benchmarks though if you have the right CPU matched up.

Also note that 5870m in CF overclocked = to a desktop 5870, which is honestly no slouch. Plus you get DX11 features.

Honestly I'm a fan of nVidia and prefer them over ATI, but I don't want to spend extra on older technology. I'll be happy giving up physX (which is only used in one of my games) for now.

 

with a 940xm cpu & 285m SLI i get 20110 3DMark06 this is standard win 7 install no tweaks and 5% CPU o/c. So far the 285m's have been fantastic with highest setting in most games. They are directx10 but we are still limited by console game ports. I am just going to wait and see if someone can get the 460m sli working in m17xR2 maybe if the m18x comes out

 

thanks for the help everyone. i checked on the parts and the master card isnt even in stock. i'll try giving them a call on the support end and see how that pans out.

 

Out of curiosity, in terms of heat, load, BIOS, etc, what IS the highest level Nvidia SLI solution for the M17x-R2?

 

M17x R2 bios only supports 285's.But maybe in the future
" The Wiz " bios guru is looking into the possibility of adding bios support to add more gpu's to the R2.