GPU dying, upgrade advice needed

Hi there,

Long time lurker here. I have finally decided to upgrade my M15x and this morning I ordered a 920xm. However this afternoon my m15x decided to act very funny and take ages to boot up. Then once I was in windows i was seeing a lot of artifacting which makes me believe that my 5850m is finally dying.

I was looking for an upgrade that will offer the easiest installation. I am thinking of a card that will allow me to just swap out the 5850m, put the new card in and use the existing gpu heatsink and brackets.

However if someone can direct me to what I would have to buy to use other cards I am open to it. I did some quick research and the 7970m looks like a decent upgrade without breaking the bank. However I could be persuaded to get a 970m if someone could link me to a shop as well as the other kit I would need to install it.

Sorry for asking for a lot of help but bit confused about gpu brackets and coolers.

Thanks

 

I know for a fact these will work on your computer:

Nvidia® GeForce® GTX 260M
Nvidia® GeForce® GT 240M

And the m15x is already set up to support those.

 

Getting either one of those cards would be a ludicrously bad option. Come on, people have got GTX 970M and 980M working in M15x. Nothing since 2011 is going to be "officially supported" so you'd be really limiting your options.

7970M is a good option if you get one for around $200. You will need a new x-bracket/backplate but no driver modifications needed. I would suggest you undervolt it to 0.975v though using the vbios patcher available from tech inferno forum.

GTX 680M or GTX 970M are also excellent options but would require new x-brackets, modded drivers and a tweaked vbios also from tech inferno.

 

Welcome to the forum.

The GTX 680M, 780M, and 970M are the three I would consider. Not sure if the 980M will work, but it might considering the 970M works. The only issue you would possibly have with a 980M (assuming it works) is the CPU - you may need to upgrade that as well. The 980M is extremely powerful in comparison to your current specifications.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/970m-m15x.766985/

This thread may be useful for you (above). The 970M is working in the M15x. I'm sure he'd be more than happy to assist you.

 

Thanks for all your replies guy.

I have decided to buy a 970m. I found a place online that will sell the 970m as part of an upgrade kit. They will supply the needed bracket and thermal compound and thermal pads all included.

If I include the price of the 920xm and this upgrade kit I will have spent about £560. When you think that buying a new laptop with a 970m in it will cost me double, I am pretty happy that I have decided to upgrade the m15x instead of buying a new laptop.

One final question. I am still using the psu that came with the laptop. I believe it is 150w. Should I buy a more powerful psu. I have read on these forums that a 240w is best. I don't plan to overclock at the moment. Can anyone recommend me a 240w powersupply?

Thanks in advance.

 

The 980M definitely works. However the price is a little prohibitive. Also the price/performance vs the 970M doesn't look so good.

The 980M is also a hotter card than the 970M. Probably on par with the 780M/880M so you would have to watch your temperatures.

 

The 780M and 880M are vastly different in regards to temperature, lol. The 880M runs about 10C hotter (on average) than the 780M.

 

So were the 6990m and 7970m. However they both consumed a similar amount of power. OC the 780m to 880m levels and beyond and it would push the stock m15x thermals to the limits just like a 880m would.

The 980m is a bit like an xm chip you kinda should be able to OC it to its limits considering how much it costs. On stock cooling it would be nigh on impossible to OC it in any decent way with sustainable temps.

 

I saw a big difference in performance between the 970m and the 980m but the price difference is equally big. Highest temps I saw under load were 83c for about a stock for stock performance increase of about 25% to 30% over the 970m. The 920xm plays nice with the 980m and 970m at an overclock of 3.6ghz but stock may work I just haven't tried it.

This is where I bought mine.
http://rjtech.com/shop/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=30307
If you use the xbracket on this one along with the screws provided it's a perfect fit in the M15x. If you get an nvidia bracket then you will have to modify the bracket as it has a steel lip to cool the chips on the underside of the card and the m15x does not have enough room to house the card with that steel piece and it won't sit flush. Either way I recommend you remove the steel or plastic retainers holding the screws on to the gpu heat sink as it will cause the heat sink to not make proper contact with the card. Also the Item I linked from Rjtech comes with a set of thermal pads that you can just transfer over to your m15x heat sink. All for 294 pounds as opposed to 560 for the same thing although shipping and taxes are extra.

The stock dell 240w psu would be necessary as the 150w will throttle your card. It can be bought directly from dell for 70 dollars but I don't know if that's an option where you are but I am sure you can find as good a deal on ebay. Here's the part number J938H/0J938H.

Lastly that psu will not work properly unless you modify it to provide full power to your laptop but rather than do this to the unit itself I recommend you use this adapter http://www.amazon.com/BiXPower-LC90B-90-degree-Connector-Converter/dp/B004ETQHV4.
Now after you receive the adapter take a thin pair of needle nose pliers and break the center pin inside of the adapter as close to the base as possible. Connect the psu to the adapter then plug it into your laptop. Your laptop battery will not charge with the 240w psu but if you modify it this way your system will be able to use the whole power provided by the psu otherwise the laptop will throttle back to 150w regardless of the psu you plugin.

If you have any questions feel free to message me or ask here.

 

@EepoSaurus that is a really good price but how much was postage?
Also did you not have to pay any VAT or taxes when collecting?

 

The whole thing came out to $475 with shipping for me. I didn't have to pay anything other than that but I live in Texas and they are located in California I believe. So I have no idea if they will even do international shipping but I can tell you that they are very honest and will not mislead you on stock or availability like HIDevolution will and others.

 

I can't speak to the M15x, but the 780M can be overclocked much further than the 880M, and still have lower temperatures. I've overclocked a 780M in the AW 17 to "880M levels" and barely reached 74C.

 

So the 780M can run 1240mhz on the core that the 880M can achieve? That is new news to me! Also the memory if memory serves (pun intended) can OC higher on the 880M although it sucks more power and creates more heat!

Yes 880M has it's issues but it has higher potential I think when those kinks are worked out albeit at higher temperatures and power consumption. The two cards just are not the same.

The 780M is the max thermally I would consider for the M15x and the 980M is probably at least around that level. Other point are moot considering the OP.

 

Pretty impressive that the GTX 965M achieves slightly OCed 7970M levels at 70W TDP! Should run nice abs cool in an unmodded M15x with stock PSU. Sorely tempted by 970M but worried about having to pay import duties/taxes if I buy from US.

 

If you want you send it to me in Japan. I have never received import duty or customs tax on things bought abroad from Europe and us.

I travel back to uk this early summer and could take it with me. Can trial it in the meantime for you too :d if you want

 

I'd be happy to help you out in getting one. I've declared items at lesser value with customs before for international shipping Brazil is crazy about that stuff. But then again I don't know if that would work fr your location.

 

I think it's a good deal.. You want to get a 240W/330W PSU for sure... 150W won't cut it.. Also where did you get your 970M? Just so I can add it to my list of places to look at in the future for GPU upgrades...

 

@EepoSaurus can you let me know whatr model of laptop you chose from this page:
http://rjtech.com/shop/index.php?dispatch=products.view&product_id=30307
I was going to buy from hidrevolution but unsure if the card they are selling will come with a compatible x bracket.
Thanks in advance mate.

 

Any option will Work. The first option is the one I picked.