Upgrading to GTX 660M

Hello all, new to the forum. I am going to be installing the GTX 660M and have been doing some reading on the forum. I read you need to use shims for this GPU and a vbios update? If so what size shim and where do I get the vbios from?

 

This has been up for 2 days now with over a 100 views and no one has used a GTX 660M?

 

The copper shim needs to be 1.0mm to 1.5mm thick. I recommend getting a card with a clevo vbios. That is the one that has been tested and has a custom m15x vbios. The m15x 660m vbios is available at techinferno.

I think a Dell 680m and 7970m will provide much more performance though. You can also always try a 860m which also should work.

 

Thanks for getting back to me ssj92! So I take it either shim will work, but 1.0mm being the best fit? To find out what card it is ( clevo vbios) I suppose you find this out when you boot it up?

 

you want 1.0mm x 1.0mm shim and as for the card itself you want the 2GB version and try you best to get a dell version as no vbios mods are required, also you require new thermal pads same thickness as the shim but its best if you go 1.5mm as the pads are able to be squeeze for better connectivity.
then its a very simple case of doing the driver .inf mod and you will have full native control of fans and very thing else.
hope this helps, ex GTX 660m user

OR better still get the firepro m6000 its the AMD 7870m card and only requires 43w and runs super cool and overclocks like a mother ! and have full native control inc the driver from the get Go and its a better card and its also cheap, its what I have put in my sons AW m15x now.

 

I am guessing he already bought the card.

My five eggs don't do a shim. I never have and I have tried 6970M.6990M,7970M and GTX 680M in this machine. At least try without.

If you use a decent thermal compound like ICD 24 you should be fine.

 

he cant ! he needs the shim otherwise the die doesn't make enough contact with the heatsink.
that is with a Dell GTX660m anyway, I don't know about clevo/sager models but I would imagine they will be a generic pcb

 

Yes 660m requires a copper shim. It will thermal shutdown within seconds when a 3d load is applied. I've experienced this first hand with my 7970m. The deal with the 7970m is that there was a secondary bracket/screws that did not require a copper shim or grinding down. I believe that was the clevo 7970m.

I agree on the 1.5mm thermal pads since the 1.0mm copper shim will keep the heatsink further than usual from the rest of the components.

 

Sorry I can't agree with you on the 7970M comment. My 7970M was a Dell one and I never had to use a shim. Same with the 6970M and 6990M they were also Dell.

I do take back the comment about the 660M though it seems I am wrong.

 

It's not the card but the bracket. Depending on the screws used, you didn't need one. Sadly I had a bracket that required a shim.

 

Well, guess 7970M is the best and only choice for m15x so far...

 

Erm nope..... 680M,780M and 880M all work fine...

Pay attention to the screws and xbracket needed and you shouldn't need to use a shim on most if not all cards. Some believe it is a easy fix. I guess with some experience it is a suitable fix. For me I would never use a shim and find the correct screws to avoid using one at all costs.

All cards work in the M15x.