6970m in G73JW - fail :(

NeoConker89 and I did some modding this weekend and tried whether a 6970m works in an Asus G73JW.

Unfortunately with no success... the system did POST and even boot into Windows (the logon sound got played) but the screen stayed black.


Anyway, here's some background information and pictures about this:

When I replaced the CPU of this system a couple of weeks ago I also took a peek at the GPU (see here for some photos and conclusions).

The GPU connector is physically identical with the MXM 3.0 standard, but the 460m Asus uses isn't. The form is completely different, but most important is that the die is not at the same place as on a standard MXM 3.0 type B card, which makes it impossible to mount the G73JW heatsink on a standard card.

I learned that the G73JH works with a MSI 5870m as well, which was actually the main reason I thought it's worth trying...
Anyway, from this thread I learnt that the 5870m of the G73JH has the die at the standard position... and as the G73JH and JW chassis are the same we decided to organize a heatsink of a JH and try to upgrade the GPU of the JW with a 6970m

Well, the heatsink did not fit perfectly, it needed some cutting and grinding, anyhow, after some work it did fit very well (except for the DC/DC converters which didn't get covered by it).
The Asus 460m has a completely different layout... this applies to the holes for screwing down the GPU as well... fortunately there's such a thing called duct tape


So yeah, it worked physically (with some tinkering) but unfortunately not electronically (it seems...)
Like I said, black screen... even though the machine POSTed and booted the OS (and before someone asks... I'm sure the display was connected properly!!). Also no picture on an external screen...
My guess is that there's an issue with a hardware ID...

If anyone of you guys have a good suggestion/advice, let me know. The 460m is back in the system, but the heatsink is still around... though I think chances that this can be fixed are pretty low.

Hopefully someone will try a different card than a 5870m on a G73JH sometime... I'm really curious about whether it would work.


Some pics:

 

You dont mention flashing. Was the BIOS/VBIOS flashed when you did the mod for it to recognise the new GPU?

As the JW comes with the Nvidia card would there be any difference this mod being tried with a JH maybe? Good to see this being done though if there is one upgrade I would give one of my kidneys for its a 6970M.

 

Aww sucks it didnt work!!.. I agree with Dallers, 1 kidney is a small price to pay for a 6970m in it, heck i'll even throw in a gallbladder and some thyroid if anyone's interested

Good to know that the die and the slot size is compatible though, gives me hope that it maybe done sometime in the future..

 

@Dallers: Well, I don't think I can force the hardware ID of the 460m on the 6970m Or what do you mean?

I had the Dell vbios on it... but I don't think it makes a difference... unless Asus would have blocked some hardware IDs and some not, which I don't believe... Also I didn't try to blind flash the card with the AMD vbios when it was in the system... I don't want to ruin the 6970m, lol.

I'd love to put a 470/80/85m in the system, but I don't know anyone with a system that has such a card...

About the JH... someone has to try it... as it is confirmed to work with the MSI 5870m I think there's a little chance that it works... but don't get your hopes to high.

 

I would like to think that there is more of a chance it working with the JH but again its all about trial and error and I dont have the nuts to try it personally haha!

As you say its god damn risky flashing the Vbios on such an expensive card for it to brick, although its a small price to pay to become a Notebook Review legend.

hint hint :wub:

 

I wonder if it will work with the JH instead of the JW since the JH came with an ATi card (EDIT: Someone already asked this).

Regarding the flashing, it could be possible that the VBIOS type could determine if it works or not in this system. When I got my card to try in my M17x, it had the Clevo VBIOS (from a Clevo X7200) and after installing drivers, the image was pixelated and distorted. However, after I flashed it to the Dell VBIOS, the image was fixed. Of course, there is still the fan issue and the sleep issue that is not resolved. But it could be the reverse for this system (Clevo VBIOS might work better than the Dell VBIOS).

It would be nice if we cracked the code to get universal MXM support for all MXM type systems...

 

@ichime: I don't have a Clevo card, the vendor that shows up in GPU-Z is "Sapphire / PCPartner"... it's AMD.

There's a lot time involved disassembling the machine, putting it together again and if it doesn't work putting the 460m back... I don't have a lot time atm, but maybe I'll try it again some day with a different vbios.
But I don't think I'll change the vendor in the vbios to asus... I know it works with the Dell vbios (which "changes" the vendor to Dell), but the card is just too expensive for doing some stupid things... it's just guesswork so far.
When I have a good idea or new information (and more time) we may try it again.

 

You should be able to get at least $20,000 for a healthy kidney.

I wouldn't recommend selling it though.

 

Deal. Ill take cash.

 

Your other kidney will start dying much much faster as it is being overworked due to your missing kidney.

 

Hi svl7,

nice one. Actions speak louder than words.
+rep

But yeah, I think the JH would be the better base for a AMD card.
I would test it, if I get one.

As I mentioned in the MSI swap thread, I think there are some other things to do apart from flash a different vBIOS.
The JH still had stomach with the MSI card, also with the original vBIOS from the ASUS card.

 

Might want to test it in a JH. Was going through Rog forum and some one tested the 460 in the JH and it did not work.

But still rep+

 

Did you manage to get into the BIOS screen (did it show up)?

 

@ @tilla: Thanks, I'll check out the MSI subforum later this day, or if you have some links let me know.

@sarge: No, black screen all the time. Like I said, it did POST and load Windows, but the screen was black all the time.

 

I meant the thread you also provided.
Or in my sig.

 

Dosen't the Intel card have a base graphic settings if their isn't a card present. I was always assuming that safe mode never used gpu but rather relied on the CPU to generate a basic resolution? I could be completely wrong. And I think I can speak for us all on the board here for if you COULD get this to work I'd totally drop a new 6970m into my system, I'd be over the moon.

 

No, the CPU of this system doesn't have an integrated GPU so I'm totally dependent on the GPU... afaik the driver doesn't get loaded in safe mode (I mean not the official driver, only a generic one) so you only have a minimal resolution.

 

I will report WHAT ever happened to me, maybe it'll help.

A few weeks ago, I decided to change the VBIOS of my ASUS G73jw to an MSI GTX460m .
After finishing the flash, my G73 did not work the screen (only the lights would light) but did not present the slightest hint that he was giving BOOT
I was desperate! "I killed my G73"
After about 50 more seconds I heard the sound Of when I turn on my G73 (If that sound that configures the system BIOS) and a hope
Since I had already made ​​an executable in Flash Auto flash drives with my VBIOS ORIGINAL, I plugged in the USB port and waited about 15 seconds for Flash from running. And voila!

I managed to recover my G73 using the VBIOS ORIGINAL FLASH doing a BLIND (Without the assistance of the screen)

So I think the Secret ae is Changing the ID of that video card to a compatible BIOS ASUS.

 

I know MSI changed their vbios for the ATI card so it is no longer compatible with the asus card... if you want to flash a JH with the MSI vbios, you've gotta find the old msi vbios.

I wonder if it's the same for the jws..

 

Why do companies insist of locking things out from the end users? Just seems so stupid.... this is why I'm looking at other companies for my next laptop. give the end user the right to tinker....

 

It might not be the Vbios that is not letting you boot it with the card. Been looking at the bios files posted on asus page and starting to think that if they have made the GPU fans run of the motherboards Bios then there might be a code in there somewere that lets surten Vbios run on the system.

Do not know about the JW bios but if you look at the JH one then the 211 fixed some fan issues making some of the cards operations bios controled rather then the vbios.

If it detects a bad or wrong vbios it will not start up the GPU at all. Have had many similar problems with old desktops. Good thinkg about desktops is they give you the GPU error warning sound.

LOL need to get the 6970 to belive that it is a 460 with some extra muscle


PS could be a ATI and Nvida lock as i posted last time.

 

Source?
I had flashed the Asus 5870 with the latest MSI GX740 vBIOS (v027). Works!
I also had flashed the Asus vBIOS on the MSI 5870 (which was running in my G73). So the ID was the same as original (ASUS or whatever).
But the 2 fans gone wild and run always fullspeed. :|
Mission impossible???

@DH48
Fan is always controlled by an EC on the motherboard. This EC gets it's values from the BIOS.
The GPU has no control over fans like on desktop cards.
Would i.E. a problem on 1-fan systems. GPU cool but CPU fullload.

 

Sry my bad.....thats what i get for working on desktops most of my life.

Brand lock maybe then ? Would explain the 460 not working in a JH.

Would still like to see a test on a JH that has a ATI card in it.

If it would boot up and with the fans on full ....hell i would but a oldschool voltage regulator(something like they have on some notebook coolers) between the fan and motherboard.

 

The 5870M works in a JH just the fans are a problem that need solving.
We are not expecting a fix from asus. I am more interested in solving or seeing some one try to solve the problem.

Most companys forget the notebook as soon as a newer on comes out so no point in waiting for them to fix anything.
Also no point in whining that it does not work if there are no hard facts that it can not be done. If it did not have tha same MXM III slot i would have not looked at swap option at all.

 

Wow, if true I'll be selling my 5870m and buying a 6970m as soon as the 6970m drops a little in price.

 

I'd love to see this happen. Heck, I'd even offer my JH as a testbed if I were local. It really boggles my mind that companies would lock these things out. I mean, what's the point of having a standard GPU format if you can't switch GPUs? Now, I can understand from a liability standpoint(risk of someone messing up their notebook and laying the blame on Asus since it didn't work right, or someone somehow catching their machine on fire and blaming them for not taking safety precautions), but I think that if someone's tenacious enough to figure out how to get the 6970 to work in the G73, they will have done enough homework to have these problems worked out, if that makes any sense.

 

I think it's more about making it difficult or near to impossible for consumers to upgrade their systems in-order to force them to replace it with a new one rather than anything else. I've owned a couple of ASUS notebooks all of them which have had the inverted MXM design (except for this one), but I remember that a few years ago ASUS released the C90 which was suppose to be a user "upgradable" laptop which for a change included a standard MXM design, but the idea didn't catch up as well as they wanted, so they didn't continue with it.

Unfortunately for them my next system, will probably be an Alienware mainly because of its ease of upgradability (as intended), so in this case I'd say this has backfired for ASUS.

 

Always nice to see someone testing things out... too bad it didnt work like the 5870 mod in the D900F, but it was as expected... +rep.
Sadly its as cheesman said, Asus just makes notebooks this way - when you want an upgrade your forced to buy a new one.
There are brands that are built with upgradability in mind like AW, Clevo/Sager... but you pay the premium.

 

Yeah, that's unfortunately true, but it's always worth trying imo. That the system isn't meant to be upgraded is already indicated by the disassembly procedure... I wouldn't call the it easy to get access to the GPU slot, lol.
I really hope someone tries this in a G73JH.

 

Buy me a 6970M and im your man

 

Hehe, yeah... i know, really expensive card... if I knew someone with a JH in my area I wouldn't hesitate to test it with my card.

 

Same here. Am saving up money for the 6970 but at this rate 2-3 months to save up for the 475 eur priced card:/....Could buy it next month but then would have to go without food, rent, gas for the car, ect


To bad the only person in my area with a 6970 in his M17x is to scared to let me test it

 

If the 6970m can work correctly in the JH I would be so happy! I just saw how much that card is better than the 5870m...

I would upgrade my laptop instead of spending 1500$ to build a fresh desktop computer.

 

do kidneys work in crossfire or sli?

 

Where are you located? I'm in Southern California, anyone with a 6970m nearby?

 

I wish I was in Cali... been in San Fran for a couple of months, great place to be. But I won't complain, I live in Switzerland and really like it here. I guess I'd really miss then mountains and the snow if I lived in California.

Anyway, in case a Swiss JH user reads this and is interested we could maybe arrange something...

 

Invite us over for a long weekend

 

+1 I'll bring my JH for a visit.

Cheers,

 

munich is to far away isnt it ^^
but i have a 520m

 

Yeah, it's not exactly around the corner, but it's a great place! Maybe at the Oktoberfest on the Wiesn, lol

 

I have a G73SW 3D ordered and would love to test a 485m in it. Unfortunately I have no idea where to find one. That would make the perfect notebook for me. Hopefully some day...

 

With a 485m you would have to think about how to cool the VRAM on the backside of the card.

 

rjtech.com, eurocom.com, ebay.com

Do all the 485m have vram modules on the back? Good thing my 6970m has the 2GB on the regular place around two sides of the die.

 

I'd also have to worry whether it would work at all before paying $750 for it. I meant finding one to try out whether it boots at all.

About the backside VRAM, how is it handled on the Clevos and Alienwares? And are there different versions of the 485m?

 

You just want to use a sheet of aluminum or copper, and thermal pads or tape.
Thermal tape will wear through though so use kapton tape around the exposed areas...

 

Something new about the upgrade ?

 

No, I tried it again when I disassembled the G73JW for trying the Nvidia 470m, just to make sure I really didn't screwed up anything with the cables, same result. I'm out of ideas. It'd probably need a professionally modified vbios and this is simply too expensive.

 

Has any1 tried this yet with the JH? Since JW comes with NVidia card, maybe there is a difference in the BIOS.

 

So far as we know, no one tried it in the JH. I would if i had a 6970m handy or if i lived in Switzerland so i could go and see svl7. Since a MSI 5870 works except for the fan, i'd venture the 6970 has a chance to work but the fan problem is likely to present itself.

 

I've scanned through the thread and sorry if I missed someone else raising the issue, but the Sager NP8150 which has the option of a 6970m comes with a 180w power pack and my G73jh came with a 150w power pack. Other issues aside... isn't lack of available power going to be a problem?