AMD/ATI 6970 released

So here it is. Do you think it will hit with the new Sandy Bridges when they make their returns?! Please voice your opinions and let me know. I hope they put it in the g73's. It'd make it great to upgrade if it is possible.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-6970m-mobility-radeon-eurocom-panther,2847-3.html
Link to Toms for the full deal!

 

Seems like a decent card, however, I would wait a bit for them to get the drivers and bios firmware up to par before I jumped in and bought one...

Once again, not unlike the 5870, the software aspect is this cards downfall thus far.

 

Oh yeah, I completely concur. I am going to a 920xm this fall and maybe a gfx update after the bugs are worked out. Its still exciting to see they have created another mobile beast.

 

sounds interesting... but i doubt it will be there in the G73SW

 

obviously it won't...
If it will be punt into a G73, it'll be the G73 SH

 

We can only pray that they use the same layout and design of the 5870m so we could toy with the idea of an upgrade lol.

 

Good point, but I'd rather have that than the 460.

 

Yeah, But how much do yo think guys if this is used for the g73, Around $300 more?

 

Too bad you can't upgrade the G73JH's graphics card.

 

Is it soldered on. I thought it was just a proprietary connection.

 

Not soldered but using reverse MXM 3.x so no std MXM cards will fit.

Cheers,

 

But what if they release it in a g73? do the jw and sw models with the 460s have the exact same setup.

 

Hence my post earlier. If they make a G73 with a 6970M and do the same reversed MXM setup they used on the 5870, maybe it will work. Until we see one by ASUS though, who knows.

 

And even then, you'd have to find a spare 6970m for sale.

 

I just realized that the 6970m is one of the powerful gpus's out there. It's ranked as #8 at this site. Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech I hope if they release this is in a g73, it wont be that expensive.

 

Problem is the power draw. Dropping it in a current g73 would be a mistake, because IIRC, the 6970m has almost double the power draw...

 

Yeah, the G73 barely has enough power to handle the 5870m.
I've no doubt that the basic G73 chassis case could handle a 6970 but they would have to upgrade the power and cooling capabilities of the laptop including a bigger power brick that can supply about 200 watts.

 

Well, you can grab the Targus 180W PSU on ebay.. that will get you just about there...

 

The G73 is able to handle the 6970m and It won't need any important cooling update. Just need the huge cooling system present in the JW model in addition to a better power supply.

 

I for one hope they make this leap in the fall. It would be great to see it, especially if you could buy the GPU and swap. I plan on going to a 920xm in the next year and up to 12 gigs of ram just because.

 

According to this article ASUS G73Jh DX11 Gaming Notebook Review - ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 - ASUS G73Jh With ATI Radeon Mobility 5870 - Legit Reviews it is possible to upgrade on the G73JH only. Scroll to the bottom of the article and AMD confirms as long as they maintain pin compatibility and thermal envelopes between similar mobile GPUs across different series'. So it is possible for a user to upgrade to the next generation of ATI Mobility GPUs so long as the OEM does not solder the GPU to the mainboard.

 

That's not true, a manufacturer could still make some additional locks like a whitelist etc. in the system BIOS.

That it should work as long as the new GPU is in the thermal and power envelope of the system is true as long as the whole system completely applies to the MXM-standard, which unfortunately isn't true for most systems, especially Asus.
The Nvidia 470m should've worked as well according to this logic.

 

Actually it may be possible with a larger AC adapter @ about 200w. It seems nvidia cards are not compatible with ati cards in JH models. You can not put an ati card in a JW either. If I had 400- 500 to blow on a 6970m I would try it. Other manufacturer 5870m cards work in the JH with the user controlling the fan speed manually. It may not work but it would be worth trying. I think you have a better chance using an ati card rather than an nvidia. A bios mod may allow for the 6970m to work.

 

It's definitely not an AC issue, my M15x works fine with the 6970m and the 920xm and has only a 150W PSU.
And as I already mentioned several times, a bigger PSU doesn't necessarily mean your mobo actually lets you draw more power.

The only not-Asus card that worked in a G73JH was a MSI 5870m. I also have a Nvidia GTX 260m and ATI 5850m laying around which I could test in the JW, but it's pretty time consuming (and it's not my G73, lol ) And anyway, the only thing which makes sense to test are the more recent high-end cards...

But it seems at least one JH user (tudordewolf) is going to try it in a couple of weeks... this is going to be interesting.

 

I agree it's very time consuming opening up the G73. Great to hear someone is going to try it. It would be a huge upgrade if we can toss in a 6970m. Let's keep our fingers crossed! TheType B ATI HD6970 from mxm upgrade is the only option I know of. If it works I'll be tossing one in and lapping the heatsink.