G73SW...can upgrade from 460m to 485m?

Hello there,

I've been waiting for the Sandy Bridge G73 for what seems like ages(not really that long, I'm just excited). I was a little disappointed to find it comes with the 460m.

Can someone please tell me, as I'm new to gaming laptops(new career has me moving around a lot), is it possible and how easy is it to upgrade from the 460m to a 485m in a G73SW?

Many thanks
Nick

 

i was hoping for the same thing, but with 6970m

 

No.

Unfortunately it's not possible.

Reason is Asus uses proprietary MXM cards, this makes it pretty much impossible to change anything regarding the GPU in an Asus notebook.

In addition to this, the 485m is rated at 100W TDP according to the eurocom site... and the power consumption will be higher too.

 

Thanks for your help!

How annoying, the wait continues...I prefer the ASUS, though I may actually start looking to purchase AW.

 

Agreed, if you want a 485M right now, your only choice is to go with a Clevo. The Alienware M17x-R3 should be getting the 485M/6970M by March and current M17x-R3 owners will be able to upgrade to the aforementioned video cards since it's MXM 3.0b compatible.

 

I hate the word proprietary.... why not just go with standardization and give the customer the option. =(

 

Seeing how effective the G73 series is with cooling, I bet the system could handle a 100W unit. Also, the MXM port used can handle the load. I suppose when new Asus vid cards come around for future G73 models, it could make for an interesting experiment.

 

Absolutely true, the cooling system is amazing!! Still the power consumption might be an issue... I think the G73JW or so (I'm not sure about the name... first gen i7 and 460m) has a 150W PSU, which might become a limiting factor with a 485m.

Usually it isn't possible to simply use a more powerful AC adapter as the max power consumption / current flow is limited by the mobo...

Of course, would be great to tinker around with it in case Asus releases a notebook with a 485m... but it would be expensive for a trial and error operation!

 

A simple powerbrick upgrade would help in such an endeavor. I have 2 180w units.

 

I'm not sure about this... as I said, some systems are limited by the mobo or bios. For example even when using a 240W PSU on an Alienware M15x instead of the standard 150W you won't be able to draw more than 150W power as far as I know...

 

It's not true, a powerbrick upgrade can help in a lot of cases.

 

Well if your mobo does not support the power of the powerbrick, Then its useless.

 

Why do Dell users complain about problems which don't exist here?

 

Your system has to be able to break down the power and supply the needed amps overall. If the caps are limited the conversion just will not take place for the required power. Now this is only a so-so explination.

The fact is electronically the caps and other components are never used by design to 100% capacity. They however are designed to provide clean power with little fluctuations within the designed ratings. This mean when you start drawing greater power you also take the chance of going beyond design specs and either over stressing the components and/or not getting the clean power within spec fluctuations.

Usually as you increase power draw you also increase internal resistance. This means more power in but instead of supplying it to the components more than usual can be lost to heat etc.

As an example with my P7805, I have a 180w over the stock 120w. I now have a x9100, 8GB and dual drives over the stock config. By upgrading to 8GB from 4GB I had to slightly lower the OC timings to the video card. My 180w still barely gets warm but it just can not seem to internally supply the clean power even at just the minimal extra OC.

So in all I am at the internal power limitations when I let it loose and game. Now with just the stock 120w I know the system would not be able to run as I do now full out. Others with the P78xx's have had to go the same route of a brick upgrade when pushing internal upgrades to the limit.

Now if you just have to get a GTX 485m you could besides AW get the EON-17s too, prepare to pay for it though...................

 

Isn't there like a super technician in which he could somehow solder the gpu you want on a unupgradeable gpu?

 

The high-end GPUs are MXM based, so no need to solder, but the manufacturer of the notebook has to apply to the MXM standards for making and upgrade possible (BIOS-wise and hardware-wise) And with a better card there's usually more heat and a greater power draw which brings more problems like TANWare explained. When the components aren't designed for the higher currents for example you can easily kill them under stress.

You're probably talking about the lower end integrated graphic solutions... desoldering a chip and put a better one back in place is easy enough, but it wont work. The same reasons as stated above apply here too, and also some common sense...

 

Its funny how other brand users seem to know asus more then asus users

Most things are speculation. As i understand some ppl have tried the JH GPU in a nother notebook and got into the bios.

No one has tried to put a nother card into a G73 and i think no one has upgraded the power brick.

It might take time but there might be an option to swap the card out in the furture with a nother gaming asus rig´s card.

 

Actually I'm sorta a G73 wanabe u81................

 

Well, I have to admit that I've never actually seen really good pictures of the Asus G73 GPU... but the most helpful ones I've seen so far indicate that the connector is probably MXM conform (not proprietary as in other Asus systems) but the overall shape didn't seem to be 100% MXM standard.

If you happen to have some good pictures I would greatly appreciate to see them... I'm afraid the only guy I know with a G73 won't let me disassemble it just for fun


Of course you can just use a higher rated PSU but for the reasons TANware already explained it won't really be much of use (except that it probably runs cooler, the PSU)

Some people claim to have taken a card from the G73 and put it in a different system, but I somehow doubt it... because I've never seen some proof of it and because the latest pictures I've seen of the G73 GPU indicate that it's not completely the MXM standard layout... which makes it difficult to place it in a system with a standard MXM card, if not impossible.


I hope it future upgrades with cards from similar Asus systems will be possible, but there's still the thing with the system BIOS...

 

From what I remember seeing, the asus 460m is not a standard layout, but the asus 5870 is.

EDIT: I'm wrong, 5870 is not exactly standard...

 

Just have to wait for ASUS to release laptops with better GPUs and get those chips and pop it in the G73