is there a Upgrade path for the G73 ?

other than CPU...

So I was wondering if the G73, whether it be JH or JW model has any sort of upgrade path in terms of GPU? let say, is it possible to upgrade from 5870m to 5970m/6870m ? or upgrade from 460m to 470m? etc..

i was curious coz at the Alienware side, some actually got thinking about swaping the 5850m for a 460m or 5870m. Also, sager added 470m for their np8690 line.

 

Sure there is an upgrade path, assuming you can get an Reverse MXM 3.0b of the next gen card that runs in the PM/HM55 chipset that doesn't really do PCI-E 2.0

You can also go all the way up to an i7-940XM in the future at least.

 

could you elaborate more on reverse mxm 3.0b?
from what i gather it's a ASUS proprietary interface and thus pretty much you're locked to their GPU? no other manufacturer out there uses similar interface?

 

its not properitary persay, its just reversed compared to a normal MXM slot AFAIK. There are some rare cases where reverse mxm cards of the next gen are made.

 

well.. the 470m or 480m aren't technically next gen right? probably better chance for those?

 

haven't seen the numbers on the 470M, but the 480M is barely 2-4% on average faster than the 5870M. Spending the 1000 or so dollars on a 480M would be a waste. I can't imagine the 470M will be better than the 480, which means it will be just on par with the 5870M.

The upgrades for the current cards in the laptop segment appear to be the 69XX from AMD and the 5XX from Nvidia. Though the GTX580 desktop card is a rebadged and bug fixed GTX480, so I hope that doesn't hold true in the laptop market. I bet it will though. Still th 580 is about 15% or so faster than the 480 so it still could be worth it in a laptop.

 

well over at the sager forum, they say the 470m is better than 480m, so i was thinking that might be a good upgrade path. provided.. that's sager, might not be the same case for asus notebooks.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...70m-benchmarks-sager-np8690-clevo-w860cu.html

 

There will NOT be any possibility to upgrade.
Reasons:
1) Asus uses a different MXM standard and they do NOT sell these reverse MXM cards, you can only RMA a defective card and get the same GPU replacement.
2) Since Asus does not provide upgrades, their Bios usually only supports the GPU the laptop was made with (there are exceptions here).
3) Almost every card has a different chips and coils position, screw holes position and in many cases the whole card size is different, so either installation or at least proper cooling is NOT possible (would need a new heatsink at least).

So once and for all stop making new threads for this, you bought a cheaper Asus laptop that doesnt come as customisable barebones with upgrade paths in mind, but comes as it is, so only minor upgrades are possible (RAM, HD, Wireless / CPU - voids warranty).
Clevo/Sager and AW offer completely customised laptops and upgrades, but when upgrading a GPU, that also means you get a new heatsink and they make sure they release a Bios that supports it.

Please use the search function, i posted these reasons so many times i dont care to count anymore.

 

this is my first thread about upgrades i don't know where you get the notion i've opened a few similar threads, i also did do a search before opening the thread, at google and at here. Howabout stickying this thread, better yet put up your own FAQ thread and sticky it if you don't like people posting/asking about it.

 

Polite isn't in his vocabulary... Don't worry about it.

 

Of course, call me impolite if im trying to encourage the use of the search function instead of creating thread after thread with basically the same questions and littering the section.

I just did a search with the keywords "can cant upgrade g73jh gpu" and on the first results page what do you find?
A permalink with exactly the same question answered.
If we stickied every information like that thered be too many stickies, so search is there to keep things organised...

 

Actually he did write a sticky, it is at the top of the main page, it has saved me countless times. So... Thanks a bunch Hellcry, and for the record you deserve a JW... Your sticky has probably saved Asus technicians at least a few dozen RMAs, you should be put on retainer.

 

don't really need to create a thread for every single topic. just put up a FAQ or "READ THIS FIRST" thread with commonly asked questions and answers. repaste, thermal paste brands, mods, cleaning, disassembly, upgrade, RMA, warranty, benchmarks, tools/apps, frequent issues...etc and map those topics to their respective threads. Essentially, it'll make searching easier.
The search function aren't friendly either, you still have to filter out each thread and the posts within.
for the record i searched "G73 GPU Upgrade" and read page 1-2 of each thread and didn't find what i was looking for.

 

The problem is you cant make a FAQ for all the notebooks with everything you think of, because then that sticky would become so unbearably long noone would want to read it anymore and people would still have to resort to the search function or would still create new threads, so stickies are only there for the most essential things - like how to solve a problem and should be kept as simple as possible. Ideally, wed have a subforum for every notebook and this could be done, but since there are more than a few gaming Asus notebooks creating such a FAQ would be pointless imo.
I could write it up similar to my other sticky if there was real interest for it, but it would take very long and i doubt it would be half as useful.

And thanks ValkerieFire, im always glad to hear it helped someone.

 

Bumping this

being rude is fine, hellcry, but first you should do research, provide evidence, and oh, be correct about your info.

http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/610/48705870.jpg

 

niffcreature, I think that's from here, nothing new: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/458025-asus-g73-benchmark-thread-13.html#post5877549

 

...And so it still may or may not be reversed?

Someone needs to actually test a normal card in an Asus.

 

I think this is as close as you're going to get for an answer: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/458025-asus-g73-benchmark-thread-197.html

Also, the BIOS isn't easy to mod since it's AMI Aptio. Actually, I've never seen a non-trivial mod done to one like a complete transplant. But it's been a few months since I read those forums.

 

The point of that picture from Mandrake was to prove two things. No one needs to actually test it. Why would someone waste $350 when we now definitively that it's a reverse MXM?

Yes it is most definitely a reverse MXM Asus design.

And two, it is also the same reverse MXM Asus design on both the G73jh and the W90. But to prevent W90 users from upgrading to 5870M, the PCB is still wider.

It helps to read the post that you got the picture from.

 

niffcreature i know what im talking about. I held a few Clevo mob. 5870 in my hands (stuffed one into a D900F as you can see in the thread from my sig) and i swapped a few Asus mob. 5870 in this G73JH so i know damn well that the connector is completely different (and the rest of the card as well but thats besides the point now).

 

Laptop GPUs are notoriously difficult to upgrade.

Keep in mind that even notebooks marketed as "upgradeable" aren't truly upgradeable in the same sense as desktops. As it's been mentioned before, you've got power issues to contend with, not to mention that often the entire notebook interior and cooling system is designed and built around the shape and layout of the specific motherboard and GPU the system was designed for.
Unless things have changed drastically since 3-4 years ago, swapping out a graphics card can often mean a new heatsink & cooling assembly, PSU, possibly a new motherboard, and even with all that it's sometimes just not possible.

Factoring all this in, you certainly aren't going to save anywhere near as much money as by upgrading a destop, and I've never felt the hassle was worth it personally.

 

It's better to just sell the Notebook that you have and buy a new model like you are wanting. You will save money and time by doing this.
I like to hand my Notebooks down the line in the family, that way I have an excuse to buy a new one!

Even with Desktop computers you do not really gain much in an upgrade, well you can some, but with a new motherboard and video card you can make the jump into the next gen tech.
I like doing that as this way I can stay near the top.
I do this on Notebooks also as I can stay into the Next Gen equipment. If you let your computers get to far behind it makes it harder to get your money back out of the units so you can buy newer equipment.