G50VT 9800GS swap to G50V

Since 9700m GT O/C thread has steered to new direction due to the fact that 9700m GT as of right now not even OCable I decided to continue the discussion under this title since it seems more appropriate.

Things we have established in the previous thread
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=319084

a) The GPU is REPLACEABLE in the G50V
b) The G50V has basically the same design as the G50Vt
c) Heatsink structure and card size of G50V 9700m GT is the same as 9800m GS
d) Hypothetically, a G50Vt bios can be flashed onto the G50V

Now, I personally called Asus and they are not offering 9800GS update for G50V owners nor sell the cars under any circumstances.

This brings me to my next point, 9800m GS can be purchased, what we need now is someone with G50V laptop and 9800m GS on hand.

I will try my best assisting anyone in this experiment and hope knowable people on this forum will contribute to that too.

 

Where can it be purchased from?

 

I'd be interested in this as well. I've got a G50V-A1 and would be quite interesting in switching out the gpu for a reasonable price.

 

Hmm... idk... the battery life is very VERY disappointing as it is. Should've just gotten a desktop.

Ah well, so where can this mythical 9800m GS be purchased?

 

Please search, this has been posted many times.

You can NOT buy the 9800m GS... I have already confirmed it with asus and other vendors, they will not sell the card standalone... They wont even sell you one for a notebook repair, for example if you broke your laptop and wanted to pay out of pocket to repair it they wont sell it... I tried.

They said its to new of a card and can only be sold with a system.

 

you could try hitting up a clevo/sager reseller and purchase a 9800m gts and down clock it yourself. There isn't any physical difference between the cards.

 

Only was I see someone getting a-hold of a video card is to go to best buy and buy the G50vt, and swap the cards with the G50V. Then re-sale the G50Vt with the 9700Gt card in it.

 

It would no longer be a G50vt than. The main thing that created the VT was the 9800... You mine as well just sell your old laptop and keep the new one

But its pointless really... Even if you get the 9800 you will just be mad again when the next one comes out.

You got the laptop for its specs and now something new came out, this is always the case. Just enjoy it for how it is.

The only thing I would upgrade maybe would be the wifi to a 5300 (which I did on my VT) and maybe the CPU... But the CPU is a hard one. I dont know if I rather just get the P version of the one in the VT to save the power or get the faster one that sucks the same power... I want more battery life but I want more power too, so I am stuck in that mind.

Anyway, maybe thats something else to consider also. Upgrade your CPU can help the graphics a bit more. It wont be day/night but benchmarks show that the same two computers with same video card, the one with faster CPU will get more FPS generally/

 

actually the g50V swap isnt such a bad idea the best buy g50vt has a CRAPPY screen with a screen like that id switch out the GPU too

 

I like the 16:9 aspect screen on that though. The fact that that is the only 16:9 aspect screen gaming laptop and the Canadian dollar's low value has made me wait a few months more before buying my next laptop.

 

Anyone know a Sager/Clevo reseller who would sell the standalone card?

 

I know that I ought to be content with this laptop (it was more of a last resort laptop tbh) but to have asus suddenly pounce the Vt which is so much better for the same price just 2 months after this laptop is very very annoying in the least. I would not have cared if other manufacturers suddenly came up and did so.

Upgrading the CPU to eke out that last 1~2% of graphical power is pointless...

Then there was the double whammy when it transpired that the g50V cannot be OC'ed for some reason. I'd have happily taken this to 7000+ in 3DMark06.

This has been posted actually in maybe two or three other (serious) threads. Prodigy says there might be a way so naturally we ask.

 

Honestly, unless everyone's screen is different from mine, I don't see it as crappy... lower resolution perhaps, some deflection issues perhaps, but no real flaws or difficulty viewing from proper angles that I can see.

Yes, there are better screens, but "crappy" is exaggerating to a large degree.
Given that the whole system is $1100 at BB, I don't see how anyone can complain.

I still like the G50VT-X1's 1366x768 screen better than the vast majority of Dell 15" screens that come through here.

 

Yeah they really exaggerate the issues with the screen on Best buy G50vt model.

It sure has bad viewing angles, but you will rarely NOT watch the screen on the sweet spot Besides I am kinda liking this 16:9 ratio screen... the contrast is good too, great colors etc.

Still, it wouldn't have hurt a tad bit higher resolution. Not that it matters much for now as I can run everything at native res without worrying on performance!

I would have gone for G50vt-A1, but at $1099dlrs and I really didn't have more money than that, I jumped in. Still A1 is a better deal with much better screen, processor, more HDD and more importantly warranty.

But well, I am happy with my purchase

 

well i apologize you guys are owners so you guys know best i am basing this off of the notebook review that was done recently on the front page there was this weird thing with the screen can you guys have alook and tell me if you are experiencing that same problem ?? Thanks!

 

The viewing angle thing is partialy true... it most certainly does not look as nice from outside viewing angles, but I gotta say the viewing angle is reasonable enough for me that I don't see any issues once I adjust my seating and the screen and it looks slightly better to my eyes than the dell XPS1530s and vostros we have gone through here (1280x800, 1440x900 compared directly).

I see no light leakage, no direct flaws, and nothing horribly wrong with this screen other than the fact your friends alongside or standing next to you will not get as nice a picture.

The contrast thing I don't see at all, my backgrounds and games look very nice.

The 1366x768 resolution is fine for gaming honestly and the 9800m GS pushes this resolution easily in most games.
I like more resolution at work for spreadsheets, logfile perusing and the like, but this would have been so with all 15" laptops for me.
(I don't care for 1680x1050 on a 15"... and I am addicted to my 24" rotated 24" 1050x1680)

I have seen better displays and I would have liked some higher resolutions
(1440x900 is my current favorite middle-ground) but all in all I'd give it a average or slightly above rating in comparison to the laptops I have seen.

 

I can somewhat relate to you, I had the G50v-a2 and the next day the VT's came out, but I was able to get a refund for mine.

The thing is, the price you will pay for the video card (assuming you ever can get one) will not be worth it... It will cost you 200-300 easy I bet and for that you mine as well sell your notebook and just buy the new one...

As for the overclock, my VT does not let me overclock with the asus program and my non VT did allow me. I actually think my old V ran better... It did not have the keyboard lag or anything. My new VT seems to have slight lag, and wont OC...

Dont be upset about this notebook being release a few months after you got yours, because guess what, in 2 months an even better one will be out... It never ends, lol I use to try to stay on top of it all but money is to tight now so I just have to be happy with what I got.

 

I like 1920x1200 on 17 or 15. what I've noticed, and u can check this for yourself, is that 1920x1200 downscaled to lower res like 1280x800 or 1440x900 actullay looks better than native displays at those resolutions. there is much less aliasing, everything looks smoother and pictures look better. I keep ClearType for HTML off, it looks better that way (as it does on CRT). btw I am CRT purest and they still crush LCD on desktop. everyone knows about response time, which is funny because all this time its been the sample-and-hold nature of lcds that makes the blurry motion. the best sony tvs are just starting to try to address all this. LCD is a horrible tech for image and motion, and it maturation is all about trying to compensate for its inherent inferiority. strobing (and zone dimming) LED backlighting will help when it becomes more mainstream. But it may be a few years still or never for LCD to compete with CRT. people who dont really know whats up joke about crt and rave lcd, but I speak the truth. lappies need lcd, but Im looking for another crt for gaming on desktop. its amazing what is forced upon us and what some of us so readily embrace. lcds are lighter and thinner. but you give up clear motion, color depth/accuracy, dynamic range, contrast,shadow detail,on and on... when I play game on crt it feels like im looking into the space. Its a rich, immersive experience. LCD are flat in more ways than one. I feel like im looking 'onto' them. I miss ememies in shadows, cave textures are flat etc. dont get me wrong I think LCD is great for portable or business. but im pissed that crts have been taken from us as a choice. Instead of a mature, far superior image for much less money, we are forced into crap imaging for big bucks (and even the most expensive LCD's dont cut it yet). I think it has a lot to do with profits and marketing. most people bought the LCD hype. The blame must lie on the consumer, who assumed newer meant better, and whose priorities clearly didnt include image quality. and now, we have more fun-16x9 is too **** short too. 'wide'--what a fkin joke. its 'shorter'.
the wider you get, the less screen area(cheaper) there is for a given horizontal measurement. visually you can see more on 4x3 becuase your eyes (and your mouse)have to move less. Its crap when they say your eyes natually see in wide sceen. preserve your vertical periphery-boycott 16x9 panels. or we may end up with 16x4 (well 16x9 is almost as stupid)

 

Let's get back on topic please. --> The possible graphic cards swap <--
Thanks

 

yeah sorry I got nothing useful. I wish the swaps were more common and easier. I'd like to get more info/access on swapping too. http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/index.html is not enough.

 

I doubt that you can use a 3rd party card, Asus is going to have something special about there card.

 

how much of a performance difference is there between the 9800gs and the 9700gt?

i found any game i have installed on my g50v a1 runs fine, so the need for a new card isn't really there?

right now the only game i am playing is Left 4 Dead, and my laptop almost runs it at full settings...i just have details one step down to have a more fluid gamming experience....

 

The 9700m GT is alright for now at native res with no AA in most modern games. I expect this time next year we'll be playing at low settings or possibly at a lower res. In a couple years time, we'll be down to 1280*800 res gaming if even that (if the 6xxx~7xxx series are anything to go by, we'll be down to 1000*700 gaming). The 9800m GS should postpone the death knell by a good year or so.

 

really though, with the way computers work, you should see a price drop in about a year for the 9800m gs anyways, so why not just buy later when its needed?

 

This is correct, the ASUS cards are 'flipped', compared to a standard MXM card. The slot is essentially backwards, which means that it is possible to put in a MXM card, but you have to put it in upside down, with the GPU die facing the keyboard. I believe ASUS also still stores the VBIOS within the system's as well.

 

Wouldn't it be possible for someone to produce "unflip" plugs then?




Or even just an extension cable so that:

originally:

socket
v
|= =| ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ | <- flipped video card

now:

|=, | ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯ |=, <- unflipped video card
,,,,¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

 

I don't think its worth going to the extreme lengths of "producing" an adapter...

If you want a 9800GS so bad the easiest and probably even cheapest way would be to sell your laptop right now and just get the new vt one.

 

Hey guys, You should read the old 9700m gt o/c thread again...they have found an overclock but its only works on Xp at the moment but its looking good...

 

I suspect that a replacement part may be available from ASUS at one point or another as the G50 series ages, and that a compatible 9800 could be a possibility. NOW, getting it is a different story. Probably would take an ASUS partner to get that to happen. As I've already voided my warranty in multiple ways, I'd be totally willing to rip open my G50V and test it out, in addition to throwing down for the part. Theoretically. But I don't think it's going to happen soon, at least until the cards start frying and warranty service ramps up to the point that we see more G50V replacement parts on the asus store (not much of anything now besides accessories).

 

Where'd ya go? (the OP) Didn't see you on the thread referenced in your post?

 

Well we can buy it here i think:
http://www.asusparts.eu/index.php?cPath=67674_73347_73674_73713_73746

 

did anybody try it? the card offered at asuspart should be the right card.

 

The link is for the motherboard, not the GPU.

 

When the time comes Asus will put 9800M GS VGA board on eStore for sell, they now have 9600M GS on their eStore:

http://estore.asus.com/shop/item.asp?itemid=4607&catid=627

 

I thought the vga-board is the gpu.

 

I'm really happy to see Asus putting its notebook cards up for sale in the estore.