Cheap dGPU for Clevo P150em (because I must have dGPU right?)

Howdy!

I took the 7970m out of my Clevo P150em because I want to sell it.

I got all 3 lock LEDs lighting up, fans on full, and the laptop beeping and shutting down after 30 seconds when I started it back up.

I read tonight that I must have a dedicated GPU for the laptop to work - is this correct?

I was thinking maybe there would be a BIOS I could use (e.g. maybe Prema Mod) that would be a workaround?

If not, what is the absolute cheapest dGPU I can stick in there in order to pacify this need?! Any MXM card?

Thanks!

 

260m

 

Ah ok cool - you reckon that's the cheapest? What is the sort of entry level criteria that it needs to meet that the 260m is the cheapest to do so?

Does it matter that it's 55nm not 28nm like the 7970m?

 

finding the right vbios and getting it to post is your main battle

 

I HIGHLY doubt you can use a 260M in a P150EM. You probably should run Prema's latest BIOS and get a cheap 965M MXM module... @Prema, the EM series can use the 965M cards, right? I know 970M and 980M work.

Also, you'll likely need to buy it from a seller like Eurocom so you get Prema's vBIOS on it or I don't know if it'll boot correctly.

 

I just want to sell the 7970m and find the absolute cheapest solution to use the HD4000 onboard graphics which apart from some sort of BIOS mod would need to be a POS dGPU to fill the slot do the laptop doesn't freak out. Buying a 965m would ruin my margin right. There is nothing wrong with the 7970m I just don't want to game on the machine now!

 

You can use any mxm 3 card, even a broken one. All you have to do is desolder the vBIOS chip. The system won't shutdown once the card is in the system.

 

Bingo! Thanks.

So this should work (even though shorter (not using heat sink etc))?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122047864310

Does it need to be a particular MXM 3 type? I know there are different types but not the differences!

 

Better get a type-b shaped one and use a heatsink as it'll still be powered up just not showing up in Windows.

 

According to this site the connector and mounting holes are the same for type A and type B: http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/Tech_30.html

After having a look inside the laptop it it looks like if I put an 3.A card in it I could still mount the heatsink over it as the heatsink screws into the mounting screws, if the mounting holes are in fact the same place:



I'm guessing the other heatsink (bronze) would go over the gpu in the same place too.

So type A are a lot lot cheaper and if the above assumptions are correct (are they ha ha IDK?!) is there any disadvantage to getting a type A?

(Thanks for all the responses )