Fastest MXM II Card

Hi, i'm looking for the fastest MXM II Card. I've read some thread but it's too old.

 

If you let us know what laptop you have, make,model, specs etc then someone can state what you can and can't upgrade to.

 

- Nvidia 8600M GT
- Nvidia 9600M GS and GT
- <strike>Nvidia 9700M GT</strike> (TDP is 45w .... way above the 25w cap of MXM-II)
- ATI HD 3650

And yes.... tell us the model of the notebook would be nice.

 

9700M GT is mxm 3. Best mxm currently is probably the 9650M GT but the manufacturer of the laptop has to support it otherwise it won't be compatible with heatsinks etc

 

^^ you're right.

there are two versions of the 9650M .... one that is 80nm (which is the same cards as the previous 8700M GT) and the other that is 55nm.

the 55nm has 23w TDP, which would qualify it as being within MXM Type II specifications.

 

C90S like you and I've found http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=316079 (how to upgrade to 9600m GT)

 

Yeah I read it a while back. Problem is I have no tools to cut things down to size. Or money to buy a 9600M GT especially if its not guaranteed to work, thanks tho

 

you can do that massive guide to mod the cooling for the 9600M, but I hope you realize its still a mid-range card that wont give you too much of an overall performance gain over you current 8600M GT.

... less than 5-10% from looking at performance tests and comparative benchmark scores (only looking at SM2.0 & SM3.0/HDR scores..... excluding the CPU score)

 

with that mod, a decent cooler and a hopefully cheap 256mb ddr3 8600M GT(summer or later ) I could get higher performance than a 9600M GT by OC

 

Thank you, I can't PM you so I must ask you here: How to get 4 GB ram to C90S? I've heard that C90S can only have 3 GB. (Sorry for offtopic and for my english)

 

Update bios to 1002(latest)
buy a second 2 gb stick of corsair 667 pc5300
whack it in

 

+Use a 64-bit OS

 

yes, but i am not a good example lol

 

nVidia 9650M GT, though I'm not sure you really need to upgrade,

 

yeah, I wouldn't upgrade from any 128bit interfaced bus graphics card to another.

 

Depends if it can be got cheap. A ddr3 9650M GT is twice as good as a ddr2 8600M GT and probably a great OC er with 55nm build.

 

I've already upgraded to 3 GB, well I'll buy one more 2 GB stick later.

I think the guide for 9600M GT shall work with 9650M GT but I'm not sure.

 

I take it you have a C90S then? It is hard to find a 9650M GT mxm module. I only remember seeing one somewhere and it was very very overpriced. If you do have the C90S then wait around a few more months asus may very well release a newer card for the P version which means an upgrade for the S

 

That would be nice, We'll see
And about the ram, have you tried 64bit OS? Because I think that C90S is 32bit and it can't locate all the addresses of 4 GB.

I have preinstalled OS and there is ASUS C90S Tutorial (Flash presentation of notebook) and there I can see that memories can have 800 MHz frequency, but asus support told me that 667 is max

 

1.) Never tried a 64 bit OS had vista 32 and got rid of it quickly..

2.) C90S supports 4gb of ram in name only. It will show somewhere between 3-3.5 with a 64 bit I think.

3.) Supports 800mhz ddr2 but not worth it as at stock the memory runs at 533. Overclocking can get you close to 667 mhz. e6600 would be doing 3ghz at 667 but isn't stable so I leave it around 2.8 - 2.84ghz max

If you want to overclock beyond turbogear search for "screw turbo gear overclocked C90S with clockgen" thread. Hope this helps

 

2. That doesn't make much sense. It should show ALL 4 GB with a 64-bit OS and around 3.2 GB with a 32-bit OS.

 

OT:
The fastest MXM-II card for now would be the 9650m GT GDDR3.
It's very difficult to find though and it's likely very expensive.

The good thing about this particular card is that it comes in a 55nm manuf. process which allows for much higher overclocking and the card itself produces in turn less heat.

You are still limited to a 128bit bus though and thus it's still a mid-range card.

You could wait on it and upgrade to that, or wait to see if ATI's new mid-range cards will be MXM-II compliant (and also better in performance).

 

wait for the ATI Mobility 4650 or 4670. you should be able to get your hands on one this summer

 

Wish it were the case but thanks to an old 945G chipset there is a hardware limitation in addition to the 32 bit limitation. I only see 2.87GB of ram presently but at least its in dual channel. That might go up a tiny bit if upgraded to 64bit but not full 4gb unfortunately.

The 4650/70 do look like attractive options if the desktop cards are anything to go by Do they get a 256 bit bus ?!

 

the mobility 4650/70 will still be 128bit but they should be significantly faster than nvidias medium sized notebook lineup

 

Those ATI Gpu's would be a godsend if they would actually work on a C 90s, I have looked far and wide to do some GPU upgrading in my system so far no luck.
Would you have to do anything else to the system if you switched cards from Nvidia to ATI? would they be recognized? or would you have to go into the Bios or anything like that?

 

If asus release them officially for the C90 I guess not. Otherwise if they are released on mxm 2 then would have to be modded such as with the 9600M GT upgrade no doubt.

 

Guys, be aware that some GF9600es come with a 64-bit bus! Apparently, thats the one i'm getting with the machine in my sig and, believe me, i am very unhappy about it! Don't make the same mistake, find out all the info you can about the machine you are buying. I found a review on Hexus a day after purchasing the machine.... well, gotta live with it now. Will do a full review of it for NBR, i guess. And I don't think it's gonna look good for pcspecialist.co.uk

 

you don't have to live with it. just return it for false or unclear advertising. there should be a return period anyway

 

Unfortunately, i cannot find a better deal... i paid just £680 for it (no OS)

 

how did you find out it is a 64 bit card? I never even knew they made the 9600M with 64 bit memory interface!

 

I didn't know either, until i found this review
http://www.hexus.net/content/item.php?item=16928

 

I'm still pissed off at ASUS for not giving us an upgrade yet
almost to the point of not buying one ever again!
It just sucks spending all this $$$ back then thinking you would be able to upgrade....BUT NO.><.
THANKS ASUS

 

I have a feeling they will release a new GPU soon for the C90P. I retailer here in UK won't start selling it until March. Its listed having a 8700M GT(impossible I know) but I think a 9650M GT is possible or even an ATI 4650/70. One has to be optimistic.
I have also sent a message to another asus retailer and he has sent an email to asus directly asking whether an upgrade is in the works. He will respond soon.

 

The 9600m GT has a 128bit bus, not 64bit.
My gpu is 9600m GT GDDR3 512Mb.
I ran gpu-z and it detects the bus width as 128bit.

So it's quite likely that the hexus.net has made a typo when writing the specs.

 

i will see in about a week, when i receive it. But at the moment I don't think Hexus would make such a typo. And, when they were comparing it to Zepto Nox with another GF9600GT, it was showing about 15fps difference, which is quite a lot

 

Keep in mind that the FPS difference can also be attributed to the fact that one of those laptops uses DDR2 RAM and NOT GDDR3 (which can easily show a difference between 10 to 15 FPS).

PCspecialist laptops come with 9600m GT DDR2.
I checked with them last year when they first got them and they also told me they have no plans on getting the GDDR3 gpu versions.

Both versions have a 128bit interface to my knowledge ... GDDR3 has higher RAM clock frequency (800Mhz, compared to 400Mhz in DDR2) which results in higher FPS.

 

as I said, i have to wait for it to arrive. At the moment I have no reasons to doubt Hexus on that. I'll be happy enough if it's a GDDR2 version, coz I'm not a heavy gamer - the main reason I bought it is to do Alias AutoStudio for my Uni. However, if it's a 64-bit version, then I would put PCSpecialist reputation under big question, because if it's true, they have no rights to call it a gaming machine as they advertise it. Trading Standarts would be interested to hear that, huh?

 

Wait ...
PCSPecialist never really stated what type of memory bus interface the 9600m GT in their laptop has.
To my recollection, both 9600m GT DDR2 and GDDR3 are 128 bit (64bit versions of the card were not produced as far as I am aware, which begs the question if the article is correct in what it states... and make no mistake, articles ARE incorrect in many instances) ... but the GDDR3 will produce better frame-rates because of it's higher memory frequency (which is twice as fast).

Besides ... you can always email PcSpecialist and ask them the details.
That's how I got information on their gpu's to begin with.

 

I'm not bashing PCSpecialist for putting a DDR2 card in there, i'm doing it for them putting a 64-bit version of it in there! I do not mind it being a DDR2 for as long as it is 128-bit. If the machine i receive will be equipped with a DDR2 128-bit, i'll be happy but, then I'll put Hexus competence under question))) Just a bit of patience we need)))

 

But that's just it ... there are no 64 bit versions of 9600m GT.
Both ddr2 and gddr3 are 128 bit.
Here ... check this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_9_Series#GeForce_9600_Series

Also check here:
http://www.hwbot.org/quickSearch.do?hardwareId=GPU_1383

So, you have nothing to worry about, and as I mentioned earlier, the article likely made a mistake.

 

hopefully, in a week time i'll be able to confirm what you are saying.=) peace

 

Is the Compal JHL90 the same as the Enigma P960T?

The casing looks the same to me...

 

Yes, it is.

 

In that case looks like the 9600M GT in the compal and enigma is equipped with DDR2 memory.

Agreed with Deks above no 9600M GT is equipped with a 64 bit bus you can rest assured.

 

NJoy, have you received your new machine yet? If so, how's it going?

 

2 ieatwork
I ordered it last thursday, 22nd. As they say, the build time is 6-9 days. If i'm lucky I'll see it by the end of this week.

Interesting note, I went on their website, cofigured the same machine and it came out £40 more.

 

PcSpecialist prices are usually consistent for a specific amount of time before they change.
Are you sure you removed things that you don't actually need?
Such as the Windows Media controller (or something alike) in the options?

 

I think they were forced to raise prices, since £ has lost a lot, but all the components usually have to be paid for in $$$.

 

Received the first of ordered two laptops today. Glad to confirm - it is a 128bit card indeed