Is it possible to replace the lenovo Y50's GTX 960M to a GTX 980M?

Hello everyone!

I have had this laptop for a long time, about 1-2 years now and I was wondering to switch the GTX 960M to a GTX 980M although I am not sure if this swap is possible. Could anyone enlighten me i this is possible?

These are my current specs:

Laptop: Lenovo Y50(-Y70 series)
CPU: Intel i7-4720HQ [email protected] GHz
Memory: 16GB RAM
Resolution: 1920x1080, 60GHz
Driver version: 365.19
GTX 960M
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home

If possible, should I also remove my HDD (1TB) and switch to a SSD? I feel that perhaps an SSD could work better. I also game alot, right now I have DOOM (2016), Black Ops 3, GTA V, Bioshock Infinite, Modern Warfare 3, The Division and other games.

 

Nope, as long as i know both CPU and GPU (960M) are soldered to the mainboard.

 

lol bga strikes again

 

860M (maxwell) and 960M cards are *ALWAYS* BGA. You will never change them.

 

this is what you get for not researching hard enough.

 

You know that's not really a fair statement. Not everyone knows about the massive BGA movement and even most mainstream review sites do not point out to BGA being undesirable.

 

Unfortunately, no. Most laptops, even gaming ones, have all the chips soldered on the motherboard. The 970M on my Asus G751 is soldered on, too.

 

Wow 1-2 years is a long time? My 980M laptop is 7 years old

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That's EPIC man, got any pictures?

 

Google Alienware M15x. Fully upgradeable mxm 3.0B graphics and socketed nehalem based cpu. Started out with GTX 260M in 2009 and now it rocks 980M.

In between it has rocked in this order; 6970M, 6990M, 7970M, 680M and now 980M.

What is more I never killed a single card. Always sold them on and put the earnings toward the new card.

BGA is trash! Or at least ends up in the trash fast!

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I know what the laptop IS, I wanted current pics of your laptop . M17x R2 era with 5870 Mobility XFIRE.

 

Even if the Y50 was unlocked MXM, there's no way the laptop could handle the heat of a GTX 980M. It simply handle wasn't built to handle that range of TDP.

 

ASUS is honestly pretty bloody anti-consumer though. Even when they used socketed chips, they always had custom PCBs for them and the chips would not work in any other system other than that exact model. Even newer ASUS machines.

 

Once again - that means you're saying the P6xx series (by Clevo) and the W230 series (also by Clevo) are trash. They are not.

I'm of the opinion that yes, it is regrettable that BGA components cannot be upgraded, but a well-maintained, properly-soldered laptop (i.e. those from Clevo) would not die as easily.

The BGA hate here is sometimes too strong and too irrational.

 

He's saying that a BGA machine will end up in the trash quicker than a upgradable machine. Which is 100% true. Look at his 7 year old m15x still going hard. I know where it'd be if it were sporting the original GPU were it welded down.
I know I'm preaching to the choir, but the destain for BGA is well deserved and not without reason. They are by definition 'disposable'.

 

Yeah BGA hate is for a reason. These machines have been made intentionally disposable to force everyone to upgrade the entire machine rather than keeping a machine for years and just upgrading the video cards.

 

What about USB3/TB upgrades? What about pcie? What about a hidpi panel? Better trackpad? There's more to it than just upgrading the gpu

Sent from a 128th Legion Stormtrooper 6P

 

Fair enough, BGA is 'disposable' by nature, but that doesn't mean we need to dismiss laptops that have BGA components as useless (like a certain few people who own P870DMs, ahem). Such laptops are perfectly capable in their own right, and a decent mid-range to high-end laptop GPU, if one is willing to sacrifice some graphics fidelity, can last half a decade.

I'd expect a GTX 970M to last easily a year more, at least, and the cards in the P6xx series are renowned to be excellent overclockers. I think I saw someone at the P650SE thread with a +500 MHz OC on a GTX 970M, effectively edging out a GTX 980M at stock. The laptops themselves are well-cooled, have Prema Mod and so on.

It's a fault of the industry that has been leaning towards the thin-and-light with the arrival of the MacBook Air in 2008, and then the iPad. It was Intel's fault in abandoning rPGA (I and those owning W230SDs probably have the last batch of rPGA motherboards ever manufactured), while GPUs on notebooks have rarely been MXM except on the very high-end. Hell, Intel Iris on Skylake has gotten so good (or at least, good enough for Apple) that the lower-end 15" MacBook Pro, which used to have a discrete GPU in it, now has Intel Iris Pro.

We consumers can't do nuts, and ostracising other consumers who don't need as much power as that in a P870DM but have no choice but to buy those 'BGA jokebooks/crapbooks/turdbooks' is pointless, and raving for a needless civil war.

And yet I want a 13-14" MXM laptop.

 

The OP claims to game alot with numerous triple A titles that simply wont play well with a 960M.

BGA has its place but not in a so called "gaming" laptop. It is a lie to comsumers.

Some bga machines sport high end parts most dont. Still 970M soldered will become obselete in the next 2 years.

As for the comment regarding those OCing their bga 970Ms by +500mhz all they are doing is hastening their laptops way to the rubbish bin. Cant imagine many will still live a year from now.

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While I like socketed components, a decent high end BGA machine can easily last you 3-4 years, which is longer than what most gaming users will keep their laptops socketed or not. While interchangeability of components is is great, but more importantly by design they don't throttle (or as badly) it doesn't necessarily mean longevity. There are other factors involved like CPU socket limitations, newer I/O (USB, Firewire, etc), RAM speed and capacity, as well as newer storage options (PCIe, mSATA, etc) and just general wear and tear. Not to mention something will fail eventually and replacement parts can cost more than what the machine is actually worth.

If you're overclocking your 970m by 400 to 500MHz without any significant voltage applied and temps are reasonable there's no reason to think they'll fail much sooner than if they weren't OC'd.

I'm not defending BGA, just that they exist in a majority of laptops now and if you know what you're buying, and opt for higher end up front chances are it will last you a while. Heck after 2-3 years any laptops I've had that have even been used moderately, something inevitably fails, like keyboard, USB ports (requiring new motherboard), flaky storage connections, or even LCD, etc.

 

Do you beat your laptops or something?
My 7 year old M60J still looks as if new, and functions well (knocks on wood).

 

Most anyone who wants an upgradeable computer is going to buy a desktop. The market for people who want such possibilities for a notebook is a niche of a niche.

 

Do you not take it anywhere? Things that get picked up and moved around inevitably get damaged more than things that do not.

 

I traveled heavily with my MacBook Pro for the better part of three years. Aside from a couple minor scratches, it was absolutely pristine when I sold it earlier this year. Be even somewhat conscious about handling your stuff, and it will be fine.

 

The stuff I use always still looks like new after years of use. I always use a laptop sleeve though. THe onyl trace of usage is always on the spacebar which loses its texture after daily use.

 

Not very often. But generally I am a careful person, I don't throw around things, although don't carry them in bullet proof cases either.

A friend of mine, he bought a laptop a half of year ago. The screen is busted, keyboard is missing few buttons, touchpad doesn't function... How one accomplishes such monstrosity is beyond me...

 

Because of poor awareness and misinformation. Desktops take a lot of space and cannot be portable. A desktop needs a dedicated desk too while a laptop doesn't. Even the heaviest laptop can be packed away out of sight when not in use to save a lot of space.

People say a desktop costs a lot less while I beg to differ. A decent screen, keyboard and mouse will cost a fair bit and a computer desk another good chunk. No a gaming laptop IMHO is cheaper!

 

I like to simplify it. Midranged machines being soldered? Regrettable, however manage-able.

High end, top end, and enthusiast machines being soldered? Then you're reaching stupid heights. If there's no arguement for a $500 CPU and one to two $400-$700 GPUs being soldered in desktop world, then there certainly is none in laptop world. But machines like the Aorus exist. Machines like the GT80 with soldered CPUs exist. EVGA's 6820HK that can't even handle 3.8GHz without hitting 90C in an A/C room running AIDA64 is a joke, and a 4K screen without Gsync with a soldered 980M is another kind of joke. They're passed off as high end or enthusiast machines for some really weird reason and nobody seems to tell them off.

I understand that it's not so much on the onus of the OEMs or even ODMs and the only reason Clevo is doing different is because they always have so the knowledge for them is second nature, however OEMs should work some more. The half-baked machines they're so keen on selling us for outrageous prices needs to stop, and I wish people would really stop defending them.

 

Damn straight D2!

 

What??? It can't handle 3.8ghz on an AC room? I know my CPU runs hot because it can reach 90s in games, but this is on 110F ambient temps. On AC rooms I barely break 80s. And I haven't even repasted in a year+ :/ I thought EVGA would do better heh.

Soldered CPUs are an unfortunate happenstance, but soldered GPUs are on another level. CPUs outlast GPUs lately, when it comes to gaming. My old GX660R with 920xm and 5870m can still sport a 970m and be perfectly fine gaming. So soldered CPUs are a bit less of a hassle than soldered GPUs, even if both are undesirable.

 

3.8GHz running AIDA64 in LinusTechTips' testing (they're most certainly in an AC room, and they're also in Canada if they weren't... it's cold up there either way) hit 90c on the CPU in their review. I'm certain a CLU upgrade might change things for the better, but Skylake is much cooler than Haswell/Broadwell and 3.8GHz isn't anything special, and for the money they're calling for that thing (as opposed to a P670RG let's say) they must be crazy.

And their "automatic GPU overclock" is only 76MHz on core, mind. SEVENTY-SIX MEGAHERTZ. ON MAXWELL. I could probably undervolt my 780M and add 76MHz and have it be stable.

 

Man, that sucks. I mean I rutinely overclock 100/100 my 980ms because it makes them run at full speed all the time for some reason, and it raises my temps what, 2 degrees? Geez.

I am already near the process to begin modding my CPU, but my temps are not nearly as bad in that regard. Reminds me of my work lenovo with it's 4800mq processor, that only runs at 3-3.1ghz because this piece of hardware can't run higher due to terrible temps.

 

That's weird. You have a modded vBIOS?

Good luck. As for that work lenovo throttling... ugh. I won't take a laptop that throttles at stock. Throttling beyond stock due to heat is something I can't say too much about considering where I live, but even so... it should work at stock.

 

Yeah. I didn't want it but I can't say no hahaha. I actually explained to my boss how he wasted money going with 4800mq due to both power throttling and thermal. This machine can't turbo, because it is hardcapped to 47wtdp.

And yeah I have modded vbios.

 

Price out a $2.5K laptop, versus spending $2.5k on a desktop setup.

 

Won't both come out to, uh, roughly 2.5k?

 

Performance wise, the desktop tramples the laptop.

 

Depends. If you have to fit that desktop into the same space as a laptop and have it be semi portable (to keep the systems comparable) I bet the laptop will outperform it. You'd have to have a tiny screen and very little cooling inside a tiny case, plus carry a UPS if you want some sort of backup power. All of the custom work and components would cost way more than an expensive off the shelf laptop.

While they both can do the same things, they really are like apples and oranges. They do things so differently that the first question anyone needs to ask is, do you want the portability or not, and do you have the space for a desktop setup.

 

Most people have the space... Its the portability that they want. You can do a liquid cooled build that's a cube. Basically the size of two and a half stacked Xbox Ones (system lying down). Just about everyone has a TV and if it's just a gaming rig, a TV works just fine for a display. If it weren't for broadband usage caps, it would be totally feasible to have a desktop at home and an ultrabook streaming your games to you when you have to game on the go.

 

The difference is a LOT less when you consider a decent screen and peripherals... however there is indeed a difference. But the peripherals/screen usually is another $300 or more depending... when people would say a $700 desktop would stomp a $1500 laptop and I point them to a $1300 laptop that's the same as (or better than) the $1500 they priced out, and make them get screen/keyboard/mouse/speakers/mic/wifi card/etc and add a basic $50-$100 for the battery system and they usually find the disparity is only about $200-$300.

But still, we deserve more for our money in the laptop spectrum. Top end vs top end is different than midranged vs midranged.

 

I game all the time, hours upon too many hours on my "BGA trash thin and light it'll die after 8 months because it's too hot" Blade. 2 years and still going strong.

Sent from a 128th Legion Stormtrooper 6P

 

Streaming over interwebz? /shudder/ Even with unlimited bandwidth the latency would be awful. LAN streaming is borderline passable.

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Wow, this thread has seriously derailed.
It's too tempting not to participate though

Correct me if I'm wrong, but what you are saying is that for 200-300 bucks more you can buy a laptop which has worse performance than a desktop.
Sounds reasonable!
$200-300 is still a hefty sum when on budget, considering that a lot of people already stretch their budgets as much as they can, and even then still usually go overboard.
It's also worth mentioning that people who buy $700 desktops don't usually buy very expensive peripherals. And what about laptops? Sure, they have touchpads and speakers, but don't you need a decent pair of headphones/speakers/mouse/mousepad/etc. too?

But obviously what in this case is matters is what one wants from his/her rig. Mobility at the cost of performance and upgradability - BGA laptop. Performance at a cheaper price and good upgradability, but (almost) no mobility - desktop. Something in between, but at a higher cost - MXM laptop.
Choices are out there, and that's good.

 

Yeah. A little worse on a CPU, mostly equal GPU performance, and terrible RAM. But it's a lot different indeed than the $600-$700+ or even the not-uncommon "Half price" price disparity that's so popular when people are bashing laptop prices.

Laptops cost too much. Their parts are inferior to desktop parts, more locked down, generally worse-cooled and cost more. It's a fact. One I wish would just CHANGE already. But nope. I just wanted to make it clear that a full desktop + a full laptop aren't $700-$1000 apart in price for half the performance like people do say.

 

I'm afraid I won't agree with you on that. At least in my case it was i5/970 for 1300EUR (screen and keyboard included) vs i7/970m laptop for 1600EUR. Pretty sure the GPU performance isn't mostly equal.

 

So you're saying you have to pay double the price for half the performance? And did you count a wifi card, speakers, webcam, microphone, etc that the laptop includes?

 

No, I was saying that 970 and 970m performance isn't equal. So by spending 300EUR more over desktop in my case I wouldn't get "a little worse on a CPU, mostly equal GPU performance, and terrible RAM."

For my build - wifi card yes, speakers/headphones/mouse/SSD no (because I would use them on a laptop as well), webcam and microphone also no.

 

I was comparing the 970M to the GTX 960. I did mention that as you go more top-end it gets less beneficial. I didn't specifically say that, but you should know a 980M is the comparison to a 970 really. I also did mention that as you go higher end in laptop spectrum it gets worse value/dollar with maxwell (Kepler wasn't so bad, even though the cards cost more, if I remember correctly; I was able to copy everything I got in my P370SM3 entirely for $300 USD less than I paid for the laptop, using GTX 770s instead of 780Ms).

You gotta consider everything the laptop has that's extra from a barebones desktop build or you're not comparing it right. I know you can't buy the laptop WITHOUT those things, however they are being paid for when you do buy... whether you use them or not. The more correct statement if choosing to ignore all that is simply that you have more choice of components in a desktop, I suppose.

 

Can we please get this thread back on topic? Right after my contribution

I won't speak for others, but for me the BGA "hate" isn't that I don't appreciate a thin and light design, it's just that the more trendy it becomes, the more they make those and the less they make my beloved non-BGA laptops. This goes round and round and even though I can understand the thin and light craze, that doesn't mean I want it to replace my choice of having a non-BGA laptop.

Basically we are down to one full non-BGA "choice" now do to Intel not making mobile socketed chops anymore, and desktop CPUs are next. This could be the last gen of fully up-gradable/replaceable/serviceable laptops and that is a sad though no matter who you are. Less choice is bad in this case IMO.

 

Well you should have mentioned what you are comparing with what.
If we continue price comparison on my example, a laptop with 980m would be even more expensive (at the time of the purchase of my PC 980m rigs were well in 2k EUR zone) and a rig with 960 would be around 150EUR cheaper. And even if you add 100EUR for missing peripherals (mouse, headphones/speakers/webcam, wi-fi/monitor/keyboard I already included), desktop financially and performance wise would make more sense, unless you need portability, though some gaming laptops aren't exactly that portable as well.

I will agree that "as you go higher end in laptop spectrum it gets worse value/dollar" though.

@Porter, sorry posted after I saw your message.