Too good to be true?

I own a clevo d901c and am gunning for a 280m.

However...

1. Is this too good to be true:

NVidia Quadro FX 3700M MXM 2.1 III Work as a GTX 280M - eBay (item 150555563582 end time Feb-27-11 21:09:11 PST)

2. Should I just purchase 3700m? I could get it for about 200 bucks cheaper.

3. Do I need to do anything very complicated to allow the 3700m to be read as a 280m?

4. The 3700m and the 280m are physically identical in every way I've read. Is this correct?

If it's not too complicated to accomplish, I may just go with the 3700m. It's difficult to distinguish myth and fact between the two cards when discourse surrounding both sides are prominent on this forum, lol (debates regarding the card comparisons, I mean). I sifted through a lot of threads and from what I've read, I think I may just go ahead and purchase the 3700m.

Opinions? Suggestions? Naysayers? Yaysayers?

Thanks!

dp
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From what I know, the Quadro is more aimed at graphical works, while the GTX 280M is more to gaming. My guess would be the 280m.

 

Flash the 3700M with the 280M vBIOs and you're set.

This has been done TONS of times on this forum.

 

I've just seen issues where people weren't able to use the laptop lcd, but could use an external one.

It seems people are having trouble making it work as a 280m. I haven't found any success stories. Can someone point me to a thread where someone has successfully made the 3700m as a 280m gtx AND how they did it?

Thank you!

 

I would just spend the extra $200 and be sure I'm getting the genuine performance of the 280m gtx.

You know the saying "Go expensive and cry for a day, or go cheap and cry everyday"

 

No.

The 3700m is 65nm and the 280m is 55nm, so the 280m is able to run at a higher frequency with a lower voltage (cooler and faster than a 3700m).

If you have great cooling and don't plan to overclock, then sure go for the 3700m.

But if you want to overclock or you want the GPU to not run too hot, better off with the 280m or even the 260m.

Flashing the 280m vbios onto the 3700m doesn't always work. It depends on which version of the 3700m you have. I have the HP version that came with a .05 vbios. When I flashed the 280m vbios onto my card, after I installed the driver, the screen was filled with artifacts.

You might want to read this:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/gam...s/510622-wanted-gtx-280m-mxm-2-1-vbios-6.html

If you get the HP version of the FX 3700m with the .10 vbios version written on it, you may be able to flash the 280m vbios onto it without problems. But you will have to lower the frequency and increase the voltage in the bios to make the card stable. i.e. run it with the 3700m clocks and voltage.

 

Do you even need to flash it as a 280m? Won't the drivers work with it as-is?

 

If the bios doesn't fully support the GPU, this happens:

If you flash the 280m vbios onto the card, it may fix that problem if the 280m is supported fully by your notebook.

So that would be one reason to flash the 280m vbios onto the 3700m.

 

I.... am going to keep that gem, if you do not mind. I'm willing to send royalties for every time I use it, lol.

Thank you all for all of your input. I think I'll just go ahead and purchase the 280m. Seems too risky and I'm not savvy enough to tweak a vbios.