m50sv with this 9700m gt

Hey guys, I found this 9700m gt 512mb ddr3 card on ebay for $240 +SH

Link: http://cgi.ebay.com/Asus-M50-M50V-9700M-GT-G96-750-A1-512MB-MXM-II-VGA-card_W0QQitemZ120478191188QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Video_TV_Cards?hash=item1c0d0f4e54

I think it might work in my m50sv if it fits, it seems to be a mirrored/flipped mxm-II card from the pictures and has an asus bios. It says it works with m50 models in the description.

I was wondering what any of you think as far as being worth an upgrade from a 9500m gs 512mb DDR2? I mean IF I could get this to work, would it even be worth the upgrade money wise if I could get cash from my used 9500m gs?

 

$250 is alot of money since you can't really confirm whether or not it'll fit and work in your lappy. If it was $100, I'd be more welcome to the idea.

 

IMO not worth it....it's performance would be around 6600-6700 in 3dmark06 I guess, not bad for mobile GPU, but for 240 $ ...nah skip it ..... just sell your entire laptop and buy a new one....

 

If you want a stronger graphics card, it would be a better idea to sell the Asus M50 (great laptop btw) and get a refrubished G50 or something lighter (and less flashy) with the 4650.

 

exacly best solution

 

Thanks for the insight +rep, I am really on the fence about whether i want to go through the trouble of selling my m50 mid-semester for the gaming upgrade:

This m50 has been a solid laptop (not to mention my first laptop) with a t9300, 9500m gs, 320 gb 7200rpm seagate and 3 gb ram on XP pro and occasionally Ubuntu, specs that are on par for last years and previous years games. I like having good gaming performance, but this gpu is starting to get behind the times for newer games and sadly I start buying more games for my xbox (like borderlands).

I don't know what I could get for my year and 4 month old laptop (I asked for a price check on nbr marketplace a few days ago and couldn't get a response or an idea after scanning ebay). Ultimately If I find myself 100% able to sell for a decent price, I'd be willing to do that in exchange for a better gaming laptop, any brand really, as long as quality is on par. Heck, id even be willing to add $200+ to the m50 money as long as the upgrade would be significant.Also I really don't mind buying refurbished.

I have always wanted to build a desktop, and I know its much more price worthy for gaming, but after experiencing the portability and convenience of a laptop, I'd like to just keep upgrading my laptop to keep up with the times if I can keep cost down to a couple hundred bucks every two years or so.

Advice is much appreciated, My decisions on these matters are about as consistent as Brett Favre's to retire.

 

^LOL No kidding!^

Anyhow, yeah I understand your laptop mentality. It's just so nice having a portable system to play games, listen to music, browse the internet, watch movies, as well as all those practical things. It's a nice package to have if you can afford it. Been a laptop lover and gamer since my first laptop back in 2005. I'm on my fourth laptop since then (actually 6th if you count two returns). My only real problem through these transitions has been going from 16:10 to 16:9 screens. I much prefer 16:10, and I do miss the 4:3 screen of my first laptop too, though I don't miss it's Intel Extreme Graphics 2 graphics system

The promises of MXM have been a benefit for the manufacturers, not the consumer, but we were not the target so much in the first place. MXM has alleviated some of the cost of dedicated graphics in laptops while making it easy for builders like HP to have more options for the consumer. So in a way we have won. Considering in January 2006 I paid $1600 for a Gateway M7515 (mobile Athlon 64 4000+, 1 GB DDR-333, Mobility Radeon X600 128 MB, 100 GB HDD), I think we have made great strides in mobile graphics in terms of cost. It's pretty awesome that for less than half the cost of that Gateway I can get an HP with a Turion II 520 2.2 GHz, 4 GB DDR-800, M. Radeon 4650 1 GB DDR2, with a 320 GB HDD off of Newegg. That's pretty crazy.

 

I wouldn't risk it. According to this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=344173 , the 9700M GT has a TDP of 45W which means it is not compatible with MXM II. Also, keep in mind that the 9700M GT has the exact same architecture as the 9500M GS (32 shaders), the only difference is a substantial overclock (Wikipedia says clocks are 625/1550/1600 compared to your 475/950/800). Even if you could do it (and I don't think you can), the effect would be noticeable, but not worth $240.

 

Thanks well that seals the deal with the 9700m gt, so I have no incentive to upgrade this laptop any more I guess I should decide if I want to sell, and if it is worth it and could get good return for my laptop.


Mobius, good to hear someone thinks like I do, I like that laptop in your sig, how do you like it ? I have enjoyed my m50sv its just gettin behind the times gpu wise, however I don't think my t9300 is outdated seeing as mid level gaming notebooks are still coming with slower processors. Its too bad asus makes it impossible to upgrade gpus but that is something I should have considered when I bought the laptop that I did.

 

I used to have a 9500M GS in my first laptop but got fed up of having to reduce graphic and resolution settings in games so I sold it and got an NP8662 instead. The difference is literally night and day, not only in performance but everything else.

I wouldn't bother buying that upgrade you mentioned from Ebay, it is simply not worth it for the small improvement you may or may not get.

It might be a hassle selling your old laptop and you probably won't get much for it at all since new mid range laptops are so competitive, but once you do sell it and get a laptop that is 60% more powerful you won't even look back.

You might want to consider the Vidock2 or the DIY alternative as well.