460m heatpipe question

one of my clevo laptop which is w870cu has a 280m gpu card, what i'm wondering is would i need a new heatpipe or can i use the one the 280m already has installed? i'm guessing yes, if so where can i purchase a correct heatpipe and also would there be room to fit it?

 

I assume your 280m is a MXM 3.0 Type B card (should be, but I'm not sure whether there are 2.1 versions of this card)

In this case it should work with your current heatsink as the card has the same layout.

 

yes its mxm 3.0b i wont run into any problems, are the stock 460m heat pipes any different? don't wont to overheat is all

 

Off topic, but yes you will find the 280m in the MXM 2.1 type HE form.
They run with a lower mem clock though (800mhz vs 950mhz).

 

You shouldn't have a problem unless clevo is using very different gtx 280m and 460m cards:

Spoiler

Although there is probably less insulating tape on the back of the heatsink for the 460m so the vRAM on the back of the card can make contact and stay cool.

 

the gtx 280m is going to be pulled from a w870cu, so i wouldn't have issue right, also is there any difference in stock heatpipes for the 280/285m series and 460m series, or are the default heatpipes exactly the same for both?

 

When you order a 460M card for the Sager/Clevo it comes with a new heatpipe/sink fan assembly. I am not sure what the difference is but you must use it for reliable operation. So yes you would need a new setup.

 

UHH

are you kidding?

You must keep the card cool for reliable operation. That is all. The TDP is the same. The components are the same shape on the board.
There is no need for another heatsink.

 

I had a 280m in my laptop a few months back and upgraded to a 460m and NO the heat sinks are NOT the same. As stated above, you will receive a new heatsink from whatever vendor you purchase the 460m from (in my case RJTech). Anyway...hopefully that helps.

 

Of course, when the card comes with a new heatpipe which fits the laptop that's good..

..but still, the old will work as the 280m and the 460m have the holes for mounting the heatpipe at the exactly same position.

 

Except that that isn't always enough, because component height on MXM boards actually isn't standardized, just interface and card dimensions (which govern maximum height but not specific component height). You can take a look at Mechanical Compatibility Question #4 on the MXM Upgrade site here (yes, I know this is for MXM 1.3/2.1, but I doubt it's changed).

And we really should clarify our terminology here. A heatpipe is just the tube of copper (or other metal) that leads from the heatsink to the fan. A heatsink is the big metal piece that actually attaches to your graphics card and absorbs the heat generated from it (which is then transferred via the heatpipe to the fan).

 

Yeah, right, heatsink ≠ heatpipe... I should use the correct word.


But I think there is a height profile in the MXM standard for 3.0 ... the question is whether the manufacturers really keep to this standard.

 

Yea uhh...

People posting in this thread saying they have both the heatsinks, and they are different...
Do you think thats actually helpful at all when you don't say anything at all about what is actually different?

Regardless.
I think the real question here is while we can pretty much never do something like add BIOS support for a card, we get close sometimes, are we not intelligent enough to make extremely slight modifications by bending metal mounting hardware in order to put more pressure on components that are merely a few millimeters different from what the piece of metal was "specified" for?
...and when the alternative is spending 50$ or more?

I don't know about you guys but I'd reaaally like to think so.

 

No I am not kidding. I have not performed the upgrade myself, but did research it and you do get a different heatsink/heatpipe/fan assembly.

Thank you! I try and post reliable information, and you confirm this.

 

would the 460m stock heatpipe fit in a w870cu, i'm guessing yes, since sager has driver support on there website for this series. is there a place one might buy just the heatpipe.

 

I am not asking if you kidding about the heatsink being different.

I am asking if you are kidding about thinking it is more important to figure out how clevo deals with this than how we should deal with it.

There are MANY heatsinks released by clevo that have different model numbers but are completely identical. Therefore you have provided no relevant information whatsoever.

Furthermore, the gtx 460m IS NOT inherently related to Clevo.
I should also ask if you are kidding about obviously propagating the illusion that it is and there is a single heatsink proprietary to and included with every 460m available on the market AND CERTAINLY that this heatsink will work on any laptop that can use a 460m!
This goes for everyone speaking under these assumptions in this thread. None of us have any idea how many people are now incredibly confused with a number of misconceptions because of this thread.
Its one thing to make irrelevant and untrue posts but when one have the articulation to convince others it is especially important that they are clear and concise, have sources and explain themselves.

Now, if I have made myself clear, can anyone answer the original question which is 'will the clevo w870cu gtx 280m heatsink work for the 460m' better than I can?
I didn't say I know for a fact. It appears as tho no one has tried it, so please, let us know...

 

I think you are propagating an illusion of self importance in this post. You are constantly asking everyone who post in these forums to spend half a day articulating an exact answer that meets your expectations. People may not have the time or inclination to provide such detail.
Furthermore I never said anything about GTX460M being inherently a clevo product, what I said is get a clevo card, and it comes with the correct heatsink assembly
There is no confusion here, Instead of requiring someone to explain in detail the differences between a 280 and 460 heatsink assembly for an 8760, just except that people are saying it’s different, without having to write a complete dissertation explaining why. If you’re so interested in this, buy one of each and feel free to do a detailed review.
The implication is if the op buys a clevo card, it will come with the correct heatsink. I know people are constantly trying to save money buying and making something work, but in this case life would be easier by taking the friendly advice and getting the heatsink assembly from clevo.

Did you not read bstapley's post?

 

I agree with that, +rep.

I hate it when people give pessimistic answers and don't explain the reasoning behind it well (bstapley's post is a perfect example).

 

I do not think my expectations are high.
I'm not even asking for the differences to be explained.

I'm also not the one asking the question.
Yes I read bstapleys post.

The question is whether the 280m heatsink will work on the 460m and it still hasn't been answered.
Read the damn thread, guys. I'm not the one overcomplicating things here.

Thanks moral, the above is not directed at you.

 

It would appear that given the layout of the 280 and 460, they should use the same heatsink placement. That being said, I would be surprised if they weren't the same. I can't see a reason why they would be - both are made by nVidia and both share the MXM 3.0b spec.

If you're purchasing from a reseller, I wonder if they'd have more info? I'm really not sure.

 

Are they, though? (Made by nVidia.) I mean, sure, nVidia makes the actual graphics chip, but they usually ship that out and let third parties put the chip and other components like memory onto the PCBs. That's why you have graphics cards by companies such as EVGA, PNY, MSI, and ASUS. Now, we know that Asus makes their own graphics cards from the nVidia components, so I guess the question is how much variation there could be in an individual component that might be used. My previous link ( here again if you don't want to go find it) showed that one card might have a DC/DC coil that's higher than another one, which would require shaving or bending the heatsink. Depending on exactly what the heatsink is made of, this may not be an easy thing to do (or might be beyond what the OP wants to do; not everyone is comfortable with metalwork or soldering). This is especially true given possible warranty concerns; Clevo will usually let you change a graphics card without voiding warranty, but if you're going to start playing around with the heatsinks, your warranty will be gone.

 

No need to ask it as a question. I mean you obviously answered it to, but no, nvidia does not have a lot to do with MXM.

the 460m is not an mxm card in itself and neither is any card, so don't go out and buy a toshiba with a 460m and expect to swap out the card on another laptop just because it is made by nvidia.

Off the subject, but I have always wondered about the nvidia GPU problem in relation to this - if they shipped BGAs with the defective solder balls already on, or if Asus might use their own solder on a few cards, avoiding the problem.
That would have made them pretty awesome if it was a fact while that was going on.

 

The problem wasn't just the solder, it was also the underfill:
Why nvidia's duff chips are due to shoddy engineering- The Inquirer

The whole chip was pure crap, changing the solder alone could not fix it.

 

I don't think bstapleys answer is "pessimistic".

Unlike some of the people here that require an engineering analysis of why it was different, he probably got his new video card kit, looked at the heatsinks, saw they were different, installed it and went about the business of testing it. Maybe he didn't feel the need to take measurements with calipers and document the difference or to try the old heatsink on his new card. Why is that so difficult to accept.

If I go ahead and decide to do the upgrade, I will bring my calipers home and take measurements and describe what differences there are. But don't hold your breath though, as I don't think at this point the upgrade is worth the money or time. The difference between an GTX285M and the GTX460M is maybe in the 5-10% range of improvement, if it was 20-30% I would be upgradeing.

 

Its pessimistic.

If there was a thread on replacing a 9800m GT with an 8800m GTS and someone was wondering about basic BIOS support and all you said was "Those cards are different", without at all addressing the fact that they are both based on the g92 core? Thats pessimism. This is the same thing because the cards obviously have a nearly identical board layout.

If one is going to present their speculations and theories over how something will work, why would it possibly be more productive to theorize about it not working?

And once again. I don't want anything from this thread except to help the OP, who still has not gotten a definitive answer - because none of us knows.
He wants to know if the 285m heatsink will work on the 460m, and frankly at this point he'd probably be better off if most of us hadn't replied at all.