MXM 3.0b improvements yet? Univeral cards yet?

Alright so are there any improvements with MXM 3.0b allowing users to upgrade there video cards with more ease? I am having difficulty trying to determine if there are laptops with this slot that can be easily upgraded.

 

The only laptops I know of offhand that have MXM 3.0b are the Clevo W870CU, W860CU, D900F, M980NU, and the Alienware M17x and M15x. Otherwise, I'm not sure what you mean by improvements. You might want to look at http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/ if you want to read up on the various MXM types.

 

http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/m9700.html

I will use this for an example:

This older laptop uses MXM 3.0 but cant support anything past 7900 GS (according to that lovely website). Though I thought MXM 3.0 was suppose to be more interchangeable with other MXM 3.0 cards.

Situation given: Shouldn't I be able to upgrade it to a 8 or 9 series Nvidia card that is MXM 3.0 with this laptop as it has the MXM 3.0 slot?

(And I finding little no information on MXM 4.0 used in the newer laptops.)

So my main question is if I bought a laptop with a MXM 3.0 or MXM 4.0 video card can I upgrade a year and a half from now with a new card that complies with the port/type?(as long as it doesn't use a proprietary setup like ASUS or Dell) Is there any chance of expandability? Thats what I mean by improvements. And is there any advantages using MXM 3.0 or is better to use MXM 4.0 ?

It just seems the whole concept of MXM was developed to make expandability possible and easier, however it seems that most companies implement proprietary designs so cards cannot be interchangeable from what I have read here. So if you buy "suck" your stuck with "suck".

It seems I cant place a card from an HP into an Asus or vice versa because of these proprietary designs even if both cards are in the same class. Is there any MXM cards/types that are more interchangeable with any of the major brands?

Sorry for the rant and the bombardment of questions. The specifics of laptop hardware isn't up my alley. I am just trying to understand it in better detail.

 

That notebook doesn't use MXM 3.0. It uses MXM 2.1 (I think) Type III. The Type III denotes what type of connector it uses. 3.0 (Types A and B) are a newer format. There is not yet a MXM 4.0. You're probably thinking of MXM 2.1 Type IV. Go to the Technical Tab on that site and read up on the 1.3/2.1, and then the 3.0, and that should help explain the differences.

As for the second question, ignoring the MXM 4.0 part, yes. The new mobile graphics cards coming out in the next few months are supposed to be MXM 3.0b compatible, and should work just fine as long as they're supported in your system's BIOS. There obviously can't really be a guarantee that in a year and a half they won't move to MXM 3.5 or whatever, though.

 

http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/Table.html

Alright I Was just confused because on this page it shows type 4 I am guessing it is MXM 3.0 type 4? (Brand Black Mamba)

(*** Sorry I just misread the page!!! I understand now!!!! I am a little to tired to be researching this stuff..)

 

Read the lovely red title at the top of that page. That table lists notebooks that use MXM versions from before 3.0, such as 2.1, 2.0, 1.3, and 1.1. Thus the Type IV on that page is a MXM 2.1 Type IV (Type IVs only came out for revision 2.1).

 

http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/Table_3.html

There list isn't much.. Do you know where I can find a list of laptops that are MXM 3.0 compatible and is there difference between MXM 3.0 cards?

 

(*** Sorry I just misread the page!!! I understand now!!!! I am a little to tired to be researching this stuff..)

yea I just read that, I apologized on an earlier post.

 

A list? I'm afraid I don't know of one. The notebooks I listed before are the only ones I personally know of. There may be more, but, oftentimes, the only times a company will bother putting a MXM slot in a notebook is when it's a high end, boutique model (like Alienware, Sager/Clevo). Right now, the only difference between the two 3.0 formats (A and B) is length: type B cards are longer than type A.

Also, to answer your now edited previous post, MXM is MXM. As long as a manufacturer puts in an MXM slot, any MXM card that fits that slot can be fitted. Note that MXM 2.1 Type IV is downward compatible; any later socket can fit any earlier card. However, MXM 3.0 breaks that continuity; MXM 3.0 cards are compatible with MXM 3.0 cards only, and you cannot fit previous MXM cards in a 3.0 slot, and, quite obviously, vice versa.

The issue, at that point, becomes the manufacturer BIOS. If a card isn't supported in the BIOS, even if it fits, it may not work, much as even though many Intel CPUs can fit in the same socket, some simply won't work due to inadequate (or locked out) support.

 

Thanks for clarifying that for me added + rep

 

So is there anyway to flash a BIOS to support newer cards?

http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/Table_3.html

pretty small list lol

 

If the manufacturer provides one, yes. Otherwise, there are BIOS editing programs, but I have no experience with them, and, naturally, modifying a BIOS in any fashion (even flashing a manufacturer's BIOS has been known to go wrong and brick a notebook by accident) can lead to trouble if not done properly.

 

including older cards?

 

If you mean a BIOS to accept older cards, then yes, I would think that that would also be possible. The thing to remember is that any BIOS not provided by a manufacturer (and even some that are; not all released BIOS updates are stable or done right!) may run into problems due to possible compatibility issues (software conflicts, overheating, power issues, etc. The possibilities, since the BIOS initializes just about all the major components of a computer, can be practically endless).

 

Also keep in mind that despite its original intentions, MXM is not currently meant for end-user upgrades; it's strictly for ease of configuration on the OEM side.

 

I am guessing vendors will never make cards universal and compatible.

 

yes beacuase they will loose a lot of cash.. they earn more by selling more new laptops then new GPU's...