GT780DX Upgraded to GTX 980M & i7-2960XM

Progress continues....getting a .65 fan per AdamManMsi's recommendation, 230V charger and awaiting the arrival of the other materials...

 

If there's anyone out there that has more information on this subject then has already been presented, please let us know. I'm sure we would all like to learn something new. As far as I know this guy is on the right track, looking forward to seeing how it all goes together. Good luck

 

Just got the .65 fan (and a second heatsink) thanks to AdamManMsi's help. The first heatsink that I got is supposedly from an unused system, which if true would be ideal for this project. The Ebay seller has 100% feedback so I trust that never used means just that.

When I got the machine it had a battery with extremely bad battery life so I also ordered an OEM one, part # BTY-M6D to replace it. Hopefully it will keep a charge better, though I will be using this system plugged in 95% of the time.

I will provide regular updates..

Thanks for everyone's input and help!

 

That second heatsink would work for a GTX 770m. It's the next smallest card that you can put in your machine. The 780 and any of the 800 series will not work.

 

Yeah, I hadn't really looked closely at it. Everything is on the way...

 

Working now on finding the suitable 230W charger...

Update: OEM Delta 230W charger ordered

 

Trying to decide if I should do a non-final run tonight. Here's the plan:

Have the GTX 980m and correct heatsink in hand and have some Cooler Master "Mastergel" thermal paste (comes included with water-cooled desktop heatsinks). I also have some 3M thermal pads, but they are only .15mm thick..

If all I want to do is see if the machine POSTs is there any harm in using these cheaper materials plus my 180W charger to start testing? I don't yet have the .65A fan...

If everything works I would just leave it as is until the 230W charger arrives... @AdamManMsi - if I don't do any overclocking or heavy 3D gaming is it safe to run the card on the 180W for now?... the most strenuous game I would be running is a game called Stasis

I would also put a 2760QM in there to keep TDP lower until the 230W arrives in the next few days..

Trying to find out if: BIOS will need update, vBIOS version, if system posts with 980m

Thanks guys!

 

I believe you would be all right. Just remember that you need thermal pads .5mm on the cpu heatsink. And .5mm on the high spots and 1mm on the low spots of the gpu. Just stack them up if you need to. It's not ideal but it will work. Just for a bit though. The small .36 amp fan that you probably have will be fine as long as you don't push it too hard.

The biggest thing is whether you're going to see an MSI logo or not. You'll know instantly whether it's going to work or not. You have no Intel Graphics so either it will recognize the video card or it won't. As I said I have put that GPU in the 16-inch version of that very machine, they have the same motherboard. Using the smaller 45 watt chip is smart. It will keep you under you're 180 Watts.

 

I would also only use one ram chip, 4GB or bigger. They don't like to post on anything smaller than that. Use it in the zero slot

 

Thermal pads on the CPU heatsink? Wasn't aware of that. Are you saying just to do a quick test - I was going to fully paste it and then put better stuff when the 230W charger arrives. I have Fujipoly pads coming but they are .5mm and 1.5mm

Also is Afterburner good enough to monitor temps or would you guys recommend something different?

If all I have are .15mm thickness thermal pads is it best to wait?

 

Afterburner is fine. It's what I use. The 1.5mm pads will probably be too thick. MSI recommends half millimeter on the hi parts of the GPU and 1 mm thick on the memory chips. The two long black row and also on the little chips around the edge. Yes on the cpu heatsink. The two rows of memory chips that line up with the raised portions of the heat sink behind the CPU pad need .5mm.

 

Do not start it without proper thermal paste and pads applied. The chips will fry. They come up to temperature in 2 seconds

 

Not necessary right now but when you do the final installation the large copper pad on the arm gets .5mm thick as well

 

I got the Fujipoly pre-cut mosfet strips .17W/mK that are 1.5mm...but I also got the .5mm, rather than stack them I'll probably return the 1.5mm and get 1mm

 

I like Fujipoly but it seems like the high end pads dry out and get crumbly. I've tended to stick more with the silicone base pads because they hold together better. The really most important part is to have about a pea-sized dollop of thermal paste. On a CPU they recommend a thin layer on a desktop. But that's when the heat sink has the clamps that hold it down. I have had major overheating issues when the thermal paste is not thick enough. Of course you don't want it to go everywhere.

 

They are a bit hard, like shore 50 to 60, they comply very little..

 

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=258517.0

Maybe this will help buddy, it shows the CPU and GPU heat sink with the pads on it. I think that those pads are hard, I've gone back to using thermal Grizzly paste and pads for pretty much everything nice..on generic and customer machines I use Arctic Silver 5 and chinese sheet silicon pads. They work fine.

 

As you can see there paste was not thick enough on there because when they pulled it apart it had bald spots. It should not do that. Even if you have to take your little spatula and spread it around and make sure that it makes contact. Washing both services with a Q-tip with 90% rubbing alcohol will help the thermal paste adhere better. It needs to be completely clean so that it bonds molecules to molecules on the surface, any layer of debris or leftover residue will keep the paste from adhering to the actual metal of the processor die properly.

 

Just giving you a heads up because this time it does not matter as much because you're only putting a midline processor in there, but when you put that extreme processor in there you need to make sure that everything is proper because it will overheat if you do not take the necessary precautions, that thing is a monster. And the only way that you'll hit 4ghz is with proper Cooling.

 

And don't cram the screws down on the CPU. Just do them up until they're snug and that's enough. You don't want to heat sink to move around but you also don't have to crank them down on there to the point that you twist the studs off. Because if you do that you're kind of out of luck. You have to try and reattach it to the motherboard.

 

Ok, thank you for all the details - they will be very helpful. I have a lot of experience taking apart laptops and repasting them, but looking to maximize cooling and do everything properly.

...So I have my FrozenCPU order in hand - that means I have Fujipoly 1.5 and .5mm pads (17W/mK) - which I've heard are the very best - Coolaboratory Ultra, which I have never used and is conductive

Prolimatech PK3 and ICDiamond on hand also..

Do I test the card with this stuff or just return everything and get Thermal Grizzly paste + pads? I am willing to wait to do this right..

Edit: as far as I've read Coolaboratory, if done right, gives outstanding results

 

These are helpful diagrams from other forum members:





Is 1mm on the VRAM absolutely necessary?

 

Those don't appear to be MSI cards and if they're in another laptop like an Alienware or something then that is for their system not for the MSI. I can only go on my experience and the MSI forum that I sent you the link to.

It's good to know that you have some experience with this I wasn't sure, I was just trying to be helpful. There are other people that read this and they may not know it so now they will know as well.

I would just use the stuff you have, ICDiamond is good but it's really slimy. As long as you don't use any liquid metal like the super kryonaut stuff. It needs to be a paste of some kind not liquid metal because that will run all over the inside of your laptop. For the GPU you're fine with the conductive paste but you should be careful using it on the CPU. Do not get any of it on the motherboard. Arctic Silver 5 is non-conductive but it is compacitive which can also be a problem.

 

They are Clevo cards, I believe, which other forum members have flashed with an MSI vBIOS so I assume chip heights are the same, but not sure.

I do have several questions:

If I do this tonight as a dry-run, will I then need to worry about re-applying all of the thermal pads when I open the system back up? Would prefer not to have to buy more Fujipoly pads.

I was planning to use Coolaboratory Ultra on at least the CPU, and looking at some techniques online that are used to put a protective barrier around the GPU die, possibly on the GTX980M as well..I know it's risky, but there are ways to reduce the risk...

The biggest issue though is longevity of the TIM that I use. Once everything is sealed I would like to have a system that won't need maintenance too soon (at least in terms of thermal pads/paste)

I also don't want a TIM that will dry out too fast or harden and cause damage to remove

 

If I do it tonight it would be Prolimatech PK3 on the CPU (2760QM) and GPU + Fujipoly pads (assuming I don't need to reapply them when I go to upgrade the processor for the final build out)

 

Yes the pads are reusable. It depends more on the heatsink design then it does the chip Heights on the GPU card. All of the GPU cards are the same hieght. but that unit must have been a 72 or something newer because it has the X bracket. That means the heatsink attaches to the card. Your card should have holes in it because the mounting points for the heat sink or actually on the motherboard. The card goes over it. That means that the heat sink needs to sit closer to the card

 

Thanks. Well I could double up on the .5mm pads to get to 1mm...but now I'm reading that 17W/mK does not have the ability to compress as well as the 11W/mK. ...but if I use the stacking method it shouldn't matter. May not have enough though if I am unable to use the 1.5mm on the VRAM chips

As long as I'm not at risk of damaging anything (cracking the VRAM or something) by using the 1.5mm I could mount the card tonight to test it. But if it is smarter to wait until I have 1mm then I'll do that. @AdamManMsi - do you advise that I stick with 17W/mK pads, they may be more rigid, but heat transfer is superior. If they dry out that would be another consideration. I'm only testing the card at this point, but again don't want to damage anything and DON'T want to crack any VRAM chips

 

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?topic=181716.0

This should answer your question buddy

 

My exact card, as you can see it still has the X bracket attached:

 

I would wait until you get the one millimeter pads. I sent a link to the official MSI recommendations for your machine. It says it's for a gt70 but it's the same thing.

As far as the thermal pads go that's what I was saying about them drying out, there really a one-time shot. I usually stay with the 11 or so because it is good enough and they are reusable. They only put 5s in it from the factory so anything better than that is fine.

 

Wow, that's the wrong video card. If you can remove the X bracket without damaging the card, then you can use it, but right now that card is unusable in your machine. As far as I know the studs for the GPU heatsink are fastened to the motherboard, the X bracket will be in the way and will not allow the card to seat properly in the slot, it won't make connection. And the heat sink won't mount properly either.

 

I read up on it beforehand and the X bracket is able to be removed. Other than that, please tell me the card will work

 

I have never been able to remove an X bracket without damaging the card. I've tried 3 or 4 times and the adhesive used to apply it is too hard to remove. Also if you remove it and it doesn't work or you damage the card then there's no way that you can return it. Also I see the 1996 stamped on there which is indicative of MSI cards but I do not see the MSI serial number on there, maybe I just didn't notice it

 

It does say Micro-Star though, where would the serial # be?

Also, this guy has a method:

 

https://m.aliexpress.com/item/32843...70-GT60-GE72-Series-GTX-980M-GTX980M-MS-1W0J1

This is the card u need.

 

I wouldn't buy it from them, that's the Chinese eBay. Kind of shady, but it's a link to the correct card. It should have holes in it and it should have a MSI serial number on it.

 

Yeah I'm sorry bud but from my experience the card you have won't work, you may have more success than I have in the past but I own four of them now and I have built over 30 of them in the last 6 years. Maybe someone else can offer their advice in this situation better than I can.

 

If you remove the X bracket it's the same card I think

 

The one in the link is MS-1W0-J1 and mine is MS-1W0-H1

 

https://www.ebay.com/itm/GTX-980M/113066893131?hash=item1a534fdf4b:g:P2gAAOSwRRZbJAZN#viTabs_0

Same as the example that you sent me (MS-1W0-J1) but has X bracket. I will remove the bracket tomorrow

Update: bracket is off. Nothing complicated, I just took a small screwdriver and slowly put pressure at each hole individually, watching the adhesive peel back on the other side so that nothing got damaged

 

...it's 4 AM but...







..Have yet to go over 76 degrees when playing heavy games... @AdamManMsi - first of all thank you, secondly I will need your advice when I do a clean install of Win 10 later today - which drivers are essential / still relevant?

I really hope that when the 230W charger arrives that I can upgrade the CPU by just slightly lifting the arm (not bending it) instead of having to remove the entire GPU heatsink because this pad/paste job seems to be working!!

 

Great and no bios flash necessary, I see that it just recognized it and came right on. That's what I was talking about about no Intel Graphics. Lucky man. I'm very glad for you. As far as drivers go you'll just need to go to MSI and download all of the drivers for your machine. Most of them will work but if they don't you'll just need to find a Windows 10 equivalent of the same driver.

 

I learned something new today as well, I didn't think that that video card would work because it did not have the same MSI serial number stamped on it. But it does

 

I have always had to remove the GPU heatsink because I do not want to put a kink in that arm, if you put a crease or a king it will no longer function as efficiently. It will still work but just not as well

 

If you don't bend the arm out of the way or remove it, it will be very difficult to get the CPU heatsink off because it has to come forward towards the ram in order to slide out of its slot

 

I've been working under the assumption that because MSI stopped hosting drivers at Win 8, just running all Windows 10 updates will provide all of the best, updated drivers. In device manager everything is found and installed (webcam is not but I didn't install that from MSI's driver page yet).

My biggest concern is getting the proper chipset drivers for the CPU and whether or not to install any other Intel or other utilities. I guess I shouldn't mess with the EC firmware which only added support for later models...correct?

Also, if I need to remove the whole GPU heatsink to do it correctly without bending the arm I'll do it...but I don't need to replace the pads do I? Just a re-paste?

 

This is a good test. My buddy who's a programmer is debating on changing his over to Windows 10. I told him that because of the issues that I have had in the past with my gt70 and Windows 10, that he should do a dual boot of Windows 7 and Windows 10. I would suggest you the same thing. Chop off 100 Gig of your solid state drive and make it Windows 10. Always remember to install Windows 7 first and then Windows 10, if it's already installed of course don't worry about reinstalling it unless you really want to. Then install Windows 10 which will take care of your dual-booting for you, if you install 7 after 10, 7 will erase the boot sequence for Windows 10 and you will lose that install unless you use BCD or something of that nature to rebuild and recreate a boot menu.

 

No you do not need to replace the pads, you can take the thermal paste and scoop it back up and then clean around the edges of the dye and reuse it as well as long as it's not more than a couple weeks old, I know it's only been a couple of days

 

I have all of your Windows 10 drivers in a separate file here on my computer. So if there's anything that you need I can tell you which one is appropriate.

 

Awesome news - I'm on lunch break, this thing is idling at 37 degrees