The Official MSI GT60/70 970m/980m Upgrade Thread

Eh guys question.. Is it possible to upgrade the LED screen for my GT60-16f3? Although I don't know what model or brand to replace my existing one.. or is there a guide in regards with the model? I've been thinking of an updated version say 3k? Can someone here advice me? Thanks a lot

 

Recently on my GT60 2OD with 780m I've got ~90°C temps (no OC, with about 80% fan speed) in games like Evil Within and GTA V (which pushes the GPU at 99% usage almost at all times). I've always repasted with Coolermaster Thermalfusion 400 and use 6w/mK 0.5mm thermal pads and I'm planning to upgrade to 970m or 980m soon. Should I expect better temps with these cards or will it be the same temps? Also I have to say that ambient temp has raised aprox. From 16° to 25° because of spring weather...

 

That's pretty high. What application/game did you run to drive it to 90C?

 

You're absolutely right, I think it is completely related to ambient temp that has raised. Before ambient temp raise, I could even overclock my GTX 870M and it was never exceed 87 celsius, barely reaches 87 celsius even even with OC. Now it reaches 90 celsius so I have to revert it back to its stock clocks because I live in a roof room (curse it every minute) and it reflects the heat from outside so very quickly, ambient temp is 28 celsius here even at night. Hell, the ambient temp raise was happened so quick that I was thought thermal paste on CPU and GPU has dried. It wasn't dried, yet anyway I repasted it with brand new Noctua 2-3 times but the temps stay almost very same level. I even accidently damaged two thermal pads little bit. In the end, I regret that I did whole repasting and cleaning process because it didn't help and it costed me money and time.

 

I got those temps with The Evil Within and GTA V, using Vsync to "prevent" higher temps and room is between 25-30°C. Other games like PES 2015, FIFA 15, The Witcher 2 or Alien Isolation barely push the GPU to the 75°-ish.

Hahaha I almost regreted it as well! But my thermal pads were already in bad shape, I've had my lappy almost for 2 years now and I use it everyday at work during day and playing at night. Since last year I do a repaste every 3 months or so (even if it's not necessary). I am getting now those 90°C for GPU and almost the same for CPU (if I turn off Intel Speedstep in BIOS I got a 70°-ish temps for CPU, but GPU remains the same).

I'm still deciding if I should upgrade to a 970m (and get lower temps) or 980m (to get maximum performance, if my 180w brick allows me to) and when I do, I promise I´ll post back the results.

Happy mother´s day!

 

You are limited to dual channel LVDS displays (1080p).

 

Hey buddy. The only option for us GT60 users is FHD. Forget the 3k/4k options as they use a different type of connector. The best you can go is the AUO B156HW01 V.4 95% NTSC Colour Gamut

 

Currently looking at upgrading my GT780r laptop from the GTX560 to the GTX970 graphics card. I'd like to get any suggestions on which route to take. I looked at the MSI kit for the 970 it's at least $670 and going with the Clevo GTX 6GB 970m graphics card its $470 but that would include having to do all software/driver, BIOS, and vBIOS updates that would be required. As I understand it the MSI kit would just be plug and play aside from modding the heatsink.

I'm not planing on overclocking anything, just trying to milk one or two more years out of it.

Current specs:
GT780r
GTX560
I7-2630QM
RAM 16GB
Samsung SSD 840 EVO 250GB
Win 7 64bit

 

People have reported issues with the Ivy bridge and MSI vBIOS. I recommend you do not get the MSI card, and go ahead and get the Clevo card. Seriously save yourself the money. Using a modded driver is easy.

 

Hi everyone!
I'm trying to do an upgrade with my iBUYPOWER VALKYRIE CZ-17 (based on MSI GT70 0NC) with my MSI GTX 980M 8GB
So far i have cross-flashed my bios with E1762IMS.51X successfully and flashed my 980m with MSI 84.04.22.00.0a vbios given in the first page
The card is now fully recognized, i can install the official driver from nvidia website
Still, it just won't run any games or 3d app, always the hd4000 that do the jobs, i can't force it in any way and here's some weird things:
- I can't see the "Run with graphics processor" menu when right-clicking icons even though i have set it to show in nvidia control panel
- I set the preferred graphics processor to "High performance nvidia processor" but still the system always run with hd4000 (my integrated card)
Everything in my computer seems to be working fine, and it should be, the driver is official, the card recognized and "is working properly" (as device management said)
Here's my card right now
(click to see it fully)

And here's a sum of my System:

Speccy may have read my card incorrectly, as i'm pretty sure this is 8GB

My setting:


And the card just won't run no matter what, have anyone come across this problem?
What's this really about, bios, vbios, driver, OS?

 

I was suffering from a similar problem to yours the only difference is that you said that your GPU constantly stays on hd4000 but in my case the orange light on my power button was always on which indicated that my Nvidia GPU was always in use but when I tried to play games I only got around 10 - 15 fps. My PC pretended to be constantly using the GTX 980M but it wasn't. So I came on here and posted the issues that I was having an Talon told me to try flashing Clevo Vbios from Prema Mod to my MSI GTX 980M card. Low and behold much to my surprise it worked perfectly. Now my MSI GTX 980M works in my 16f3 as if that was the card it came with; perfect!!!!!!!!! The only twist is that you will have to modify the Nvidia drivers which is extremely easy to do. I didn't know how to do it but it's easy to learn. Flashing prema mod vbios might not work for you but it worked for me, now I'm playing all my games on high to ultra settings, and the best thing is the vbios is unlocked too which will allow you to overclock the card as much as you like beyond the original 135 mhz limit. The single issue I have is if I try to overclock, I lose performance instead of gaining. But I think that is because of my power adapter only being 180 watts. Trust me this GTX 980M doesn't need overclocking for any present games. People are talking about the 970m being a beast, that card really is only marginally better than 880M, the 980m will embarrass them both

 

It's about 30% faster than the 970M so it is a fair increase.

 

The thing with my GPU is it wouldn't accept any modded driver, i have tried a few of those modded driver, they all got me to the error "Device can not start (code 10)" or some thing about "corrupted driver"
Well i did actually flash it with both the stock and modded clevo vbios from Prema Mods, same results, the official driver became incompatible while modded drivers gave me the errors above
I have this utility which allows me to see gpu activities and as far as i observed it, the discrete gpu just stays idle no matter what, there's actually a split second when it showed as in used when i started the games or accessed nvidia control panel, but i just couldn't figure out how it work
Anybody else? I think this may have something to do with my cpu being ivy brigde, i guess there must be posts mentioned this but i just can't read them all, still trying....
Oh and @Aladin Thomas, did you actually get the issues where you couldn't see the "run with graphics processor" menu, it's kind of weird, i think this's most likely about driver or software problems, how do i fix this?

 

@Talon master, you have any advice for me? Spent almost $1000 on this and it just sits there in my laptop for like 3 weeks

 

Thanks guys. Btw... is this model " AUO B156HW01 V.4" have a much better spec's than the stock FHD of our MSI GT60-16f3?

 

Hey malkaviancz, I feel your pain. I spent $900 on my MSI GTX 980M and didn't have it working for a month before I came to this website and Talon gave me the medication to my problem. Before he told me what to do I thought I had a faulty card and was about to return it. But it turned out that it was a software issue, not a hardware issue. If you already tried prema mod clevo vbios, then I don't know what else to tell you. The other guys on here are more experienced than me in these types of situations. So just like Talon gave me a solution, he might be able to help you too. All I know is that I have an Ivy bridge cpu 3840qm and in my MSI 16f3 barebones laptop and it works perfectly with the GTX 980M. I flashed my system bios to 51x and updated the EC firmware like the first page of this website suggested and everything went well. I doubt that the problem is Ivy bridge. People have reported the GTX 980M working with sandy bridge too. I think your problem is definitely fixable; I think that if your system detects it then it is surely able to utilize it. I think your problem is software related and it's just a matter of figuring out what the issue is

 

Well, I have GT60 dominator with 16F4 motherboard and there are both 4k and 3k version of GT60 dominator with same motherboard, same BIOS and same EC Firmware. So, after upgrading my GT60 dominator with GTX 980m, I upgraded CPU from 4700MQ to 4900MQ and then SSD to RAID-0 SSD configuration. Now, I've already bought 3200x1800 Sharp screen with 40 pin connector and it's on its way from China . It was just $130 investment and if it is successful, it would be awesome. I should receive it by the end of this week or during next week. I'll update you on this and for some reason I believe it is doable.

@Meaker how can one know if LVDS is restricted to 1080p only?

 

Not LVDS, but dual channel LVDS. It's a question of bandwidth.

 

So, this means if there exists GT60 Dominator models with 3K and 4K versions with same bios, firmware and motherboard then the only expected change is to get a different LVDS cable with higher bandwidth. I had seen a cable supporting 3K bandwidth but I am under the impression that as everything else is the same why MSI would've put smaller bandwidth cable in this version and the motherboard port should have sufficient bandwidth.

 

The 3k and 4k models (4th gen i7 only) use displayport connections.

 

My GT60 Dominator came with 4th Generation i7-4700MQ and now I've upgraded it with 4th Generation i7-4900MQ. This means my laptop should be able to handle 3k or 4k ?

 

Dear Aladin Thomas,
I also have a 16F3 with an Ivy Bridge i7 3610QM (MSI GT60-0NC).

I'm in doubt if I can install a 980M, I've saw others installing the 970M with success.
Could you tell me if your specific model?

Anybody can tell me if I can upgrade the GT60-0NC with a GTX 980M?
I have the standard Delta 180W power supply.

Thanks in advance!

 

Sorry, connection problem...

 

Mr. DMT Two, I can confirm that the MSI GTX 980M will work in your laptop. I have the same laptop as yours; MSI 16f3 barebones, an MSI representative told me it has the same motherboard as the MSI GT60-ONC. It came with a GTX 675MX then went to a GTX 880M the just last month went to a GTX 980M. I followed the instructions on the first page of this website. I modified the heatsink, flashed my system bios to 51x, then flashed/updated the EC firmware. Both flashes took only a few seconds and was over before it even started. Make sure you know what you're doing when flashing. You can find a link to the 51x system bios and the EC firmware upgrade somewhere earlier in these forums. It will take you to a certain website where you would have to registrar and then pay only like five dollars to get the two zip files. Actually it has three files. It contains a 71x system bios too but you won't need it. My laptop is running Ivy bridge too (3840qm). So go ahead and purchase your GTX 980M with confidence knowing that it is fully compatible with your system. There is one small problem. I had to flash the vbios of my MSI GTX 980M to Clevo vbios from prema mod to get it to function properly. Then you're gonna have to modify the drivers when installing them. But all in all yes, like I said, your system can use the GTX 980M. If I knew how to upload pictures to this website I would have showed you some pics. But I don't know how to do that stuff

 

Does anyone know how to backup the BIOS and EC? I'm planning on flashing my EC, i wanna see if it makes my card work, but i'm pretty sure it'd mess up my keyboard layout since my laptop is a barebone...

 

Thanks Talon,
I will go with the non MSI card then. I know you went with the P150SM-A "Laptop model", dose it matter?

 

No you're simply selecting which Clevo heat sink comes with the GPU. You won't use this anyways. Though you will remove it from the GPU I'm it sure what the others are like/how difficult removal is.

 

Hello, i 've finally flashed my laptop's Bios (MSI GT60 0ND) with the last version and installed the card nvidia gtx660m (was working on Dell, i bought it because i lost my gtx675m) and start my laptop and it's stared ith the card so black screen is no more ! no when i go to Devise Manger i see that there are 2 cards (the intel HD 4000 + Microsof Standard VGA), so i now there is a chance to continue (look the next image)


i 've seen before this problem so i 've installed the GPU-Z to be sure that the card is working, and YES ! the soft detects that the card is an nvidia from subvender MSI (i thought it should be Dell) and it detects its vBios and some informations like GPU Clock & Memory Zise and more..
(you can see the next image)


but the general title it still Microsoft Standard VGA..
after that i 've downloaded the last driver for the card gtx660m from nvidia website and try to install it maybe it detects the card and change the name to the original name Nvidia gtx600m.., but NO, it didn't find the good devise to install the driver
(see the next image *Sorry fro the Language -French-)


now i stopped here.. !
what i'm thinking :
- if the GPU-Z is a good source to know the Real Subvender as what was showing (MSI 1462) ?
- or just because the laptop is MSI ?
- if the card is really working (it seems to work else it 'll not start or showing the vBios and the other infos..) ?
- if i 'll do some manual changes (change some files before install the driver like Vender-ID i saw that on some forums) ?
- finally if i must do some Vbios updates to this card and what vBios is compatible and what the easy and the sure way to do ?

I'm waiting your suggestions and opinions about this new problem, Thanks.

 

Update: I got the actuel vBios directly from the card, and it seems it's from Dell
(i 've seen the Subsystem ID : 1028-0551) and google it and found that's a Dell Card.

Here is the log when i was working on that:
nvflash.exe --save gtx660.rom

Adapter: GeForce GTX 660M (10DE,0FD4,1462,0551) H:--:NRM S:00,B:01,PCI,D:00,
F:00

The display may go *BLANK* on and off for up to 10 seconds during access to the
EEPROM depending on your display adapter and output device.

Identifying EEPROM...
EEPROM ID (C2,2012) : MX MX25L2005 2.7-3.6V 2048Kx1S, page
Reading adapter firmware image...
IFR Data Size : 936 bytes
IFR CRC32 : ED4F37DF
IFR Image Size : 1024 bytes
IFR Image CRC32 : 8E7EB73F
IFR Subsystem ID : 1028-0551
Image Size : 161792 bytes
Version : 80.07.39.00.0F
~CRC32 : 0EEAC896
Image Hash : CDF55E1C3C0053D8D30564979DC3A887
Subsystem ID : 1028-0551
Hierarchy ID : Normal Board
Chip SKU : 670
Project : 1309-0002
CDP : N/A
Build Date : 05/11/12
Modification Date : 05/21/12
UEFI Support : Yes
UEFI Version : No Version Found or Out-dated
UEFI Variant Id : No Version Found or Out-dated ( Unknown )
UEFI Signer(s) : Microsoft Corporation UEFI CA 2011
Saving of image completed.

-So there is anyway to get working this card on m MSI GT60 0D ?
-Can i flash it with the nVdia vBios or something like that without any risk (because its a Dell Card) ?
-Or there other options to do ?

 

any help there please ?

 

Hey all! An update on my attempt at this.

I updated my BIOS to the newest on MSI's site for my model.

Getting the heat sink and card out was very very simple. Try to keep track of where the thermal pads are, so you can have proper coverage on the new one.

The mod of the current heat sink was so simple, took about 10 minutes and I have never used a dremel before.

Putting the new card in was also extremely simple, and the heat sink went on smooth.

Over all, this was an extremely simple process, very strait forward. Major props to Talon, for his write up and pictures. Also for his willingness to help and answer my questions personally.

 

There is no point of backing up the BIOS because if you flash the wrong one then your laptop will be bricked and it requires changing the physical BIOS chip on the motherboard to use your laptop again. This will be done by the MSI who can definitely install the newer one for you.

 

I have Clevo GPU (980m) but in GPU-Z it shows as Subvendor: MSI this means your Dell card is showed as MSI. First, try installing the moded driver using instructions on the first page of this forum. If problem still persist then find MSI vBios and flash it using nvflash. By the way, did you uninstall your previous drivers?

 

Really , and here i am, already cross-flashed 4 version of different bios which were not made for my laptop, it's so fortunate that my laptop didn't bricked yet
Now i hesitate to make another bios flash, especially when my laptop is a barebone, so sad

 

That's the height of luck and now you know what could happen do you wanna test your luck again

 

You can back them up if you put the correct commands in DOS rather than running batch files.

 

Which means that can be done? I was actually just gonna flash my EC, not the bios.... I want to make sure the new EC won't mess up my keyboard (being barebone) cause it's a little different from the retail version
If you know how to do it, can you show me?

 

It has been a long while since I have done it myself, if you have already been flashing it the EC is usually included as a different section when you download the bios and should be there for you to use already.

 

Aren't we talking about backing up my current EC, how does my current EC "is included as a different section when i down load the bios"?
I'm not looking for an EC here, in fact i have got it in my hard driver waiting to be flashed, i just want to save/ dump my current EC some how so i could flash back if the new EC does mess up my keyboard
Sorry, maybe my English is not that good....

 

guys , i've upgraded my laptop to the 980m and it has been working with no problems , alhmdolelah
can someone please tell me how / where to sell my 870m 3 gb ?

 

Hey folks - cry for help here...

Just upgraded my GT70 ONE with 970m.
1. Started with upgrading my BIOS and EC with Svet's 51x.
2. Modded sing and installed the card.
3. Downloaded modded inf drivers here - http://laptopvideo2go.com/drivers?dev=13D8&sub=110C1462&whql=0&lang=0&orderby=version&dir=desc&os=&os[]=win8x64 (checked that 110C1462 is indeed my Hardware ID).

Then - PC booted, card not recognized and installing NVIDIA drivers give the error - expected that.

Disabled driver signatures, copies INF file into the setup directory of the driver (it does not create anything at С-Nvidia btw) - rebooted. The driver has installed - and in the hardware manager I do see NVIDIA 970M.

HOWEVER - Geforce experience does not run, the card in the hardware manager is with the exclamation sign, and nvidiainspector would not run either... Stuck there - any suggestions?
PS - and that is Windows 8.1

 

First, did you even try installing drivers from nVidia website without modding?
Second, if you play any game, is it using GTX 970m or integrated GPU?
Third, if nothing helped then try flashing MSI vBios (you can find it on the first page of the forum)
Fourth, is it a Clevo GPU?

 

UPDATE - I think I just missinterpreted the instructions.

Windows 8.1 enables driver signatures back, on the next restart. So what I had to do is:
1. Disable driver signatures - restart - run setup. Setup would ask for another restart.
2. Instead of "YES" - press "NO" and restart again through driver signatures disabling way.

Then it works!

(ps - standard drivers don't work - only modded ones

BENCHMARK:

Firestrike (+200 +400 OC, with prema vBIOS) - 7400. Without turbo fan (on MSI profile) - temperature never exceeded 75 C.

 

It does have better viewing angles both verticaly and horizontally. Also the colour gamut it covers is higher, thus giving a more precise and rich colour presentation of photos/videos. I've seen it versus mine (stock GT60-2OD) and the difference is noticeable (at least my eyes could notice). I'll wait and see how the Skylake/Pascal combo behaves before upgrading my notebook again

 

Guys - so all 7400 firestrikes were fun. Now trying to get some performance in games.

And what I see is - 20 FPS in demanding setting in game (Black Desert Online), while temperature stays at 71, and GPU usage is at 67% (maximum 78%).
That is with OC +200 & +400.

Maybe a noob question but: Is there a way to get usage closer to 90% and get additional performance out of it? Is it CPU bottlenecking? Or is it generally normal %?

On the screenshot below - position 1 (in red) - me standing watching the wall. Position 2 - running through the city. As you can see - CPU does not change much, while 970m usage drops (and FPS drops down to 20 from 40).

 

seriously guys ? no one has any idea ?

 

Usually ebay or the members market here.

 

which clevo model you choose to purchase for gt70 2pc?

 

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/4827467
my 980m gets 7970 in firestrike, is that acceptable, i used clevo stock vbios from premamod and didn't overclock
what is the average in firestrike people get?
also, my card's temperature reaches 90*C in high load and stayed stable there, is that too hot?

 

i didn't get clevo version . i bought the msi upgrade kit at HIDevolution.com