A little advice needed regarding P170HM / NP8170 and new video cards

Hi everyone,

My ATI 6990M died recently and I'm currently looking for a replacement. The question is - can I install a different video card model in the P170HM / NP8170?

I've seen a guide about 7970M installation (very good job, by the way), but I wonder if it's possible to switch to Nvidia in my case. If so, what would you recommend? What kind of actions will I have to do to install an Nvidia card? Does it worth it actually?

Any help is much appreciated, thanks in advance.

 

Assuming you don't have the 3d model, then you can upgrade to either the 680m or 7970m. Which you choose is entirely your choice but be aware on price point alone the amd 7970m is the better value although you don't get hdmi out and the possibility of a blind flash to get the card working with clevo HM series notebooks. The overclocking potential of nvidia 680m is outstanding and can be pushed quite far with the 220w psu on p170hm series.
Most though would go down the amd path for performance/value.

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Excellent points on this post. Drivers have increased the power of the 7970 considerably and it has a fair amount of OC potential, but yeah you can really crank that 680 up. I'd look around first to see which one you can find easier and compare the price/performance you'd get from each and what you plan to do with, if you're going to OC at all.

 

Thank you guys for that information.

I'm actually not going to OC, I'm looking for stability and long-life of the GPU (my current one died just past 1 year mark). Is there any difference between them in that sense? Or is that just a matter of luck?

 

think you can also look in the 675/670m (rebranded 580/570m)

 

that would probably be luck more or less. ive seen both currentgen cards fail already after being purchased as a gpu upgrade

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I agree. There is only so much testing that can be done before shipping them out, especially when the card is bought individually.I's hard to predict if the card will last 1 year, 1.5, 4, 4.8, years and etc... This is also a reason to research a reputable reseller as they'll help you through this should your luck be short or sit there and gladly hear your success story on how your system lasted 10 years after performing this upgrade yourself.

 

Thanks again, everyone. I think I'm going to pick 7970M mostly because of its price.

Even though I like that 680M heats less, the price difference is a bit too much for me. And since getting a stable GPU seems to be a matter of luck, paying more doesn't look good. Oh well.

As for the 675M/670M - 675M is faster than my current (dead) card, but I think it'll be wiser to go for a bigger upgrade.

One final question: Do I need to update BIOS on my laptop? (to improve/add compatibility or something along those lines) Who should I ask for the newest version of BIOS: my reseller or Sager directly?

 

just check out the OP of his thread right here for the latest p170hm bios/ec

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=7174461

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Good choice OP, the 7970 is definitely the best value. Enjoy!

 

I would say go for the new NVIDIA 675MX. That would get you the best stability, and its close to the 680m in terms of power (within 5% I'm told? someone correct me if I'm wrong). Also, the best part is they can be had for about $450 on ebay.

but... what can I say? I'm a NVIDIA fanboy to the core. (pun intended)

Good luck!

*edit* If you do go with the 675MX make sure it is the 'MX' and not just the 'M'

 

Sorry, but the 675mx is nowhere near the 680m or 7970m. Just check out the benchmarks for proof. NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675MX - Notebookcheck.net Tech

That's 4200 in 3DMark11. The 680m is around 6000 and the 7970m is 6500 with 12.11. That's over 50% higher.

He made the right choice with the 7970m, especially since there's no Enduro to deal with.

 

17% clock cut along with a cut in shaders does cause a big fall in performance unsurprisingly.

It will need a lot of serious tweaking to bring it back into contention with the likes of the 7970M (especially in a non enduro system) and 680M.

 

Well, I guess I should check my source

I still think it could hang with a 680m if it were overclocked.

 

Not when the 680M is overclocked too, but if the 675MX gets unlocked and it clocks properly then yes it could quite easily reach stock 680M levels, but the 680M can do that already at which point it's game over:

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3740QM Processor,CLEVO P170EM score: P8647 3DMarks

 

680m ftmfw

I wish my card oced like that. The graphics score is nuts. Mind telling me the clocks and voltage? Is it gaming stable? Thanks!

 

Cheers, much appreciated.

 

That one was 1070/2600 at 1.075V IIRC it would game reliably at around 1050/2600.

I intend to have a go at tearing the score into tiny pieces though soon

 

dual-gpu monster coming up mr. meaker?

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No, single GPU monster It just takes everything about my last 680M build and takes it a step further.

 

sounds like theres gonna be a desktop cpu involved

 

If it doesn't have a USB powered Ant Farm I refuse to be more than mildly impressed. (In actuality I'm sure I'll be jealous)

 

MSI 16F3 barebone
3940XM
Gtx680m 4gb
8gb ddr3 2133mhz hyper-x sodimm
256gb crucial m4 ssd
Dvd-rw + external Bluray
1920x1080 matte display
Custom modified 230w delta power brick

Order only went in recently so will be a little bit.

 

i dunno about those msi barebones... having such highend components in a chassis with only one fan connected to all the heatsinks would make me kinda nervous... especially considering ull surely be OCing the crap out of it, otherwise that 230W psu wouldnt make sense

 

Me? Overclock? Surely you jest!

That is a 4W fan that draws air from top and bottom. But why not wait for the results?

 

well THAT definitely just saying!

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hey guys, i may be a bit late to the conversation but i have a couple questions, i also have a P170HM and if i upgraded to the 7970m would the dvi port still work even if the hdmi didnt?
and i currently have a 6990m, if i wanted to go nvidia would i have to swap out the heatsinks?

 

Funny (well not really) that your 6990m died just past the 1 year mark. Mine did as well (3 months past) and I'm seeing loads of people on random forums claiming the same thing....