ATI HD 4800 series for any MXM Notebook... read this

ATI Mobility Radeon 4800 series for any MXM Notebook?
..... read and see.

After looking at detailed pics of the ATI 4850 and 4870 MXM modules.... I have to conclude that they will fit in the current MXM Type III and IV notebooks.



Top picture: ATI HD 4850 MXM Type III module
Bottom Picture: Two flavors of the ATI HD 4850/4870 .... left one is MXM-III | right one MXM 3.0 Type B

The ATI cards are MXM-III with HE tabs.... like the 9800M GTS/GT cards found in current Clevo units... and in the Arima units.

It would make sense that there would still have to be a MXM Type III version in order for the Arima W840 DI (AW M17) to be able to upgrade to 4870's.

Also, looking at the detailed inside pics of the ASUS W90vp, I see that it is also using MXM Type III (with HE tabs) modules.



So theoretically, you can pull the ATI 4870's out of the ASUS W90 and put it into another MXM-III compatible notebook and it should work.

If I have access to these modules, I would probably do the tests myself to confirm.

As for the crossfire bridge cable, not sure if there is a cable or an on-the-motherboard multiplexer.

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Notebooks with MXM:

Clevo D901C with dual MXM Type IV:




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Clevo M570RU/TU/ETU with single MXM Type IV:



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Clevo M860TU with single MXM Type IV:



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more notebooks to come.... need to do other work now.

 

The ones in the first pictures do not have the HE tab, the HE tab is the extra, single pin that squares off the corner of the cards, the onesin the w90 DO have the he tab, but it doesn't appear to be connected.

The cards in the w90 don't appear to have the ribbon connector in the same place as in the other pictures, so perhaps that has an on board controller.

 

So far, the results on the Asus W90 have been less impressive.
Paired with a super fast quad,they might hit20k.
But 15k stock was a dream, users reported 13k with a 2.8 Cpu.
Not good for now..

 

i can only think that the new clevo d900f will smash all notebooks...unless the 280s dont come in sli.

 

pfft, I could have told you that a long time ago with the first pictures of the Mobility 4850. Red ones are AMD/ATi reference designs and the 4870s in the W90 are Asus' own design. Obviously any of these will fit in any notebook that can accommodate MXM-III or MXM-IV GPUs, and even MXM-II if there is enough space and if the heatsink is modded. The big issue is if they work or not in Clevos and other systems, and which version of the card (meaning, which manufacturer's version will work). If or when I get my hands on any of these 48xx cards in MXM-xx form, I'll be more than happy to test them to see if they work in other systems, including the MSI 1722 I bought for my mother. I already have one potential volunteer to help me with this endeavor.

Have you seen the Vantage GPU scores for a W90Vp? I know synthetics aren't everything but for comparison, my system scores 6500ish stock, dual 8800M GTXs/9800M GTs score around the 7500s and dual 9800M GTXs around 8200 stock.

The 48xx are more oriented towards DX10 compared to the 38xx series, and Vantage exercises more DX10 features than DX9. Even on the desktop side of things, the 3870x2 and the 4870x2 are only separated by 1000 marks in 3dmark06 with the CPU the same.

 

My Vantage score is in the 9000s , that`s why I said that (also check out Magnus72`s score...same deal).
Might be the PhysX involved, but still.
Where`s the 15k stock?
Even the 9800M GTX Sli get better scores.

 

I'm talking about just the GPU score. You're referring to the overall score, which is heavily influenced by PhysX.

 

Here's hoping for SLI in the D901C. That would be an awesome upgrade from my 8800 GTX and would totally extend the life of this laptop by a lot.

/$

 

Wow, looks like we maybe able to stick one those 48xx cards in our M860tu. But eleron is right, so far the numbers are'nt looking very good for those cards to be worth swapping out.

 

...........................................................................................................

Man you guys must really enjoy playing 3dmark06 , sick game.

Crysis Warhead 1650x1080 All Gamer:
9800GT: ~19FPS
HD4850: ~32FPS

Devil May Cry 4 1650x1080 All Very High:
9800GT: ~65FPS Rank B
HD4850: ~85FPS Rank A

30-70% better is what we have so far. I will probably switch eventually, maybe.


edit: Also there was a farcry 2 benchmark out there that was close in comparison (but it wasn't the exact same settings) (9800GT had 2xAA, Ultra High Shaders, Textures, Objects, but only High Shadows and PostFX , HD4850 had 0xAA, Very High Shaders, Textures, Objects, but Very High Shadows, PostFX...all others were the same so you be the judge):
9800GT: ~25FPS
HD4850: ~34FPS

 

how hard is it to change a video card? i know it's going to be harder than changing your ram and hdd but probably easier than changing your processor

 

Depends on the system.

On an m860tu, where the processor and video card share a heatsink, its pretty much the same thing.

 

We told in another thread that swap to ATi 4850 could be possible, but only with a Clevo bios support...Anyone with the 3870 in M570RU or D901C could deny this??

Also there would the problem to find those cards alone in the market..

IMHO ATi decided to bring MXM 3.0 for 1GB or GDDR5 solutions only..

Hey where did you find the second pic??

 

I get emailed and PM'ed random news every so often and usually don't make much of them... until they seem to connect to something.

The motherboard BIOS and maybe even the VBIOS may need to be compatible for it to work.
.. physically the modules should fit and mount fine.

 

I would think it would be much harder than changing the CPU. Plus, you'll most likely void your warranty.

If you think changing RAM and the HDD is slightly hard, I don't think you'll be able to exchange GPUs with an ATI that "looks like it will fit".

 

I already voided my warranty with this CPU upgrade, so I'll be testing this out as soon as the 4870 is available for aftermarket purchase.

 

Still wonder why people take on 3dmark06. They seem to be obsessed with it. I'd take more credibility from those Crysis and Devil May Cry benchmarks and from that I can conclude this card is better than the 9800m GT.

 

Here is the FULL review of the Asus W90 with 2 Ati 4870 cards.It is in Chech Language but you could use "google translate".No need to worry about Crysis FPS anymore.

http://pctuning.tyden.cz/index.php?...=view&id=12658&Itemid=84&limit=1&limitstart=0

 

Honestly... those benchmarks arn't all that impressive. Especially looking at unreal tournament 3 and COD5. Any idea of the settings on that? Or can we just assume 'maxed out at 1920x1200'?

 

who said i think changing ram and a hdd is hard. don't put words in my mouth

 

will it fit in the sager 9880s?

 

wow.

you must be new to this forum... welcome.

the Sager 9880 is a Clevo D900T.... its got older Clevo modules... NOT standard MXM videocards.

so the top most module you can get for that system would be a Nvidia 7950GTX or Quadro 2500M.

 

Yeah Im new and thanks Wow looks like Im due for a massive notebook upgrade this year hehe. Hopefully that new one doesn't cost too much. Thankfully Im only a few miles away from Sager headquarters so Ill save on shipping

 

What we need is a company to start selling standard GPUs on the rack. To be able to buy them just as you buy Desktop ones: nicely boxed and with pretty paintings on them.

 

that would be amazing lol... i just wish we could get some benchmarks of true 4870's with ddr5.....

 

if you had to guess, how much you you put the price on a mxm compatible 4870?

 

probably near the price of a 9800M GTX.

 

275 USD - my guess

I also think that the 9800M GTX is about 450 USD (which is heavily overpriced IMO) should more like 300 USD at most.

 

wow,3870 are/were ~250$!you think the new ones will be ~500$?

 

Blacky 9800M GTX are $750 USD i buy two from sager one month ago

 

WOW! That's a rip off! Probably Sager is also overcharging.

I know that the internal price for resellers, well in terms of difference from the 9800M GTS to 9800M GTX is about 350-400 USD (correction).

EDIT: Or used to be.

 

Judging from the photos these cars fit perfectly in the m860tu and m570tu, if you have the heatsink/case module for the 9800m/8800m Gtx family....now the problem is if it will need a new bios.....

 

kevin if you do test this please please make a guide for it!(pretty please) i'm also interested but opening my computer is a daunting task for me

 

Blacky: i wonder with what price will be released the new GTX 280M
because i'm pretty sure that all resellers sell 9800M GTX for about $700

 

Not sure, I would guess that with these prices they will probably cut the price of the 9800M GTX and sell the 280M for max $ 700 otherwise most people would turn to ATI which is considerably cheaper. Also they are using now the 55nm technology which should make the dies cheaper.

Assuming that for Nvidia is not as profitable to cut the prices of the 9800M GTX (I can confirm that the price for resellers dropped by $ 100 from November until February). What I can see Nvidia doing, is dropping the 9800M GTX altogether and replacing the options you can put in a high-end notebook with 280M GTX - high-end and 260M for lower performance just as the 9800M GS is now.

But this is more speculation and I am still puzzled to what has happened to the 180M GTX.

I still think the 4870 is around $ 300 maybe a bit more $350. I am basing this on the fact that the desktop version is about $ 200-230 and on the price of that Asus W90. But then again, the 9800 GT is $ 100-$ 150 and the notebook version 9800M GTX is $ 700 ).

So short answer, I think the 280M will just replace the 9800M GTX altogether but I expect a lower price than what the 9800M GTX is selling now. Maybe $ 150 more than the 4870 otherwise it might not sell so well. So that means about $ 500 .

EDIT

I made a double check and I got this info:
1 9800M GTX is 550-600 USD without VAT
1 9800M GS (55nm) is about 200 USD without VAT
1 9600M GT is about 100 USD without VAT ?
These are the prices resellers get on them .

 

yes i think that this is only option that they have

 

im still waiting for my 8800m Gtx.... ....hopefully this week arrives....

 

from where did you buy it and for how much

 

well i bought it here in Portugal but due to misunderstandings they gave me a 8800m gtx in the m570tu case module, now they had to buy another from clevo but this time in the correct module. Their loss since they're now buying it more expensive since the card is no longer in production.....

 

but how much did you give

 

i bought it for 400€, but theyll probably buy the new one for 530€....

 

wow this more than for the 9800M GTX from Sager

 

actually they were asking for 800€ for the 9800m gtx, but going to eurocom not long ago, they were asking 750$ for the 8800m gtx.

 

I hear they also jacked up the price for mobility 3870s as well. I'm trying to get one now after I fried my master VGA card...or I might wait for 48xx upgrades, depending when it will be available and cost.

 

Maybe it's time to start a thread on GPU prices and where to get them .

 

Good idea!

 

Are those cards available?

 

Ok, now where can we get a 4850-4870 as a spare part ???
Can we buy it calling us "asus W90 or MSi GT725 owner" with a broken card??