Clevo P170HM GPU Replacement/Upgrade

Hi guys

New guy on the block

I have read a number of threads here around GPU upgrades for HM Clevos, and while there is a plethora of information available (blind flashing vBIOS, etc. etc.), most of it is 2013 or older so I have decided to open a new thread in hope for some 2015 updates!

My predicament is as follows:
I have a 6990M in my Clevo machine, which died some time ago. Well, a local company, a self-proclaimed 'experienced GPU reballer' kind of helped it die - fried it and hid behind a no fix no fee caveat lol. I guess I should have baked it myself...anyway, I am keen to either replace it or upgrade but apart from hardly reputable aliexpress sellers I have not really been able to find a reasonably priced GPU, and trust me I have looked hard!

Could a helpful soul around here kindly advise what options I am looking at? Bearing in mind it is 2015 I would like to avoid paying 450 euro for a 6990M (CEG) if possible, especially that I bought the laptop 6 months ago for around 700...

Thanks in advance for any help/advice you guys can give me.

Look forward to your responses.

MagicMike

PS. Happy New Year to all of you.

 

On this same topic, is it possible to upgrade the P170HM/3 to the latest 980m?also wish someone to confirm if there is a working vbios released for such upgrade by prema.

 

as far as I know, it can be done, and one does exist. Even the PxxxEM series has 900M support, amazingly.

Also, toward the OP, I would suggest trying a blind flash of the BIOS if the machine will POST, and using Prema's modded BIOS. Then installing a 680M if you can find one on eBay for cheap, or a 970M for ~$450 or so using the same modded BIOS. At this point, it's difficult to suggest much else. An out of warranty, four-year-old machine is indeed a problem to fix, especially without a GPU.

 

not correct unfortunately... 680M/7970M are the most recent/most powerful cards an HM machine can take. as for 9xxM cards, only the EM series is being made compatible, the HM series is EOL, even from Prema's side.

thus@OP: those threads from 2013 still hold true are contain all the info u basically need

 

I see, thanks for your input guys

Am I condemned to buying from China, or are there any reasonably priced part vendors in Europe?

Lastly, would you recommend that I play it safe with a 6990M made for Clevo, or try and get a 7970M and fiddle about with VBIOS? What is the success rate of the latter, roughly at least?

thanks in advance

 

well the 6990M had a pretty high failure rate in its day... there have been several cases of failing 7970M as well recently, though not as abundant as the 6990M during its time. plus u have to consider the +50% performance bump ull get with the 7970M. vbios flash is no biggie, tons of users have already successfully done that following my blind-flashing thread just make sure ure on the latest system bios and EC firmware (if possible) and also only get urself the v1.2 7970M card, the v1.1 or v1.0 wont work on HM machines.

as for the 680M, it sports similar performance to the 7970M but generally higher overclocking ability (if ure interested in that) and ull only need to get urself modded drivers in order to let it run properly on ur machine. again though, only specific vbios versions work on the HM series.

easiest thing to do would be to get urself an all inclusive GPU upgrade package for the HM series laptops. i can recommend ebay in general, but more specific a Clevo Service Center near you (check clevo website for more info on how to contact them) or CEG as a vendor working with Clevo Service centers offer various MXM GPUs, and those with 12 months warranty from Clevo

cheers

 

thanks jaybee, I have no other card to put in as the 6990m is proper dead as a dodo dead so can't upgrade the bios and ec. will this seriously decrease the success rate of the blind flash?

Generally I would like to avoid spending more than 50% of what I paid for the laptop (£600), so having checked CEG they blow my budget out the water with their 450 euro price tags, even for the 6990m. There is a guy in the US (eBay) who has quoted me $545 for the 7970M upgrade kit which seems steep too no?

680M sounds great but they are even more expensive...I might not have a choice in the end I guess

 

unfortunately, mobile GPUs are just THAT expensive and they also stay expensive, too, in opposition to desktop models that go down in pricing over time...

 

yeah it's unbelievable.

So to sum up:
* you don't recommend going with 6990M as it has a high failure rate
* 680M will work with HM but only on a specific version of vbios, do we know what that is?
* 7970M is also recommended however it needs vbios version 1.2 to work with HM

did I get this right?

 

that about sums it up! as for the 7970M non-v1.2 its not the vbios thats the culprit but the actual card/PCB itself. its a different revision altogether.

we do know which 680M vbios versions work with the HM clevos, we just need to find the respective threads where that info is in

 

I see, so as long as the 7970M has a vbios revision 1.2 I should be fine?

as for the 680M I will have a dig around then

 

yes, you should be good luck, best to use google instead of the nbr search function though

 

ok thanks for all the advice !

 

http://pages.ebay.com/link/?nav=item.view&id=271729699256&alt=web

I don't suppose this will work, will it? £239 looks like a bargain...

 

hmmm i dont know about that... never seen a 8790M work in an HM laptop before tbh...

 

right, well I sure as he'll am not likely to be the first guy around here to pull it off so I am not gonna risk it lol

just looked very promising so I thought I would ask

 

I don't think a 8970M will work in HM Clevo. There is no Enduro-disabled VBIOS for 8970M AFAIK and you have to flash an Enduro-disabled VBIOS, as HM Clevos do not support switchable graphics (iGPU in Intel CPUs is disabled).

 

thanks for the advice chaps, I will stick to the 7970M, still trying different avenues to get the best price. Should know shortly.

 

If you have a P170HM/3 which is the 3D version then unless something has changed that I don't know about, the GTX 680M will not work correctly in it giving you a blank screen.

 

thanks bud, I have decided to go with 7970M, just hunting for a good price now.

 

I thought you might. You should contact http://mysn.co.uk/ and get a quote. It might be worth contacting Ebay seller 'upgradeyourlaptop' as well.

I upgraded the laptop in my sig with the GTX 680M just over 2 years ago and it was the best upgrade Ive ever done. It still handles current games without any problems.

The most recent ones were Shadow of Mordor, Planitary Annhilation and Grey Goo. As long as it handles GTA 5 without any problems, I will be keeping this laptop a lot longer. Since the 7970M performs very similarly, you won't have any problems although Nvidia does seem to be favoured a bit more in certain games and may have more frequent Driver updates.

 

Greetings,

I have a p170hm/3, the 3d version. My GTX 560m on it just died for a 2nd time after baking and cannot get it working again. Are my options just a clevo 560m or 580m? Or can I put a 7970 in there with the vbios flashing?

I live in India now and the only thing I can find at the moment is

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nvidia-GeFo...639?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3cf14c2f37

Did not want to spend over 300 dollars. Speed is not all that important to me, the 560m was good enough for my purposes. Otherwise the computer is in fine condition.

Thanks for the advice.

 

Thanks, coincidentally this same exact eBay seller quoted me $545 for the 7970M upgrade kit (excl. heatsink) which I found quite OK as the guy said it would work out of the box - presumably he flashed vbios himself.

I almost chose him however I then realized he only provides 3 months warranty. So I started looking around and then had another revelation, CEG do the same card £30 cheaper but give 12 months warranty - therefore the plan now is to ask CEG if theirs will work out of the box and if it includes thermal pads too (the other chap provides them)...

I will contact mysn too.

GTA5 <drools>

 

I am not familiar with which GPU's will work with the 3D version of the P170HM beyond knowing that the GTX 680M is incompatible. Someone else on this forum will know or the info would have been discussed somewhere around here.

If I were you, I would try to find out if the 7970M worked because that is usually a really good price for the power it offers you. A reseller should know if it will work.

 

CEG would provide it preflashed if u tell them for which machine it would be for

 

Yup they did say that, I am just confirming the 12 month warranty with the UK Clevo service centre as that is who CEG claim provides the warranty.

 

Hey guys. So after weeks of talking to two suppliers via emails both of which confirmed they can sell me a 7970M that will work with my P170HM out of the box - that was my first question - when it came to placing the order both have said 'sorry my bad, it won't work with your laptop, you need a 6990M'. One of them I have actually managed to pay already.

What a waste of ****ing breath.

None of them wanted to try blind flashing either

I guess I will have to go with a 6990M in the end...

 

I wouldn't giver up if I were you. From what I remember, although the 6990M is a good card, it is at least 50% less powerful than a 7970M. I remember in the NBR thread where there was a petition to get Sager to offer that card for the P170Hm, they were providing official kits. I could be wrong, it was a long time ago.

 

Alright I will email them then, always worth a shot I guess. Thanks man.

 

Magic Mike if you are game why not buy the v1.2G 7970m and blind flash it yourself using Jaybee guide?
This way you have powerful gpu and you learn from the experience. Make sure though it's v1.2G card should be sticker on bottom of card showing it.

Good luck.

 

They can be a little tricky to find now though.

 

I guess I could, but my only worry is that this will most likely invalidate the warranty...and it comes with a 6mth warranty in the package.

What are the odds of me bricking the card too?

 

So I have enquired with Sager and here's what they have responded with:

"
We are also depending on the manufacturers of each device component and support.

FYI, P170HM will not support AMD 7970M graphics card, and we don’t have any AMD 7970M graphics card GPU it already discontinued phased out.





Regards,

Sager Computer Inc."

So yeah, but thanks anyway, always worth a try.

 

Your best bet is to see if there are any laying around in the forum buddy, you may not get a warranty but your going to be sure its well looked after

 

thanks I wish I had looked at the marketplace sooner

This:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...re-kit-i7-4930mx-intel-extreme-nvidia.772238/

...would have been perfect for me, perfect price too...but oh well, I will definitely keep my eye on it now thanks for the tip ascottuk2010.

 

Right, so apart from a horrendously expensive card from Eurocom, one 7970M v1.2 for Clevo which would set me back by $695, I have not been able to find another 7970M with hw rev v1.2...

I know at the beginning of this thread you guys said 680M would work too so I might actually lean towards getting one of those.

This wouldn't be a significantly worse card than 7970M would it?

 

Considering overclocking potential of 680M, it will most likely be a better card than 7970M. On stock clocks both GPUs are comparable in performance.

 

Indeed with full control you can get an extra 30-50% out of the 680m.

 

thanks guys, I am currently looking for the right version vbios to work in P170HM, found 80.04.29.00.01 so far but need to find more posts with it to corroborate.

I take it the 2GB Dell 680M version will not work in my P170HM will it? I will need the 4GB Clevo version?

 

Stick with Clevo cards. 4GB VBIOS will work with 4GB cards only.

 

Thanks, I just wish they weren't so much more expensive than Dell and so much harder to come by...

 

Dell cards will not work at all, it has to be a Clevo.

 

Thanks. I am negotiating a lower price with Eurocom and waiting for them to advise. Max I will live with is $570 so if they agree that will be $125 less and will put it in the same ball park as the other suppliers I have enquired with (though they only had v1.1). This is for a v1.2 7970M.

 

Managed to negotiate it down to $570 for the following:
* the card itself, Clevo AMD Radeon 7970M Wimbledon HW rev v1.2
* thermal pads
* thermal paste ICD7
* screws
* X-bracket
* technical support
* 6 months warranty

So a full upgrade kit and as much as it still pains me to pay so much money just for the gpu I guess it's a decent price?

They also promise that it will work out of the box with my P170HM so I presume it is blind flashed already.

Fingers crossed it will.

 

Its a good price, notebook GPU's hold their prices very well.

 

Yes good luck and keep us up to date how installation goes, etc
Here at NBR we offer friendly advice and help.

 

I definitely will, thanks for all the advice and help so far guys, much appreciated!

 

So the package has arrived today, I get to unpacking it, chuffed to bits, open the box...and...boom wrong fuking hardware revision!!!

Despite 26 emails between me and them explaining which revision it is exactly that I am after and getting them to confirm in writing that it's exactly what they're gonna send otherwise they might as well not bother, and that it will work in my HM laptop out of the box, they still get it wrong in the end...I am speechless, just emailed them about it and awaiting their response.

One thing I will give them is the card really looks brand new and is well packaged.

<sigh>


PS. I stand corrected, please read on

 

Erm, I am totally flummoxed now...got a quick response:

"Yes, we are Factory – so we have all facilities required

We test in proper platform, verify that works, create report, then clean the card, pack and ship"

I guess I will give it a go then and if it works I will have no choice but to stand corrected!


Edit:

So I have put the card in, fired up the rig and I get this error message:



What gives?

 

Duh, wrong boot device, I would have sworn the OS was on the SSD drive...

So yeah, shock horror, the card works like a dream even though the hardware rev is v1.1!!

Installing drives now...is there anything I should do to break the card in?