Clevo P870DM-G vs. P870KM-G

Hello all,

New to this community so I understand I may have created an incorrect thread, but there are over 350 such lines in this category alone, and I just have a few simple questions to make.

As the title suggests:

1) What are the biggest differences between these two models?

2) Do both natively support USB 3.1 Type C speeds of up to 40 Gigabits/s through Thunderbolt 3 drivers for eGFX support?

3) If not to (2), is this a BIOS related issue for the earlier DM-G model? How can one get a Prema BIOS, ONLY by purchasing from a licensed retailer like HIDevolution?

And lastly, can one buy a Prema BIOS standalone? I’m willing to pay for it before I buy my Clevo notebook. I just don’t want to buy it through Eurocom or HIDevolution (I am in US of A).

Thanks all.

 

1. DM-G (Z170 based) technically only supports up to a desktop 980 GPU and Skylake CPUs. KM (Z270) supports up to 1080's and Kabylake. There is a thread for modding the DM to use up to coffeelake CPUs with a pin mod and BIOS flash. @Mr. Fox went full hog on his DM-G and modded it for both coffeelake and 1080 support.

DM: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...70-g-owners-lounge-phoenix-has-arisen.781814/

KM1: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...ager-np9876-owners-lounge-phoenix-3-0.800081/

2. Yes, but I do remember in the early days of the DM-G a special firmware floating around for the DM-G to update its TB3 ports for eGPU. Not sure if it is still needed now.

3. Prema is only available via a Prema partner (HID, Xotic, etc..) and is not available standalone even if you're willing to pay. Depending on what you need to do, you may not need Prema and the current stock BIOS functionality coupled with TS/XTU will work just fine. Previous DM-G I had was Prema. Current one is not. I'm still able to tweak my memory as needed and fine tune my CPU for 24/7 and Benching with TS / XTU. If you do want the functionality of PremaBIOS, you will need to purchase from a licensed Prema Partner.

 

@electrosoft :

THANK you SO much for the rapid reply!

Some more questions:

1) Do you NEED to “cut” any part of the DM-G interior if you wish to fit 10th gen mxm GeForce GTX cards in SLI?

2) Is the maximal card equippable on the DM-G a 1070?

3) Is a standard BIOS available for download from anyone of the manufacturers (CLEVO or Sager or EVOC)?

4) Where can such firmware updates be found?


I know this is a lot to ask and probably already documented, but I can’t quite seem to find the search bar within a thread to find such answers..

 

1.) much more than that, your need to solder wires etc. to get the card working.
2.) If you don't intend of doing any modding, you can get an MSI GTX 1070 into your system, i believe.
3.) yeah we got a topic dedicated for that.
4.) here

 

If you really want sli get the km barebone.

 

True, unless you have a specific reason for wanting the much older DM, the KM or TM are the way to go.

The 12v fans in the KM and TM are much louder than the DM's 5v fans. I use a DM specifically because of the much lower noise under load.

 

But under sli with modern cards you need the cooling.

 

Can the KM-G be modified to equip a 8700K CPU without a Prema BIOS? More formally stated, is it only with a Prema BIOS that one can make mods/changes to the standard BIOS for new/unintended hardware recognition?

 

There was someone doing some compatibility mods for models.

 

Oh I completely understand why. It doesn't change me feeling like I'm on the tarmac at London Heathrow when anything of load hits the fans. My old 775DM3-G sounded like it was taking off.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...o-lga1151-laptops.821694/page-6#post-10781141

Pin mod and modded BIOS to support coffelake CPUs.

 

KM-G is better in every way, if they are the same price go for it
It has 2 TB3 ports vs 1 on the DM-G

They both have 8700K support, but the DM-G requires heavy modding for 1080 support. Both support 1070 SLI easily enough if you have all the parts

eGPU on these laptops aren't worth it really ever

 

Why is eGPU not worth it? Does it not work well on any given one? I thought eGPU by TB3 was guaranteed on DMG.

Is the "8700K support" you are referring to through the modded BIOSes published on these threads? It can't possibly be native/Clevo supported.

Also, I thought that running a 1070 SLI on the DM-G required physical modding and re-routing of the power on the cards themselves, whereas it was fully supported on the KM-G.

 

Because the laptops themselves have MXM ports. And the 1070 (in a eGPU box) is around the top level of performance you'll see from a eGPU due to very limited bandwith. And that's assuming TB3 with eGPU works.

OFC 8700K is not supported natively, it's Z170. But, the bios mod seems to run stable in it.

1070 SLI (With MSI MXM) Is basically plug and play, you need to tape over the wing as it overextends just enough. The only 1070 with eternal power is the Clevo, which requires heavy modding for it to fit and can't run SLI, and the Aetina one which isn't for commercial sale.

If the same price, KM-G is better in every way, it all really depends on the price being asked, neither are available new anymore.

 

I see.

But...I thought eGPU/eGFX worked with TB3 on both these models because the ports support 40 Gb/s speeds...so why do you say "assuming" [it] works?

 

I don't know if it works or not and honestly don't see the point or care, these laptops have upgradable graphics for a reason.
40Gb/s is measly compared to 64Gb/s of actual PCIE Bandwith

 

Has anyone verified if Optane works on the KMG and above?

 

Yes optane works.

As for the TB3 performance issues that mostly comes down to having to go through the chipset and decode TB3 to PCI-E which adds a lot of latency.

 

If noise isn't an issue and you're comfortable with the price, it's a no brainer to go with the TM/KM which can natively support up to 2x 1080's and the vapour chamber.

I always point out noise because even playing around on a friend's TM with 1x 1080 and 8700k even gaming was ridiculously loud. We benched my 870DM and his 870TM and the noise difference was really astonishing. I mean hair blow dryer loud. The 12v fans in the post 870DM models work great but yowza.

If I was looking for a 1080 based system with a 8700k, I would have snatched up @Mr. Fox system immediately. Killer price, equal if not greater performance than a single 1080 KM/TM, fine tuned with dual OS support AND you get much quieter fans under load.