Eurocom w860cu - 720qm, 5870m - ugrade questions

I've been thinking about possibly buying a new laptop the last couple of months. I am starting to notice in newer games I am not able to run things maxed like I used to be able to.


What I have here is a Eurocom Cougar w860cu. It has the i7 720qm, 5870m, 4GB Ram, 250GB HDD.

Before I go buy a new system would it be possible to upgrade the system I currently have?


I am computer savvy I build, sell, mod, overclock desktops laptops phones tablets you name it. Just need some direction.


CPU is holding up
Gpu seems to be slowing down
Possibly more ram?
SSD?


Just looking for some advice

Thanks guys!

 

920/940xm - OC the crap out of it!
upgrade gpu to 7970M - OC the crap out of it!
upgrade ram to at least 8GB, if not 16GB - buy thaiphoon burner for 20 bucks - OC the crap out of it!
SSD heck yeah, total boost in everyday processes, 256 gigs dont cost that much anymore, u could even get a samsung 830 512 gigs for like 350 bucks

all in all, theres a lot of options with ur machine just depends if u prefer upgrading/modding or just go directly with a new system. the above upgrades would probably cost u around 1200$...

cheers

 

In all honesty, to me at least, the GPU is the only thing I can see holding me back from maxing out and newer games.

What would be a relatively affordable GPU that I could get? A 7970M is way overkill for my needs, although it would be sweet.


I am interested in overclocking the CPU though!

Any tips or threads on how to do this through the BIOS and not a program? Honestly up until about 4 months ago I have never even thought about upgrading so I am not 100% familiar to things.

Here are my thoughts:

GPU - must buy if I can overclock this 720qm, but im not sure if a new GPU would bottleneck this.
8GB ram or more depending on price
SMALL ssd, I could still use the 250gb as a storage unit. Never really needed a lot of space.


I guess the first question is can I get much out of my 720qm if I overclock it?

 

No bios ocing, you need an xm processor and throttlestop to overclock.

 

Ahh I see. Would upgrading the GPU be worth a try? If so what are some upgrades to the 5870 that would work or is crossfire an option?

 

Upgrading the GPU to the 7970M will be almost tripple the power...

 

...and would cost u around 500 bucks. definitely best bang for the buck if u ask me as for cpu bottlenecking, it really depends on the application ure running. the newer the game, the less important the cpu will be!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

IMHO Buy a new system.
If upgrade costs you more than 600$ for a 2-3 year laptop then buy a new laptop.PU and all above is true.
About CPU. I would call 740QM close to gaming processor... But 720QM is TOTAL JOKE.
It's beause of TurboBoost on 2 cores. Especially with GPU upgrade 7xxQM series become weak. So for that GPU you are going to buy only 8xxQM series one is worth. But here I ask you question: Why would you need to upgrade if its cost has already came to the limit of 600$???
Newer laptops offer USB3.0, SATA 3, Nvidia Optimus, longer battery life, LED unless you already have, Huge power boost with 3rd Gen i7 which will las for longer than 1 year with 8xxqm cpu or 2-3 years max with 9xxXM one. Also 1-st gen CPU don't use faster RAM than 1333Mhz which gives "snappiness" on par with SSD.

 

Yeah enduro is such a desired upgrade....

Snapiness is not related to ram speed... its cpu/hdd based.

 

Thank you guys for all the suggestions!

I'm honestly torn between buying a new system or upgrading the one I have.

I really do love the basic and simple design on the laptop. Its comfortable and still blazin' fast for most of my needs.

I'm not worried about better battery life in a new computer. This thing is almost always connected to my monitor and plugged in and since I use a monitor I'm not that into getting a new screen.

I'm just very torn between, to me $500.00 is a lot of money for a GPU, and I honestly think it may be a bit overkill.. I could be wrong.


Most of the gaming I do is League of Legends and eventually Black Ops 2 and Guild Wars.


I did some price checking on a new 920xm, and I see them going for 300 - 400.00. Do you guys know of a cheaper place? Respectfully I know this is a good CPU, really good. However, again, I'm not sure if it would even be worth upgrading when mine is holding up fine.


If I could get the CPU for around 200.00 I would be all down for upgrading this thing. I like it and I really do think it would be cool to have my own customed out laptop to go with my desktop.



I know you guys are all about the 7970m right now, but is there a cheaper option that would still blow my 5870m out of the water? Maybe a Nvidia card? 660m? 6970m?


Regardless if I upgrade the CPU and GPU I am going to purchase a small SSD and a 8GB ram kit so those two upgrades a lone should give me noticeable performance increase.


Bottom line is I don't need the best of the best for what I will be using this thing for. I won't be benchmarking, literally just gaming at 1920 x 1080.

 

Honestly the only real upgrades I see here are new CPU and new GPU. I already run 1333MHz ram, and I could get better ram for overclocking if I needed too. I don't need an LED screen, or longer battery life.

What 8xxqm cpu would you recommend..

 

the xm cpu would surely be a sweet upgrade since u could severely OC it to a level where it would give u enough processing power for the years to come. as for the gpu, heres the problem: current market prices for a 6970m/6990m/485m/580m/675m are actually HIGHER than for a 7970m if u decide to buy a gpu off a reseller or an online shop on ebay. the only option to get the older gpus at a resonable price would be to check the nbr marketplace here frequently for such offers or to wait for an auction on ebay (private seller). thats why i said that the 7970m is such a nice deal, cuz official pricing is actually below a lot of lesser performing/previous gen cards.
aside from that ud also have to check what gpu upgrades are actually possible with ur machine. the 6er amd series and 7970m are definitely possible since ive seen nbr members having performed those upgrades. concerning nvidia 5xx/6xx series, no idea!
cheapest offer at R&J for example would be an nvidia 670m for 235 bucks. but again, no idea if that card is compatible with ur machine:

http://rjtech.com/shop/index.php?dispatch=categories.view&category_id=167

last but not least, any upgrade below 1000$ is actually worth it in my opinion. think about it, a new system with similar perf. would cost u like 1500-2000 bucks! so the above mentioned upgrade limit of 600$ sounds rather arbitrary and unfitting to me.

just my 2 c

cheers!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Thanks for the info! Much appreciated my friend.


I agree, why would I buy a new laptop? To get similar performance to a 7970 and a new CPU upgrade I would have to spend $1500.00, and thats not including a O/s. I mean ya, in 3-4 years my components may be obsolete. However, by then I will want a totally new computer haha.


I guess I am just going to keep my eyes peeled for the parts I am looking for and be patient. For now I am going to go ahead and order new RAM and a SSD.


Any suggestions on any RAM kits and a small SSD?

Of course bang for your buck is a plus


I've always been a fan of G.Skill, so I may see what they have going on. Looking at a few 64GB drives. I think that is all I would really need.

 

Sorry guys but similar performance with 1333 RAM, 5xxM Chipset and 720QM or a Oced 920X with expensive thermal grease and looking at temperature every minute for 250$ at least which can be beaten by any 3610QM stock I7 nowadays??? You can buy better system for less than 1000$ here!
Sager NP6350 / Clevo W350ETQ - XOTIC PC - 15.6" Custom Gaming Laptop
Sager NP6370 / Clevo W370ET - XOTIC PC - Sager 17.3" Custom Gaming Laptop

Anyway. I don't care anymore as delete subscription. Last word about SSD: for this exact SATA 2 system buy Crucial M4. For better system buy Samsung 830/840 Pro. About RAM: for this system buy cheap 1600 kit. For better system buy Samsung 1600 RAM.

 

What are you going on about? A 920xm + 7970M would massively outperform a 3610qm + 660M (which by the way is soldered in).

 

Wouldn't say massively outperform once you have to deal with a 920XM vs the 3610QM.. but the 7970M vs 660M is a no brainer, overall I agree though

 

At 1080p the 7970m is going to be the primary bottleneck still. If a 4600m trinity cpu and 7970m can significantly outperform a 660m and 3610qm so can the 920xm.

 

...especially when OCed damn i just cant remember the guy´s name! he installed a 7970m into his aw m15x and coupled with his OCed 920xm he got pretty much the exact same 3dmark11 and unigine heaven scores like people with 2xxxqm and 3xxxqm cpus.

 

my question is there any proof that eurocom W860cu can use HD7970M or Nvidia GTX675M or GTX670M ? if yes than I will go to that...bcoz upgrading my whole system will be very not economycall

right now I'm using Clevo w860cu using intel 920xm and Radeon HD6970M and tempting to upgrade the GPU

thanx

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...m-7950m-upgrade-am-i-crazy-2.html#post8924376

You've seen it yourself.

Buy a Clevo 7970M, you've posted at that thread as I can see... anyways Enduro will NOT work no matter what, it doesn't need to disabled w/e your mobo doesn't support it by any means anyways.

So it'll work yes. Good luck

 

Yep, enduro is no issue, go ahead and enjoy the 7970M at full force, you won't regret it at 1080p

 

yes, u right, I found the proof
thanx a lot

really this w860cu is kind of monster

 

I'm having a hard time finding a 920xm or 940xm for around $300.00. Most of them are going for $400.00+.

I've also found a good amount of 5870's. Would this thing be able to crossfire 5870's? Or would that not be a good idea..

 

You could, but a single modern card would be faster.

 

i dont think w860cu able to do crossfire/SLI

 

Either go 7970m or start saving for a sager np9150... Anything else is headed toward wasting money versus being frugal

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 2

 

The new GTX675MX would not be a terrible choice. Also fireedo is right, I was getting my models mixed up and this one does not support xfire/sli (there is not second slot!) but the 675MX would be a good partner too IMO.

 

yes u right gtx675M or GTX675MX will be another good choice but as fas as i know it hard to find seller that card

btwI have a question :

if i go upgrade to HD7970M it will cost me $450 + $110 (shipping + Tax) = $560 compare to this offer : W880cu already include HD7970M (no cpu, no hdd, no wifilan but i can take all that part from my old w860cu) it will cost $910 + $135 (shipping+tax) = $1045 ... what do u think about that? which option should I take?

 

At that point you really have to compare going a bit more for a modern system.

The new NP9370 with a pair of GTX670MX in SLI becomes a very attractive option.

 

I would get this option, they have a option for cheaper shipping at $19.99, so it comes out to $470 total. Maybe you can haggle the price a little bit with them.

I upgraded my sager 8150 with the 7970m and love it.

Clevo P150EM P151EM P170EM Upgrade Kit HD7970M 2GB MXM 3 0B with VGA Heatsink | eBay

OR

Clevo P150HM P151HM VGA Upgrade Kit HD7970M 2GB MXM 3 0B with Enduro Disabled | eBay

 

The real thing to do is basically buy a 7970M off someone install your own vBIOS on it and buy a used 920/940XM from someone too the ram comes cheap

 

You need to go with this: Clevo P150HM P151HM VGA Upgrade Kit HD7970M 2GB MXM 3 0B with Enduro Disabled | eBay[/QUOTE]

As the EM based cards will not function, has the wrong vbios.
Also be sure to check on what version of the motherboard you have.
We have seen older versions of motherboard do not like the HD7970.

Also in our preliminary testing the 670MX and 675MX do not function correctly.

 

Interesting, will have to keep an eye out for the mx issues.

 

Well I just recently bought a 7970M and I do need your 5870M heatsink, perhaps we can work out a deal because a need a 5870m heatsink to dremel xD. A 6970M could also be what you need for higher graphics processing