GTX 880M to 1070 Clevo P170SM-A

Greetings,

I am am looking to upgrade my GPU (reference to subject).

I cannot find my mother boards full specs anywhere(i.e. a table with supported functions and slots etc) and my research has brought up a lot of questions.

1) Primarily, if going from 800 series (Keplar) to 1000series (Pascal) do I need a bios update? Laptop specs below. Ive found some threads stating it should be plug and play and others giving entirely different ideas. Simple upgrade I dont mind but Im not very confident with bios mods. Can anyone shed some light?

2) I keep seing require eDP, do I need eDP support for the 10XX series GPU and does my M board support eDP? Intel graphics Control Panel says I have eDP but not entirely sure how accurate that is because I couldnt find it on the board (another thread was discussing this but was not conclusive). Is there a way to confirm if I have eDP.

3) My panel/monitor is 60Hz, is it pointless to upgrade to a GPU for 120Hz support? Can I upgrade panel to 120Hz (any models advised)?

4) Techpowerups states my 880m bus is MXM-B (3.0) and the 1070 bus is PCIe 3.0 x 16 slot. I have a MXM-B plugged into the PCIe. I dont understand why techpowerups gave the 880M & 1070 different slots when my MXM-B (3.0) is plugged into my PCIe 3.0 x16 slot? Can I use cards with bus PCIe 3.0 x16?

5) Any other crucial bits Im missing to conclude the upgrade and calrify whether I can go with the 1070?

Thank you for your support in advance.

Current Laptop Specs (basic, if you need further information please let me know)
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CLEVO P170SM-A (Model E)
CPU: Intel Core i7-4710MQ @ 2.5GHz
Bios: 1.03.03TPCS
EC Firmware Rev: 1.03.04
Graphic Interface: PCIe 3.0 x 16
Memory: 16 GB DDR3 (2x 8gb cards)
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M 8gb
GPU Memory Type: GDDR 5 (Samsung)
Display: 17.3 " (43.94 cm) 1920 × 1080 non-glare 60Hz (unknown exact model, I have not dismantle that section yet)
Harddrive: 500GB SSD
OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64)

 

here a user talks about gtx1060

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/p170sm-a-gtx-870m-upgrade-to-gtx-1060.801346/

 

I don't think they have a GTX 1070 version yet that is compatible. but the GTX 1060 from MSI seems to work.

 

Thanks, I did see this thread before but it didnt really answer any of my questions and infact raised more.

The 1060 is so close to the 980M I might as well just do that in this case for easier plug and play.

I selected the 1070 as its similarities to my current card: MXM slot (still confused on this as per original post above, query 4);TDP (1070: 120W) & 980M: 122W); both GDDR5-8192MB with 256bit bus. I was assuming/hoping because of the physical similarities and operation parameters there would be no vbios update.

What compatibility issues on the current 1070's do you see? I have found no Clevo vbios I can use but some sources say it should be plug and play with current bios/vbios as the specs are so similar.

 

The MSI GTX 1060 was plug and play. So if we get the GTX 1070 in "normal" MXM format i'd be likely plug and play as well.

 

The issue is the 1070 not existing in a standard MXM-B format card, no reference card exists and it's cheaper to expand the footprint a little and not have to use the most expensive parts to keep it compact as possible.

 

Have you maybe read rumors about a release of a GTX 1070 MXM B format card? I'd imagine you would be one of the first people to know about a rumor like that

 

That would be hurdle 1 even if true.

 

So I suppose I will just have to wait and hope the bring out the 1070 MXM 3.0b.

So even if the right MXM 1070 is released, Im still not certain I will get the best out of it due to having an LVDS panel. I contacted Eurocom who said these series laptops dont support eDP panels and are only LVDS so an upgrade is pointless due to not being able to meet the 120hz capability of the 10XX series cards. Im skeptical as "Intel Graphics Control Panel" says i DO have eDP on the board (meaning I can upgrade to a 120Hz panel/monitor): https://goo.gl/MA7ijY Is there a way to conclusively know if my M board has eDP?

Can anyone shed some light on this? Is a panel upgrade needed and does this Clevo this board have an eDP chip to connect the new panel to? I have found an LVDS to eDP cnversion chip online: https://goo.gl/a8kj3n

 

Why don't open and see with your eyes?

 

And how exactly do I identify it with my eyes? Ive fully dismantle it a few times but would not know how identify it. I have found nothing online to help on this. Hence the query.

 

No need as mentioned elsewhere the IGP handles the display outputs in the P170SM.