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    GTX 980M on a 180W PSU?

    Discussion in 'Sager and Clevo' started by righN, Dec 15, 2020.

  1. righN

    righN Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey, so right now I have a Clevo P177SM with a 170W PSU (it's not the original one, bought the laptop used with it). Right now, it runs fine.

    Specs :

    i7-4700MQ
    3x4GB RAM
    1TB HDD + 256GB SATA SSD
    GTX 780M 4GB

    But I have plans to upgrade to GTX 980M and
    I read that on some laptops 180W isn't enough. So, should I upgrade my charger?
     
    Last edited: Dec 15, 2020
    righN, Dec 15, 2020
    #1
  2. yrekabakery

    yrekabakery Notebook Virtuoso

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    It will be fine unless you flash a modded vBIOS onto the 980M that allows it draw more power.
     
    yrekabakery, Dec 15, 2020
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  3. righN

    righN Notebook Enthusiast

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    On a 170W PSU, made a mistake. That makes it worse :(
     
    righN, Dec 15, 2020
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  4. yrekabakery

    yrekabakery Notebook Virtuoso

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    It's still adequate but cutting it a bit close. The 4700MQ is ~50W and the 780M/980M is ~100W tops assuming you're using the stock power limits.
     
    yrekabakery, Dec 15, 2020
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  5. righN

    righN Notebook Enthusiast

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    Yeah, stock. I could downvolt the CPU a bit and GPU, if possible, that would help, wouldn't it?
     
    righN, Dec 15, 2020
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  6. yrekabakery

    yrekabakery Notebook Virtuoso

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    I mean, if 170W was fine before, then it should still be fine.
     
    yrekabakery, Dec 15, 2020
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  7. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    You could always get a 230W brick if you are concerned. Stock the 980M is not that hungry, it's when you overclock it 30-40% that it gets hungry.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Dec 16, 2020
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  8. righN

    righN Notebook Enthusiast

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    Well yes, but I'm already on a tight budget and 230W PSUs aren't that cheap.
     
    righN, Dec 17, 2020
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  9. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    See how you go then, worse case you can downclock a little for now. It's the most performance you'll get at that power level.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Dec 17, 2020
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