Getting an Nvidia 900 series (or 1060) working in a P170EM

I currently have a dead 7970M (or mostly dead...works sometimes for a few seconds) in my NP9170. I'm hoping to avoid getting another 7970M since they seem to have a bad habit of dying after about 2 years or at least showing signs of dying. Mine died just a bit after 2 years so been using the onboard card for the past few years. After digging around and getting some help from a couple very helpful posters here I've decided I want to try to get a 970M (or a 1060 or 980M if I could find one cheap but not likely). Found some decent deals out there for video cards within my very limited budget but I'm reluctant to buy anything until I know whether it's likely or not that I'll be able to get a hold of the necessary bios (and maybe vbios?) to get it to work in my laptop.

Are there any alternatives available for getting those cards working in a P170EM besides using the V3 Prema bios? I checked with my reseller (a Prema partner) but they only have the Prema bios for a few models they currently sell, not the P170EM I'm hoping I'm not going to be stuck with just trying to find another 7970M or finding an nvidia 670 or 675. It'd be nice to get an upgrade if I'm replacing the card. I PM'd Prema but I'm sure he's quite busy, flooded with messages, and I definitely understand if he doesn't send out the bios anymore so figured I'd check to see if it's possible to get any of those cards working another way.

Guess another question I have is would an older version of the Prema bios or an older version of the Eurocom one work instead? Both of those are still linked on other forums but I'm not too sure they're unaltered or not or if it's OK to use so I'm reluctant to use one of them since it's not from an official source.

Thanks for the help and any advice. If there is another way to get it working (different bios, etc) even if it didn't have all the extra features enabled as long as will allow me to use the card I'd be happy. Tired of using the onboard card, it's really limited my gaming the past few years

 

Seriously people need to stop thinking they need Prema BIOS for GPU upgrades.

Your stock BIOS will absolutely suffice.

 

It's not too surprising with the whole 980m and driver thing.

 

Likely so many people (myself included) thought it was required because it's almost always talked about as needed in other threads about the 900 series on a P170EM. Hell, in some threads it's flat listed as mandatory in the instructions (both bios AND vbios upgrades for it to work). I spent a ton of time the past couple of weeks digging around on this forum, that tech inferno place, and a few forums that I had to run through google translate, etc to try to figure out if it was really needed or not or if there was an alternative. I was fairly convinced that I needed that bios and likely vbios to get it working (or at least working with switchable graphics and being able to use it without gimping it) based on all the other threads but wasn't certain. So thanks for clearing that up Really glad to hear the stock bios will work!

So, is it just necessary to use the Prema Bios if someone wants to overclock (not planning on doing that) or is it mainly that it makes things easier to get working initially, gives more bios options & easier to maintain (no worries about having to modify inf file, etc)?

 

For the 10xx series there is no difference. For the 9xx series it can help not need modified drivers.

 

Starting with 360 series drivers there was error 43 issues with 900 series cards on EM systems on stock system bios. Is this no longer the case with 400 series drivers? I have looked into this and never found any definitive answer.

 

You can ask Danish about that, it has been around 5 years since I personally was playing around with the EM.

 

I believe this glitch got fixed in later BIOS revisions.

 

So later vBIOS fixed it? Clevo never made a bios update for EM series after the SM series came out.

My system no longer uses optimus, so I do not know if I can plug in a 900 series with a non Prema v3 and test if regular 15x and 17x systems would also work.

 

That is like a sleeper car Khenglish lol.

 

With every new system series I keep wanting a new system, then look at the cost, then decide to do a new set of mods to my EM. All 100 series EM boards being the same and a bizarre mixed GPU EM3 series originally being planned made so much room for mods.

 

Oh man! If there was a way and definite answer which would let me justifying getting myself a new gfx card for my P170EM i would be happier than a kid on xmas! So much to read and so much that I've read and still, all i want is to give someone the money for the gfx card, take out my burned out gfx card and slip in the new one. Put the computer to start and vola! everything to work as fabulous as it did back in 2014 when i bought my beast for 2600 euro. Is this the case now, i just buy 10xx card and make the ol switcheroo and it works like magic? I would really love to start playing games with anything that is not my inbuilt intel cpu gfx card on 30 fps (amazed i can actually play diablo 3 and over watch on it, but still =) Cheers guys!

 

Yes a 10 series will work fine. Just let us known the brand you are thinking of getting as there are some compatibility issued with some cards.

 

Hey mate! Awesome stuff! As i yesterday tried to re-enable my gtx 675m and blue screen of death came as soon as i launched overwatch =) I'll be going on some pretty long travels soon and be back around June/July and hope to afford a 1060 then. As i live in europe im not sure which are my best options to get the card. I've checked ebay and seems all cards are from china or 1 that was sending from us. In the end i might just end up buying one from http://www.eurocom.com but afraid the customs will take a lot of monies from me then =/ But if anyone in the EU has a better suggestion im all ears! Im just super happy i can bring life to this old baby once again!! =)))

 

Got a 1060 gtx working on P170em.
Apart from modded drivers, it's fairly easy to install. Temps are good, around 75-80° on full load

 

It's a similar TDP to that era of chip so does partner very well, glad it's all working nicely

 

Awesome stuff mate! Can you let me know where you got the card from? Maybe I can just order from the same place =) ? I get a bit pushed of from all the different listing and prices on eBay so I'm not sure who is legit and who is not. Cheers!

 

Got a Inbox from a user Danishblunt that he has one to sell, but not sure why this dude is not registered on here. I see him active all over the forum =) So I replied to his msg but not sure if he can actually see this, so if you see this message, send me another one mate =)

 

He was banned for violating community rules.

 

Ahh so probably not a mate to buy stuff from then?
Where did you buy your card?

EDIT: ahh i see you are a rep =) do you offer the cards themselves or? =) Enjoy the travels!

 

Contact our service team if you are after something specific, they can check stock.

 

Awesome! Thanks mate! Safe travels!

 

In Scotland now meeting some of the family and playing with a 14 week old puppy so all good here

 

Hi mate,
Got it from eBay :
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https://www.ebay.com/ulk/itm/202578352916

 

Haha awesome mate! Specially in the summer that is a great place to be =))

Oh snap! Thanks a lot for sharing this mate! And was it just to replace or did you have to get some extra parts? I've seen some pads (for cooling?) in some of the ads I've watched. Like this package
Cheers! I'm so looking forward to bring life into my old beast =) I mean i got it because i could upgrade it but never did i think after so many years the replaceable parts would still be pretty damn expensive haha. All the best!

 

Back all safe now, ended up in France rather than Guernsey yesterday due to the weather but overall very nice really.

MXM cards don't tend to drop much is the issue.

 

Nice one mate! So you're done with the sailing? Shame about Guernsey, looks cool but i guess France is pretty ok too haha =)

 

Yep, 3 weeks all done

 

You can reuse your old pads if they still look good but you should buy new ones (0.5 - 1 - 2mm) to fit the card. If I remember correctly I did not even have to use the dremel on the P170em heatsink.
Enjoy your new card!

 

You can stack pads to get just the right height if you need to.

 

Awesome mate! Thanks for that info =)) Can't wait to order the card and finally kick life into my system again =)

Haha nice! That's a good vacation =) I just came back from a 5 months vacation where 4 of those where in Asia. Not to happy about being back to work but the money will for sure help hahaha =)

 

Yeah an income is a nice thing to have