How easy is it to add another 7950gtx to an NP9260?

Thinking about picking one up from Sager but I haven't seen any guides on how to add them so I'm a bit hesitant (searched for them but possible I missed them). Any ideas?

 

Step 1: Open up the RAM compartment, as outlined in section 6 of your manual (10 screws).

Step 2: Insert new graphics card next to old graphics card.

Step 3: Secure RAM compartment with all ten screws

Step 4: Update Drivers and/or enable SLI

Step 5: Enjoy the performance boost.


If you're hesitant about the process, you can also open up the RAM compartment and look at the way your current video card is seated, because the other card will be seated the same way.

 

Great, so basically all I need are the proper screwdrivers? Only reason I was hesitant was because I was looking at a Dell 7950 install guide and it required several tools that I don't have.

 

As far as I recall, all it takes are the screwdrivers. Like I said, you may want to open up the RAM compartment just to be positive that there aren't any special tools required, but Clevo really isn't in the habit of requiring special tools, and the compartment is super-easy to access. The whole point of PCI-E slots on notebooks is user upgradeability, even if each new video card revision DOES require a new motherboard.

 

Oh that's interesting. So when the good DX10 cards finally come out, I guess I'll have to buy a new mobo too.

 

Not necessarily, but that was the case with the Clevo D900T (Sager NP9860) series. It started out with a GeForce 6800, and Clevo was proudly advertising the fact that the PCI-E card could just be swapped out. The 7800 was released and Clevo released the D900T_U (Sager NP9880). The 7800, being more powerful, required more power, which the D900T wasn't equipped to deliver. Sager instituted an upgrade program, allowing users to upgrade the motherboard and video card for about 1/3 what they paid for the notebook originally.

Then the 7900 and 7950 were released, again requiring more power, and Clevo released the D900T_X (Sager NP9890). 9860 owners who had never upgraded got the best deal, because that same upgrade price now applied to get a 7900. Fortunately, the D900T_X motherboard was powerful enough to drive a 7950, as well, so there was no fourth revision.


Now, the Athlon X2 based D900K came into the game a little later, and its power management was better able to handle things. The D900K (NP9750) was able to handle all of the GeForce 7 series cards.

The 9260 has already supported an upgrade to the SINGLE (not SLI) 8700 without a motherboard revision, so it will hopefully support an upgrade to more powerful 8 series cards, as well, once they become available. The fact that it was designed to drive dual 7950s SHOULD mean there is enough power available for better DX10 cards, but we really won't know until something better than the 8700 is released, like the 8800 slated for this winter.

As far as we have been told, however, the 9260 definitely will NOT support any 8 series card in SLI in its current configuration (though we could well see a motherboard upgrade for something like that).

Like I said, though, since it's mainly a power issue, we're hoping that the NP9260 will be able to run new SINGLE cards for at least the next couple of releases.

 

First I've heard that the current rev 4.x mobos will not support 8700's in SLI. Clearly something was up when only a single 8700 was offered on the websites.

Do you have any details as to why 8700's are not supported in SLI?

If it is hardware related, I hope that the rev 5.x mobos address the problem.

 

Sager doesn't give all the details, but I'm assuming it's the card's power draw as compared to the 7950.

 

The 8700 draws less power than the 7950 so I suspect something else... maybe with the nVidia SLI chip that's onboard?

 

Good point. Clevo may be waiting to upgrade the SLI functionality until the 8800 is available in order to avoid the same kind of upgrade scramble that the D900T went through. I guess we'll see when the 8800s hit the market.

 

Great info, thanks Thain. Ordered it, apparently you're right it is very easy to put in. I'm going to wait on the DX10s, probably end of the year or beginning '09.

 

how much was your card? im wondering if its cheaper to do yourself.

 

Actually I'm not sure b/c the order hasn't actually been made since they are on backorder. I believe around $500. I'm not sure how you would do it yourself, as I don't know of anywhere you could find the cards. I've seen some Dell 7950GTXs occasionally go on e-bay for around $450, but I don't think those are compatible and newegg etc. certainly don't have it.

 

This is the beauty of trying to make a standardized part in what has largely been a proprietary market...even these standardized parts are pretty proprietary. You would have to check the ODM model of the notebook that Dell 7950GTX was meant for, see if it's a Clevo, and then see which Clevos support that particular card.

We are approaching the point where the cards should work in any system, but it's still much safer to order direct from the vendor.

 

PM ice tea, he i think sells them