P150EM 7970M -> 980M Upgrade ?

Hello folks,

After owning the Clevo P150EM / Sager NP9510 laptop for a little over three years now, I wanted to find out if it is possible to upgrade the GPU. After doing some research, I have determined that it is not possible to go from 7970M -> 780M/880M in my laptop. However, I saw that it is possible to go to a 980M with a Prema(?) BIOS update.

While I have never updated the BIOS in my laptop, I am willing to do it if it's overall safe and I can upgrade to the 980M.

1. However, is it even compatible in my notebook, being that I have an AMD card and not an Nvidia card?
2. If it is, what would I need to buy in addition to the GPU? Heatsinks? Anything else?
3. Also, what is the basic process in upgrading the GPU?
4. And would it be difficult and/or risky? Or is it just better to consult some services that can do this for me (at a reasonable cost, hopefully)?
5. Finally, in your opinion, do you think I should skip the upgrade and just buy a new laptop when Pascal mobile GPUs come out (whenever that is Lol)? I ask this because I don't technically need to upgrade right now.

Specs are:
i7-3610QM
AMD 7970M 2GB
16GB DDR3 1600MHz

Thanks in advance----any help is greatly appreciated!

- DSx1if30wn3r

 

EDIT: Clarified a minor thing in the available upgrades.

 

Yes, doesn't matter; that's what standardised interfaces are for. Better order a Clevo or ex-Clevo card; less potential for hiccups.

Nothing, card and heatsink, that's it. Might even keep heatsink and mod with dremel and/or thick pads.

1. Flash Prema bios, for the 980M (read the instructions!)
2. Use DDU to uninstall gpu drivers.
3. Read/print Service Manual, page 44-45 (might be useful, since it's a first)
4. Shutdown, remove battery and cord.
5. Remove fan, heatsink and old card.
6. Add new card.
7. Paste.
8. Add heatsink and fan (cleaned).
9. Boot and re-install drivers.

Depends; if a screwdriver is 'advanced tech' to you; use service. If not; diy .

Pascal is not worth it, P150EM is still top-of-the-line with proper components. A 780M/880M is ~+25%, 980M would be roughly +50-100%, so ...

CPU might lag behind then, consider a 3920XM or 3940XM. As it's ~$350 (and -$150 for selling the QM) it's a pretty good upgrade for $200. Its tdp is +10W, which is not a problem, but it's also unlocked; if you want to OC cpu ( and gpu) then measure socket draw first while running benchmark. Check how much leeway there is between draw and max. rating of the psu. It can run ~10% over max., as that's loss due to heat; actual power delivered will be lower by the same percentage or more. If it's barely coping; replace with a 220/240W model.

 

Thanks a lot for the information----definitely helps.
Now in regards to you mentioning that the CPU may lag behind, would an i7-3610QM really become the bottleneck when there's a 980M in play? I always hear people say that i5's (desktops) are almost always fine. In this case, it's an i7 (I know a mobile CPU, but still) and a card (980M) that is essentially equivalent in performance to a desktop 770.

However, I am not as up-to-date with the mobile hardware, so I'm not sure.

 

cpu-wise it really depends on the game and/or application ure interested in. there surely are some games that always profit from more cpu power, but even so, it doesnt mean that its the realm of "gen3 qm will give you unplayable fps whereas gen4/5/6 cpu will give u playable fps". in both cases its gonna be playable, just that sometimes the newer gen cpus will give u somewhat of a performance boost in those particular games

thus, for gaming at least, cpu hardware is more than sufficient as long as its a decently clocked quadcore, independent of its generation as long as its at least a sandy bridge (2xxxqm)

interesting article covering this topic: http://www.anandtech.com/show/9483/intel-skylake-review-6700k-6600k-ddr4-ddr3-ipc-6th-generation/22

 

+1 all of the above.

Bit hard to compare, though; 3610QM is slightly below i7-4702HQ/MQ (35W tdp), but no one uses those in combination with a 980M. A 4710HQ vs. 4910MQ (~3940XM) has a 8230 vs. 9380 score on Fire Strike (fwiw ... but you need something to measure by ...), extrapolating down to a 3610QM would yield these theoretical differences:



So ... (8954-7008)/7008 = 28% gpu improvement ... in theory. Proof's in the pudding though and there's no reason to do the upgrades at the same time. Run the 980M first and see what it can do with 3610QM. If it forces you to use lower settings, then consider the XM to eke out those last bits.