P150HM GPU upgrade 7970M vs 680M

Hi all,

[some edits after realizing I am blind and missed the huge thread on the topic]

I however not seen a summary thread on this, so I thought I'd make one (apologies if i just didn't find it).
My current P150HM is equipped with 6970M and I am wondering which of the two offers the better and most importantly more hassle free upgrade. Cost is less of an issue.

I (now) did see and read the long discussion http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...680m-ordered-installed-oced-lets-have-96.html
I was hoping to manage to sum it up nice and short for future reference.


The issues as said:
P150HM GPU upgrade 7970M vs. 680M


Where would you buy it? Any sellers recommended in Europe/Asia?
We have seen
Spain - http://www.mountain.es

Any pros and cons, restrictions (no HDMI, etc.), Bios issues etc.?





Thanks for your help!

 

Hassle free - 680m essentially plugnplay
Bang for buck - 7970m but be prepared to do a blind flash of vbios using jaybee guide. If you have no idea what vbios is go with 680m
Buy from these forums or ebay.
Hdmi audio not working on 7970m .680m everything works

 

It's been a while since I bought my P150HM with the 90% Matte screen - wasn't there a limitation where the Nvidia GPUs couldn't handle some of the screens? If the screen isn't supported by the 680m, it wouldn't be quite as plugnplay...

 

I dont remember any P150HM limitations, there were with the 7970M though but just on the NP8170/P170HM

 

The only limitation from memory was 3D screens@120Hz which are not compatible with 680m. Aside, from this you are good to go.

 

Cheers - thanks for the confirmation. Now, to see if I can find a 680m that isn't $600 - I do use HDMI audio quite frequently, so that's a no-go for me if the 7970 has issues. The only ones I see on Ebay right now are expensive.

 

The 3D screens and Nvidia were good, the AMD didnt work with them. 3D screens were just available on the P170HM though, no the P150HM.

 

With regards to my query - I don't have a 3D screen or 120hz - I obviously just mixed up which combination had potential compatibility issues Currently have 6990m and looking for a mid-price upgrade without replacing the entire laptop. Since HDMI audio is required, the 7970 isn't an option for me (although that would likely be cheaper) so I'll have a look for a 680M.

 

Was zoned out there for a week but now back in. Also searching for the 680M. Will update shortly again.

 

The 680M is an excellent upgrade.

 

If you haven't seen yet, i made two topics on the P150HM upgrade with the GTX680M card

One in english P150HM and GTX680M : yes we can

The same in french Une GTX680M dans un P150HM ... Yes we can - Page 8 - Clevo - Portables 4 Gamers

The card is plug and play, but it must be a clevo or msi 4Gb card (dell 2Gb card are not compatible) with Clevo 80.04.29.00.01 vbios or MSI MSI 80.04.33.00.24 vbios.

More recent vbios were out and are incompatible with the P150hm ... the 80.04.33.00.10 vbios will made the boot on ssd/hdd not possible ... but let you boot on an usb key, so you will be able to flash with a compatible vbios. 80.04.67.00.01 vbios made the boot not possible on all device (so you can't flash the card).

I think that only cards with the original 80.04.29.00.01 vbios are sold at the moment, but ask your reseller about the vbios version of the card (there is a sticker on the card with the vbios number). It will avoid bad surprise.

Also there is only TWO issues with the gtx680m and P150hm couple.
First: you will have to forget the "hibernate" function because when you resume the laptop, the Gpu won't initialize and the screen remain black. (you can desactivate hibernate function with the powercfg -h off command line)
Second: You will have to modify the nvcvn.inf driver file (it's quick done and easy) or download a driver already modified on laptop2video, because the official nvidia driver won't recognize the card by default.

 

Just thought I'd throw my experience in here to warn you of the risks of getting a 7970M. If you do get one, you need to make sure it was manufactured before March 2013. ATI changed something in the cards to make it completely incompatible with all drivers after that point in time.

 

You mean with the HM bios on it? Because that would make no sense to have a card that wont run any drivers.

 

Yes, with the HM bios. If you flash a post-March 7970M with the HM modified bios, no driver installers will accurately detect the card.

 

Is that the downloader or the actual installer?

 

Are you sure that your card is not damaged? cause when i search 7970m + code 43 i found a lot of result ... (dead card, driver incorrectly installed ...)

 

Dang it, why will they do something like that? Just like I said before, the "upgrade of Clevo" is a joke, and almost a scam.

At this point, I will just go for the 680m. Just too much of a risk and hassle.

 

With tweaking the 680M is a better card at least.

 

Sorry to threadjack, but I did a search on NBR and couldn't find any definite answer for this question: Do the 7990M and 6990M use the same heatsinks, or will I need to purchase a full upgrade kit (GPU+heatsinks+pads) for the 7970M to work? This might also be good answer to have in the summary post

 

The 6990m heatsink is perfectly compatible with the 7970m. Some sellers will give you the heatsink as well in purchase. Just make sure 7970m is a clevo branded card with clevo vbios enduro off preinstalled. Otherwise you will need to do blind flash as per jaybee thread.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

If I go with the GTX 680M, I'm going to need a new heatsink wouldn't I? So something like this kit would be necessary: CLEVO P150HM/P170HM Upgrade Kit;GTX 680M 4GB MXM 3.0b;with VGA Heatsink

I've been considering the 680M just because I need the HDMI port, but I can't find anything that is exactly affordable. The 7970Ms are also not cheap either, but they're not $700 expensive.

 

yeah really is a shame - for 800 bucks this is not worth it... well, kinda, but not really.

 

I'd say wait for some one to sell theirs and go with it. I have upgraded but purchased it directly from Sager when i had friends in USA so my 7970m was only 430$$. With the new generation not being compatible your waiting can be extended to rly long period of time. Just ask MySN.de for parts, i have a little experience with them and they seem rly nice and helpful. I hope this helps.