P170EM gpu upgrade - few questions

Hello everyone !
Few days ago my 7970m died - shutting down whole notebook whenever i'd run any game. Moreover it would turn off laptop outside windows after ~40 seconds (tried to reinstall os, also it would just shut down in bios). Today i decided i'd do the oven trick (3rd time in 2 years span) and luckily its back alive.

Since its third time i did the oven trick, i decided i need to replace the gpu. I'm rather poor at the moment so i decided i'll order it from taobao. After reading stuff here and there i decided i'm gonna upgrade my old frankenstein 7970m to a shiny 1060...

...but im rather inexperienced in upgrading gpu's in clevo so i came here to ask for your help, oh wise people:

1. What version of 1060 should i order?

A) Gecube ( i guess ) version : https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...9iuGOm&id=560854197562&ns=1&abbucket=6#detail

From what i've read people seem to prefer gecube version. Why? i dont know. Plus there is a comment from a buyer that he succesfully upgraded his p170em with that particular 1060.

B) Msi version : https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...vI46x4&id=563574024658&ns=1&abbucket=6#detail

Saw one user here who managed to upgrade his p170em with this card ( @Billy2789)

2. will xbracket from older nvidia gpu's fit?
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...tQ265y&id=552634343708&ns=1&abbucket=6#detail

also: anyone knows whats the difference between first x bracket and second one? and whether its worth to get a backplate?

3. Probably the most important thing (and probably the most difficult)... will it work without Prema bios / vbios?
I never had a need nor courage to change the bios in this laptop, so i didnt upgrade it when it was still available on Prema's site. My current bios version is 1.02.17 (according to hwinfo64) and has an XMG splashscreen.


Thank you all in advance for sharing your knowledge and experience.

 

It seems to me that one of the users of this forum bought the Chinese 1070(or 1060) and it ended unpleasantly (the card burned or something like that).
I have a msi 1060(vortex) card in my p170em(prema bios) and it works fine. The only thing that can cause a problem is choosing the correct position when modifying the graphic driver file. . Xbracket is unnecessary.
The next thing you will have to face is to modify heatsink, you can do it on 2 ways:
-file and cut some elements of heatsink,
-use a copper plate between the graphics card's core and heatsink(my choice).

It will also be good if you equip yourself with new thermal-pads. Unfortunately, till this day I have failed to run the "optimus" function correctly, and I do not know if anyone managed to do it. Sooo the card is always active which affects the length of work on the battery.Somewhere on the disk I have a prema bios for the clevo p170em, with a window stamp on the left side of the keyboard(if needed).
I personally think that 1060 is the best choice for this laptop.

Good luck!

 

Got link to that info? really wondering which card that guy had... but still - aint all of them made in china ?

How do i mount the heatsink thingie to the core then?

That'd be great help!

From what i've read it doesnt release much heat/doesnt take much power which is great.
Also wouldnt 1070 be kinda bottlenecked by other components? (also have 3720qm ;p + 12gb ram)

Also may i ask: 1. does it work with hdmi? currently im pretty much using my p170em in desktop mode.
2. is your p170em keyboard also totally terrible? (having to press stronger some keys to work) (if no might order that aswell)

Thanks!

 

Hello there, so a couple of things you need to consider.
The Gecube is a big NONO. That thing is a complete nightmare, do not even bother. The MSI version is perfect.

xbracket is not needed, the 1060 has everything you need.

As mentioned in another post where you asked, the heatsink will have to be modded in order for the card to be cooled down correcly, Premamod is highly recommended for the card. Neither the 1060 nor the 1070 will be bottlenecked by your hardware, it depends on the game. Some games like Dota 2 will be bottlenecked even with a GTX 1050, other games like Metro 2033 won't be bottlenecked at all.

It's also highly recommended that you go get a P170SM heatsink, since the 2part heatsink the EM series has is meh. As kothletino mentioned, be careful when buying cheap hardware from asia, many times you recieve a card with inferior components and end up with a card that only lasts a couple of months.

If you want to be completely sure that you get something for your money contact @woodzstack for prices and such, bought my 1060 from him, he even provided all correct pads etc. for the heatsink so that I didn't have to fiddle with that as well, he also handpicked a good silicon for me as well.

 

How important is p170sm heatsink?
because im on really tight budget and MSI version is significantly more expensive than gecube one...

 

It's not that important. But DONT get gecube one, you WILL regret it.

 

alright so i found this
https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?spm=2013.1.w4023-12503495775.4.5a0a8c57Bsf6I7&id=563574024658

from what i've translated it is msi -G version. Will it be ok?

figured out it would be 'safer' than previous posted because seller gives 1 year warranty.

 

I don't know if a g-sync card would run normally or not. I'm not entirely sure if they start to mess everything up or if they will simply shut gsync off.

 

is there any way to tell whether card is -G version or non gsync?

 

G-Sync vbios versions are pain in the butt, because they will only work in the setup they were made for.
In some laptops these days you do not need a special vbios for G-Sync.

You guys know, there are sellers around you who for reasonable prices, not only have these cards, new, but will support them.

 

Trust me if i could afford it i would go that path.

Gonna have to learn chinese fast.
just made taobao account, gonna try to confirm directly with sellers whether their particular card will work with p170em

 

Again, if you're unlucky it will be way more expensive. If you're unlucky and you don't get quality components the card might very well die in a couple of months, then you're lost and need to buy a new one or live without a card.

 

I did the math and it's more expensive. just saying. Maybe you have different price, or maybe its by region.

 

Taxes and charges are going to impact the final price too.

 

If im unlucky any card from any other seller might die shortly after the warranty period, and from what i've seen most of em offer 3 months warranty.

it will cost less than 500$ total.

If i were to upgrade it with a help of reseller i'd have to pay roughly 200$ more AND on top of that 100$ for shipment. At that point i'd consider selling the remains of my laptop and buying used machine with gtx1060.

also another reason why i want to get it from china is that i need to replace my friend's R530's motherboard aswell, and both these things will come in one package.

 

No because most people from US don't buy cards made of cheap components. That's why I'm saying be careful, you might get really lucky and have a decent card with decent components for a cheap price, but you might be unlucky and have an experience for couple of months then byebye notebook. Wasted 500$ for couple of months.

Once you bought the card, you can post a picture, maybe we can see whats goin on.

 

going with this one https://item.taobao.com/item.htm?sp...QvbaGw&id=543651933472&ns=1&abbucket=6#detail

its not the cheapest but has 1 year warranty. plus i "talked" (as simple as possible english vs chinese ) to a guy and everything seems fine.

hopefully i manage to get it all sent before chinese new year.

 

$500USD or CAD ? because they are less then $500USD new, and always have been.

 

less than 500 usd with delivery and agent fees.

 

sounds about right.