P170em upgrade from 670m to 7970m

Hi,

I have the P170em bought from a reseller 4 days ago, which was rebadged so I've only just discovered it's a P170em after I bought it, and since doing some more research have realised that this laptop should support the 670m/675m and the 7970m. Mine came with the 670m, and now I think as it's too late to return (binned the packaging) that I'd like the 7970m instead.

Having spoken to rjtech about this they seem to be of the opinion that I will need to replace the motherboard to support the 7970m so won't be able to do a straight swap... Is this true?

Just debating if it's worth selling this laptop on ebay and then just buying one with the 7970 off pc specialist or something now I've learnt more about this particular model, what do you think? I know it's hard to come by mobility graphics cards but if I can source one I'm happy to do the swap myself, so not sure what the best options are really... In hindsight probably should have done my research before buying lol

 

um....if u just bought it 4 days ago it should be fine to just return it. unless uve already damages it / scratched it, whatever

mobo replacement? thats total BS the P170EM supports the 7970M just fine as it is, why else would resellers offer it in their configurators? sounds like someone didnt really know what he was talking about, altho this is not something ive heard from R&J before.

my advice: give ur reseller a phone call, return the laptop and tell them to send u the same with a 7970M upgrade, shouldnt be too difficult

cheers

 

actually, it would be difficult with the shortage of 7970M's recently.

 

well, thats another thing of course. nobody said anything about instant or even a quick swap ud probably have to be patient

 

They lied. However if your laptop comes with BIOS version 1.00.01 you'll need to update its BIOS, at least that's what mythlogic said in this thread.

 

Yea if you have a em and bios ec 01 you HAVE to update before you put the 7970m in. To at least version 03 of the bios and ec

 

Thanks guys, ok it looks like I have bios version 1.00.03 from the bios screen and 4.6.5 from cpu-z, is that the latest?

I think I'll try and source the 7970m then if I can and sell the 670m on ebay, the returns policy of the place i bought only allow returns if the item is either completely unused and still boxed in all original packaging within 7 days or if it's faulty in which case they'll exchange rather than refunding unfortunately.

 

Mine comes with a 1.00.04 but mine is a P150EM

 

Current BIOS/EC for both P170EM and P150EM is 1.00.04.

 

Ahh ok, so presuming it would be best to upgrade to this bios version to support this, anyone know where I can get it from? My reseller say they won't give out any updates to it, as it works as sold, and the Clevo site doesn't have any bios downloads on it that I can see... If someone could point me in the right direction it would be very much appreciated...

 

What? That's pretty messed up. You're supposed to be able to source your BIOS updates from your reseller.. Contact one of the other resellers by email or get a few more posts and PM them to see if they'll help you with BIOS/EC

 

Just checking but the P150em will be able to switch between the 670m and the 7970m with no issues also right? I'm considering purchasing with a 670m and upgrading to the 7970m once I get some more money.

 

Assuming you have the appropriate updates needed mentioned earlier in the thread.