Sager 5760 (Clevo M570U) Upgrade

So its been a while and back here to ask a few questions.

I got the Sager 5760 (Clevo M570U) during its 1st Pre-order phase when it ONLY has the Intel Core Duo (Yonah) CPU and nVidia 7900GTX 256mb GPU.

Was thinking that around this time i when I may upgrade it.
Does anyone know what are the significant differences between the nvidia 7900GTX 256mb vs nVidia 7950 GTX 512mb GPU's?

I already know I will just upgrade the CPU to a 2.0ghz Intel Core Duo 2 (Merom) and just need to figure out any justification to upgrade the GPU as well or not.

 

Hey Kilim,

Nice to see you around here again! Ready to do upgrades already, eh?

From what I gather, the 512 go 7950 GTX is not much different than the 7900 GTX. Some say it's essentially an overclocked 7900 GTX.

I'm not sure you'd get enough return on the investment to upgrade your GPU.

EDIT:
This may help (particularly the table that I couldn't get a working link for)
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2857

 

I was only able to find that the 7950gtx = a 7900gtx with higher clock speeds, they're pretty much the same card. I'd have to speculate that the 7950gtx has slightly better cooling or only runs a few degrees cooler than a 7900gtx.

I couldn't find anything on the memory size, 256 vs 512. I'm not sure it'll be worth it as the 7950gtx is around $500+ depending on who you get it from and how you get it. And i'm not sure how much you'd get for your 256mb version if you planned to sell it and recoup some of the costs from purchasing the 7950gtx.

 

SUp chrisyano, cool green color on the name
What I miss or you always had that title?

I just got my new Treo 700w a few weeks ago and actually awaiting for Verizon to release the Treo 700wx within a month or so.
(Rumor image here on 700wx for Verizon: http://i103.photobucket.com/albums/m141/SmithHimself/1113061200a.jpg )
While I was busy reading up on Treo's I stumbled upon MS Office 2007 and Vista "may" actually get released at the end of January (around the same time Verizon "may" release the Treo 700wx.)

So I was checking up on how I should this upgrade on my 5760, what can be upgraded and waht is worth upgrading.

I just talked to Sager about this and they told me I can buy the parts from them and install it myself w/o my warranty being voided
(Never worked inside a laptop before but I think it shouldn't be that hard).

Upgrade potential so far is:

CPU: Any Intel Core Duo 2
GPU: nVidia 7950 GTX 512mb​

I am set on getting the Merom CPU to check out Vista 64 when it comes out.
(Actually just getting the Merom CPU just in-case 64bit actually gets better within the life of my 5760).

I guess I have to dig some more for the 7950 vs 7900 performance comparison.
If it is just a minor upgrade, I may just save a few bucks and not get that and just stay with a CPU Upgrade.

Of course I may just a few more months down the line in hope of a price break on the CPU and possible better GPU.

 

I could not find any direct comparison of the 7900gtx(256mb) and 7950gtx(512mb) with real life benchmarks (searched the NBF). You'd probably have to dig around multiple reviews and make comparisons. I did find info like chrisyano listed (pipelines and whatnot). link


how much is the 7950gtx from sager?

 

Well if I remember correctly, the 256 MB vs. 512 MB comparisons showed very little increase in performance there. And although the 7950 GTX will undoubtedly perform better than the 7900 GTX, I don't think it would be worth it to upgrade considering the cost and marginal performance increase. Now if you were buying a new system today, I think it makes sense to buy it with the 7950 GTX.

Your GPU is still a beast. I'd say run it until it starts to lag. At that point, you could probably get a 7950 GTX for much less than today. But you might even be shopping for a new DX10 system by then .

But we all know you're going to do A LOT of research anyways, and make a good decision.

The green represents my rookie status .

 

Of course I will be doing research
Starting it off here and was just trying to see if there are some info I can acquire to help me on my search
I would guess that it will be possibly just a 10% performance increase if any.
Thats probably like a few FPS increase and kinda like the 256mb vs 512mb debate that we have talked about for a while.

At this time I am testing out a couple games in beta and also busy playing around and finding out some stuff about my new toy, the Treo

And how u get the rookie status?
I wanna be like all black or maybe puce ;p


And ya, I am still awaiting for the price quote and I will def post what is given to me.


Also, I just reformated my HD when I found out I only have 7GB space left lol.
Was debating on which Office 2007 to get when it comes out next month as I have the Office XP 2002 Student edition atm.

BTW:
Is putting the CPU in a laptop practically the same as installing a CPU in a desktop.
You know, put arctic silver on it, then slap it on the MB then put HS on it.
Sure it will come with instructions ... hopefully one with pictures

 

OK just finished talking to Sager.

This is what they told me.

• Installing the GPU yourself will NOT void your warranty.
• Installing the CPU yourself WILL void the warranty.
• It will cost $80 for Labor (for either the CPU alone, GPU Alone, or BOTH).
• It will cost $330 for the Intel Core Duo 2 T7200 2.0ghz CPU
• It will cost $545 for the nVidia 7900GTX 512mb.
• You will still have to pay for the Shipment to AND from Sager!

Sales guy said that somehow the Tech support I was talking to was wrong about the Warranty issue.
He also said that I will "require" a special tool to install the CPU and this is why it will void the warranty.

Now I got to figure out if it will void my Extended Warranty/ADP that I got from DiscountLaptops.
So waiting on Matt from DL to answer my reply on my email.

 

Welcome back Kilim,

what a crock, "special tool" is a phillips-head screwdriver.

You can easily upgrade any of the components:
- CPU
- RAM
- HDD
- Optical Drive
- Videocard

You can upgrade the CPU and videocard, but I would hold off until the end of Q1 2007, when the prices should drop for the Merom Core 2 Duo's and the speculated DX10 hybrid nVidia mobile card might get released.

Kilim, you have a great system still, I would not waste all that money to get marginal performance differences.

I, myself, am waiting for the DX10 videocard for my Clevo and combo BluRay/HD-DVD notebook optical drive.

 

I think at this time, the most I will upgrade is the CPU.

I probably won't even get the Merom CPU until summer time anyways and by then my Sager 1yr Warranty is over.

I have never done anything to a laptop before, and I am sure you built your laptop Gophn.
I am just kinda wary on how easy it will be to at least upgrade the CPU on my 5760.
I have built and upgraded my desktops and was amazed how easy it is.
Just not sure how different a laptop will be, other than size.

Questions:

- I can buy the CPU anywhere right? Any Merom CPU will do fine?
(There is no Desktop version right?)
This should be fine right? http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819111302

- There should be a decent manual for instructions on installation with pictures on how to install it right?

- All I really need to upgrade the CPU is: open the laptop --> remove the old CPU --> apply AS on new CPU --> plug in new CPU --> close laptop --> Turn on laptop to see if everything is running properly?
(is there a driver I have to install? before or after? sure it should be in the manual)​

 

Its pretty much the same thing as a desktop, but in a smaller environment.

yup, CPU RAM HDD are all standardized and not proprietary.

I doubt that there is an official manual, but there are diagrams of the bottom of the Clevo M570U (Sager 5760) to show the location of the CPU, HDD, RAM... thats all you really need though.

Thats pretty much the basic way of doing it with Clevo's that I have worked on.
- 4 screws for CPU heatsink
- a mechanism to lock-down the the CPU, either a lever (like in desktop mobos) or a screw to rotate on the socket.
- install new CPU, re-apply thermal compound (small dot is usually all you need)
- place heatsink back on and screw it down tight.
Thats pretty much it, takes less than 5 minutes to do.

that aint worth $80 of labor at all, not even close.... unless if it is a person that knows nothing about computer hardware.

 

Thanks again.

Think I will just do that and install it myself when I feel that I REALLY need to upgrade.
(Probably a couple of months after Vista is released).

Its not the cost that really bothers me, its the time I will spend NOT having a laptop!

Its probably better off just doing it myself so I can finally have some experience on how it is working on a laptop in my repertoire

 

Also make sure your BIOS will support the Merom processor. You may need to upgrade to a newer version before performing the swap.

 

Hmm.
When I was talking to Sager, before they said I will HAVE to send it to them to NOT void the warranty, they did not mention anything about a BIOS update.

From what I read in the past, most machines does not need a BIOS update from Yonah to Merom.
Will have to check again on this before I do it.

Unless of course, someone here can find me the answer about htis before I find it

 

You dont need to do a BIOS update, Sager back in June/July already successfully tested the Merom without BIOS update.

Read this:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=1426655&postcount=5

 

Duh, I knew I read somewhere about that.
Funny thing is I was the one that replied next to that post you showed me.

I R forgetful AT soemthings when I r not focused on it for a while
I R hide in a dark corner now


and hmm.
Paladin there states that upgrading the CPU shouldn't even void my warranty ....
...and he has been on the ball usually.

 

Its really difficult for any damage to occur to do a simple CPU upgrade, the warranty is still good as well.

Of course this should not be a problem for computer competent person.

 

CPU swap is easy just as Gophn describes. Not sure who at Sager might have said it would void your warranty, but I can assure you it is exactly as the quote states. As long as you don't break anything you are fine, and even if you do, it is only what you break that is not covered by warranty...breaking something does not void the warranty on the rest of your machine.

 

Sorry about that. I should have remembered that. I now remember reading that post back then.

Hehe...note I said "maybe" .

 

Thanks again guys
I knew I can count on you all as usual

Now I need to save some cash for the Merom CPU, Vista and Office 2007 Standard Ed.

Oh and I will have to invest in a "Special Tool" and AS5

 

No special tools needed. As long as you have a license to operate a screwdriver (or at least a learner's permit) you will be fine

You will need to buy a syringe of AS 5.

 

I was actually just being sarcastic and meaning "Special Tools" = Screwdriver.

I think I have one of those in my toolbox somewhere.
As for the syringe of AS5, you know what gauge I should use?

J/King
**** Nursing school is eating my brain lol

I hope Its not hard to get a learners permit for the "Special tool" ....

 

AS 5 comes in little syringes. Just Google for a supplier...they sell it all over the net and in your better computer supply stores. It costs about $6.95

You can apply here for your learner's permit...we don't charge TOO much for them

 

When did nVidia come out with a 7950 512 mb GPU? I thought the 7950GTX was a 256! Did i miss something???

 

Apparently you did. The 7900 GTX with 512MB started shipping in early July of this year, and the 7950 GTX with 512MB started shipping in early October.

 

I thought that upgrading your GPU was for the most part not possible

 

To upgrade your video card you would have to send it back to Sager and have them do it under their upgrade program.