What should i upgrade?

Hello there.

I really dont know too much of Computers and Laptops. I enjoy playing games when i can, but recently i realised that i had to upgrade my Laptop to play at the best Settings possible.
Well ive got a P177SM Laptop with:
-AMD Radeon (TM) HD8970M
-Intel (R) Core (TM) i7-4710MQ CPU @2.50 GHz 8x
-8 GB RAM

What would you suggest me to upgrade?

Ben

 

Well, I would recommend you to upgrade your gpu and ram (if you prefer). As far as I know, P177SM support gpu up to GTX 980m and cpu to i7-4940mx. If you can get the newest bios (or maybe you might not need it) and the gpu, it won't be that hard to upgrade. (but sometime, you have to change vBios. Depends on which company's graphics card you get. I would recommend you to get Clevo one). Also, check if your laptop uses mxm 3.0b, since a lot of newer gpu use's that types of socket.

 

Wow thanks for the fast answer!
i really have to admit that i dont understand too much. So cpu is alright, i can keep that?
"Supports gpu up to GTX 980m", what exactly does it mean up to GTX 980m- what is that?
ok i thaught about upgrading the RAM to 16GB.
And what is it about the last part "vBios" and mxm 3.0b? i really dont know what to do with that information.

Thanks alot for the help and patience.

Ben

 

No. You do not have to upgrade the cpu. i7-4710MQ is strong enough to run most AAA games with no problem. And to be honest, cpu isn't a huge deal for playing games nowadays.

What I meant about up to GTX 980m is that your laptop (may) support up to GTX 980m, and this graphics card is second strongest mobile gpu you can get. (There is stronger GTX980 (laptop ver), which perform 30 ~ 40% better than GTX980m, but it is very hard to get, and it does not sell on Ebay.). If you want to save your money, you can also get GTX970m, which perform close to GTX 680 or GTX 960 desktop gpu.

Yes, I would recommend you to upgrade the ram to 16 gb, since more and more games are using rams, and I, personally, use 6 ~ 8gb of ram just for browsing the web.

I will describe mxm 3.0b as type of socket for mobile gpu. It is close to intel's cpu socket, such as 1150 and 1151, and currently all mobile maxwell gpus use mxm 3.0b socket. What I meant about vBios is just a bios for your graphics card. (vbios is for your graphics card, and bios is for your motherboard.)
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Ok, if you think these steps are too complicated, you can always contact to the reseller that you bought the laptop from. For example, if you bought it from Sager, you can request for upgrading the laptop. However, if they don't accept upgrading your graphics card, you can contact to EUROCOM, since they will upgrade laptop for you.

Here is the link : http://www.eurocom.com/ec/clevo()ec

 

I'd completely agree. Your CPU is still good for gaming, and the GPU is going to be the biggest determining factor on game performance. Ram at 8gb is still okay right now, as most games and programs really won't use that at this point, but might be worth considering upgrading later. You could check that in the resource monitor to see how much you are using, and if you are using 8gb consistently then it would be time to upgrade.

 

Thanks alot!
So i think im gonna upgrade the gpu then. i looked up the site and I want to ask what the difference is between the
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880m
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980m
?

Its all the same, except the price? (8GB DDR5, MXM 3.0, 100W)

Oh and how "difficult" is it to replace the new GPU myself? I got a friend who works in IT, i dont know if he ever done this but i think he is a computer literate would it be possible to do that or is it just to dangerous to destroy the whole notebook by trying?

 

Yep, CPU is good - and your current GPU is pretty good, even - but if you want to up the ante (so to speak), consider exchanging your 8970M for a 980M. It will require a little bit of work; since you admit to not being very knowledgeable in all things tech, really do your research on this before you jump right on in (video cards are not cheap). But of course, we're here to help!

The GPU is not difficult to replace; physically it's quite easy. Finding the right GPU (a Clevo card) and setting it up (flashing vBIOS, if necessary) is a little more complicated.

 

I would strongly recommend you to go with GTX980m, since it perform 40 ~ 50% better than GTX880m, while it runs much cooler (it is expensive for a reason).

Well, just replacing the new GPU is not a hard job, but (maybe) upgrading the bios and flashing vbios might be bit hard for you. And yes, if something goes wrong, when you upgrade bios or vbios, your laptop can turn in to brick (it will be dead forever, unless you change the whole motherboard)

 

ok thanks alot!
so its actually possible to sell the 8970M ive already got inside right?
ok thats good to know. dont want my laptop as a brick then.

wow what makes the 980m performance that much better besides the cooling?

 

Yes, if someone is willing to buy ur graphics card, you can sell it on ebay.
IF you update bios /vbios in wrong way. AS you mentioned, if you don't have enough information to upgrade the graphics card (or just scared), you can always ask to original retailer or Eurocom for the upgrade. It is expensive, but much better than buying a whole new laptop.

GTX980m is so powerful thanks to it's maxwell architecture. (GTX 800m series uses old kepler architecture) It runs much cooler and more efficient, as well as it deliver new technology, such as more efficient battery boost 2.0 and dynamic super resolution.