p150hm GPU replacement for GTX 560m options?

So my GTX 560m mxm card has died. Being such an old component I can't find any official/reputable resller that sells any compatible models so I'm left with ebay and aliexpress. I've found some GTX 580m, GTX 680m cards but the trouble is they only sell the cards only and not the heatsinks or thermal pads. Would the GTX 560m's heatsink and thermal pads be compatible with other models?

Would this one be ok? Is the heatsink model specific?

the GPU processor placeholder looks a different shape to the original

 

The HM was very picky, the heatsinks were specific but the shapes were similar. The 580m seems like a good bet.

 

I can't find an original heatsink for the GTX 580m anywhere.
This is the heatsink I have (from GTX 560m). It seems like it would cover the processor but doesn't seem like it's wide enough to cover the processor housing of the GTX 580m.
I'm not sure the 2 bars either side of the main plate for the screws would arc over the width of the GPU housing. I'm told that the x-bracket from the 560m will also fit on the 580m.

What do you guys think? Could I use the heatsink from the 560m for the 580m?

 

Optical illusion IIRC but use an image program to compare mounting point positions.

 

So the form matches up, screw locations are where they're supposed to be but the bracket that holds the screws definitely crosses the GPU housing
picture
The induction plate (centre rectangle) will cover the processor but not the entire housing. It will fit but i'm wondering if it needs to be fully covered.

 

Yes the mounting bracket will go past the package edge, that's normal and metal on metal contact there is not an issue.

 

Sorry to be a pain but I need to be sure. Heres a picture of the actual heatsink I have. Is complete thermal plate and paste coverage needed around the dark area surrounding the main chip?

 

Thermal paste is needed on the shiny part only.

 

No luck with ebay sellers of the 580m but I did come across a ATI 6970m.
The seller doesn't know but It should work with a P150HM right? There are some GTX cards listed as working for either P150HM/P170HM I'm wondering if this is true for the ATI ones too without any vbios modifications etc...

 

I know with the 7970M it had to be a specific VBIOS and card revision but I can't remember of the 6970M, i'd search through and check back as this was 7-8 years ago now.

 

Well I was checking the vbios then I realised looking at the screenshots that the vbios:BR40794.004 is for the 6990m. I'm not sure if he's selling a modded 6970m flashed with a 6990m bios or if it has been listed incorrectly. I'm not sure the P150HM supplies enough power to a 6990m or if would work at all.

 

Power delivery should be ok so long as it boots.

 

Is there a particular reason as to why you would like to stick with the P150HM as opposed to purchasing a new laptop? As even entry level devices offer better performance now

 

Well I started of as a gamer, but it has become a work horse for android / unity3d app development. And it's actually lasted longer than any machine I've ever owned until now. I'm out of work at the moment and no longer a gamer. The days of needing to build the "ultimate rig" are long gone.

But you're right the time may have come to retire the machine as I'm not sure I want to chance buying a 9 year old component to have it possibly fail at any time soon. I never thought I'd ever be looking on ebay at used thinkpads.

 

Graphics chips did progress a lot even in the 2 years after the 6xxx series.

 

OK so I decided to roll the die on a 6990m. What termal pads would you recommend? how thick do they need to be (0.5mm, 1mm, 1.5mm)?
is the mx-4 paste still the recommended standard?
Is there an alternative way of clearing old paste on sinks apart from alcohol?

 

Any reasonable one would do, softer ones are easier to work with. I can't remember the exact heights, I always ordered sheets of 0.5mm and 1mm.

 

I now have the most powerful graphics card of 2011 installed.

This is what the old 560m looked like. The chip was intact but the housing was cracked all over.

 

Are you sure that's not just tape?

 

Yeah, that looks like the tap haha, you can kind of see the indents made by the capacitors.

I believe that could also be residue as opposed to cracks?

 

Residue in folds of the tape I think.

 

Ah well it was a fun 3 weeks, saw the red lines on the screen and 3 reboots later the screen doesn't even power on anymore. I can't even get into the bios. I should have ignored my compulsive desire to fixing things and let it go sooner.

I'll be staying away from the niche 'gaming laptop' machines from now on.

 

The new card had issues too?

 

Exact same thing as this guy's screenshots for 3 reboots then blank screen on every boot after.
Except I'm not convinced 100% the card is at fault. I put the old faulty (but still managed to output a picture before) 560m back in and ecountered the same blank screen. I think it's instead a power/motherboard fault but I couldn't find anything obvious when I ripped the laptop apart.

 

Maybe inspect the connectors? As in the MXM slot, display cable connector etc etc

 

I swear some higher being is trolling me. I decided to give the machine one last salvage attempt and I do mean last ever attempt (I was about to throw it away). I stripped everything to it's barebones and cleaned everything with iso-alcohol. I pulled off the tape stuff surrounding the old 560m GPU processor, it was messy. I cleaned the old paste thoroughly this time on the off chance that they built the machine using bad (conductive) paste which covered the connectors underneath. I practically doused the whole card into a pool of iso-alcohol (because at this point why not).

At this point my obsesive compulsiveness too over. I even sprayed the iso-alcohol into all the connectors, ports, flat strips and motherboard scrubbing everything meticulously.

Eventually I put it all back together and powered on the machine as a final roll of the dice. And so far besides some initial glitching (flashing colours on a game) it has worked and is usuable. I then proceeded to swap out and test the 6990m to see if that worked and it had booted with the red lines on the screen. I powered on off a few times to confirm that it's definitely defective.

So now I have a working machine (for now anyway) with the original 560m and a defective 6990m that I bought to replace it. Being a pessimist I'm expecting the 560m to crash/glitch at anytime just because life is like that.
And on top of that I have to deal with the cowboy seller that sold the 6990m card to me.

But that's it now. I made a deal with myself not to waste anymore time, effort or money should or when it breaks again.

 

The issue is that all cards of that generation are certainly getting older and it was the first generation of TDPs really going up over the previous cards.

 

I know this is an old thread, but I figure that this could be useful info for anyone still rocking this old machine.
After a failed upgrade attempt on a Dell Precision M6600, I ended up with an extra Alienware M17X R3 GTX 580M 2GB card (Dell part number: 3MF8R).

While I was troubleshooting, I installed the card into my old P150HM and it booted right into windows and I installed the drivers with no issues.
This card has been installed ever since and is regularly being used by a friend to play Diablo III.

On a side note, I think that I still have the old GTX 560 somewhere if anyone needs a replacement.

 

Nice info, thanks for the update